Three days after an attempted firebombing at Finchley Reform Synagogue (FRS) in north London, members gathered for Shabbat services on Friday evening in a show of determined solidarity. They were joined by local politicians, faith leaders, police, and a particularly special group of neighbours: members of the Somali Bravanese community, whose own centre was destroyed in an arson attack 13 years ago.
At that time, FRS offered the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association (SBWA) use of the synagogue for evening prayers during Ramadan, an arrangement that lasted four years until their new centre was ready. “We became a family,” said Asmaa Mohamed Ali, SBWA director. This week, the community returned the favour, with children making signs and members bringing donuts to share after the service.
The attack, which involved bottles containing a liquid thought to be petrol thrown at the building early Wednesday, is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime. A man and a woman have been arrested. It follows the firebombing of four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in nearby Golders Green last month, for which a group with links to Iran claimed responsibility.
Sarah Sackman, the local MP, described the partnership between the synagogue and Muslim community centre as a “quiet, radical act of solidarity and allyship”. She noted that FRS hosts a nursery, homeless shelter, refugee drop-in, and educational activities, embodying “the best of community”. “British Jews do not want to live behind higher and higher walls,” she said.
The service was warm and crowded, with families singing and toddlers dancing, but the mood outside was more sombre. High gates, security guards, and police patrols were in place, and visitors had to show photo ID. Cantor Zöe Jacobs recalled opposing a fence when the building was constructed four years ago, but now admits that “feels a bit naive”.
Antisemitic incidents in the UK have risen sharply since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza. The Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, including the fatal knife attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester in October, which killed two and injured three.
