Copenhagen: Joint Jewish/Muslim anti-racism initiative

Copenhagen: Joint Jewish/Muslim anti-racism initiative

The Mosaic Faith-Society and the Muslim Joint Committee (Muslimernes Fællesråd) are coming out with a new Muslim-Jewish project against racism in Copenhagen, with the slogan "Antisemitism and Islamophobia - not in our city"

Bent Melchior, who represents the Jewish community in a group of the Copenhagen Municipality says that people generally have the impression that the religions are fighting each other and they want to dismiss that impression.

The campaign will consist of posters which will be posted around the city until the UN's International Day against Racism, on March 21.

Spokesperson for the Muslim Joint Committee, Zubair Butt Hussain, thinks that the campaign will send an important message, that regardless of religion and politics, they are saying stop to racism.

The campaign is meeting resistance in the Jewish community.  The former head of the Mosaic Faith-Society and the current member of the Copenhagen municipal council for the Danish People's Party Finn Rudaizky says it's an expression of a dream world.

Finn Rudaizky says he knows nobody in the Mosaic Faith Society who thinks it's a good idea to have this type of cooperation with groups whose members have very clearly made many antisemitic initiatives against the Jews in Copenhagen.  He adds that as a rule, when there are reports of racism against Jews, the harassment is by Muslims.  Therefore it's a dream-world that the Mosaic Faith-Society would take part in something like this.  Before we've learned to live together, it's not the time for joint cooperation, thinks Finn Rudaizky.

He directs his criticism against former Chief Rabbi Bent Melchior, who was involved in fostering the idea.

Bent Melchior doesn't understand the criticism.  He says that it's interesting Finn Rudaizky thinks people would one day live peacefully together, but it's joint initiatives such as this one which can bring us to that point.  He prefers this over entrenching oneself deeper and sniping at each other.

Sources: Berlingske, Kristeligt Dagblad (Danish)

No comments: