The Shomrim group – Hebrew for ‘guards’ or ‘watchers’ – are a neighbourhood watch group of 22 member who are trained by police and operate in the area 24 hours a day.
“Both communities get on really well here. It’s a shame it’s not like this all over the world. We help out all the whole community, not just the Jewish community,” Chaim Hochhauser, 33, told the Hackney Gazette.
The group were formed in 2008 to combat anti-semetic incidents in the area and were recently approached by Muslims in the Hackney area of London following a rise in Islamophobic hate crime after the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich last month.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Ian Sharer, who chaired a meeting between the religious community representatives, said “The meeting was a great success. The Shomrim patrols have agreed to include the local mosques and other buildings as part of their routine patrols.”
