Jewish and Muslim leaders in Barnet have paid tribute to the Muslims who saved Jews during the Holocaust as part of the council’s Celebrate Interfaith Week.
An event at Middlesex University earlier this month heard how 70 Muslims mainly from Albania have been honoured as Righteous amongst the Nations by Yad Vashem in Israel, for their bravery and courage of rescuing Jews fleeing from Nazi persecution during the Second World War.
Es Rosen, chair of Barnet Multi Faith Forum, said: “These acts originated from compassion, loving-kindness and a desire to help those in need, even those of another faith, facing the most desperate of circumstances. They are to be celebrated and can become signals of hope for future generations.”
At Hendon Town Hall, Fiyaz Mughal, the founder of Faith Matters and the Tell MAMA reporting agency for Islamaphobic hate crimes, said the stories “show a common bond and link between people of two faiths who believe in the compassion of God and in the sanctity of life”.
He added: “If anything they have a greater significance today then, they would have had 10 or 30 years ago.”