The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester
Established to develop the cultural and social ties between the Muslim and Jewish communities of Greater Manchester
14 June 2020
We were incorporated by Companies House as a company limited by guarantee on 14 June 2005.
Accordingly, 14 June 2020 saw our 15’th anniversary.
While the 10’th Anniversary was celebrated by a dinner attended by religious and civic leaders at Manchester Town Hall, the COVID-19 pandemic precluded any similar event. Instead, like most social life today, the Forum moved online using Zoom.
21 people attended and the event was introduced by Co-Chair Cllr Heather Fletcher.
We had two keynote speakers. Their details are below, followed by a video recording of most of the event.
Mark is the eldest son of our late Co-Founder Henry Guterman MBE.
He gave a very moving talk about his father who came to the UK with his family as a refugee from Nazi Germany at the age of 12 after Kristallnacht in 1938. As well as being a stalwart of Manchester’s Jewish community, including serving as President of the Manchester Jewish Representative Council, he had been active in over 25 other organisations and had dedicated his life to bringing different communities together.
Many of those attending had known Henry Guterman, and some were on the verge of tears as they recalled his devotion to uniting people.
Afzal became well acquainted with Henry Guterman well before they decided to set up the Forum through Henry’s campaigns against the far right and modern fascism as well as his religious interfaith work on the SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education).
Afzal himself had found the Forum a very developing experience personally over the last 15 years, and particularly mentioned the work that Muslims and Jews had done together to defend the religious freedom to have halal and kosher slaughter.
After Henry had died, Afzal commented that he had been an institution, and that the Jewish community would need 12 people to replace the amount of work that Henry Guterman had done for the community.
The video below consists of the following speakers in the order listed. We have also given timings in case you want watch the video over more than one session.
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The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester
Established to develop the cultural and social ties between the Muslim and Jewish Communities of Greater Manchester