The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester
Established to develop the cultural and social ties between the Muslim and Jewish communities of Greater Manchester
10 June 2024
This Forum exists to promote friendship between the Muslim and Jewish Communities of Greater Manchester. Friendship between communities requires friendship between individuals.
For over 15 years, some Forum members have gone on holiday together each year (except when prevented by the pandemic), at their own expense, to places of Muslim and Jewish interest. This year from 7 - 10 June five of them went to Oslo, capital of Norway, the first time any of them had visited Oslo.
Before the visit, the travellers knew very little of Norway’s history, and how it was ruled for about 300 years by Denmark and then after the Napoleonic wars by Sweden for about a century before peacefully attaining independence.
Norway’s most famous artists are probably the playwright Ibsen, whose plays are performed more than anyone’s after Shakespeare, and the painter Edvard Munch. There was an impressive modern museum building dedicated to Munch’s works quite close to the visitors’ hotel.
Our Jewish Co-Chair Cllr Heather Fletcher said:
“We had a very enjoyable time in the modern city of Oslo, and we learnt a lot on our visit too. We learnt about Norwegian culture and its people when we visited the Norwegian Folk Museum. We also visited major attractions such as the Hollmenkollen ski jump and the Vigeland sculpture park. It was also interesting to learn that there are now approximately 85,000 Muslims in Oslo but sadly the Jewish community now numbers just 1,000 residents.”
Our Muslim Co-Chair Mohammed Amin said:
“The visit to the Jewish Museum was particularly moving. The displays focused on telling the stories of individuals and specific families who perished in the Holocaust, as well as some who survived. This is a vital reminder that the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust were not just a number, they were individuals with hopes and aspirations, with more than a million children amongst the dead.”
The Jewish Museum photograph below shows the travellers in Oslo’s Jewish Museum, seated on the podium in front of the ark where the Torah scrolls are stored.
From right to left:
The Mosque photograph below shows the same travellers visiting the Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat mosque in Oslo. This is the largest mosque in Norway, with congregants primarily drawn from Norway’s Pakistani community.
Simply by walking the streets of Oslo the visitors were able to see how diverse Norway has become in the last 40 years, although not yet as diverse as our own city of Manchester.
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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