The Jewish synagogue seeking to house Muslim refugees on its premises

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A London synagogue is raising money so it can house a Syrian refugee family, who are likely to be Muslims, on its premises.

Members of the South London Liberal Synagogue in Streatham, south London, are hoping to raise £50,000 to convert a former religious studies teaching room into a two-bedroom flat so a family of refugees can move in.

Alice Alphandary, the synagogue chair, told The Independent that the project was proving so popular with the congregation that two architect members had already agreed to work for free on the conversion.

“It really is lovely,” she said. “It is a project where everybody is pulling together. It’s really touched people.”

Ms Alphandary, 31, whose own father came to Britain from Egypt as a refugee in the 1950s, said her community’s awareness of how often Jews had needed to flee persecution or war had played a “massive” part in the enthusiasm for the project.

“Within the Jewish community,” she said, “You get varying levels of religious observance, but so many have got stories … It really is, if we are not the children of refugees, we might be the grandchildren of refugees. It’s such a part of our collective identity.”

She added that the Abraham’s Tent project – named after the open-sided tent created by Abraham to welcome strangers – will be officially launched on Saturday February 25, the day of Shabbat Shekalim, which commemorates a census of the Jews taken following their Exodus from Egypt.

With news of the project spreading online, however, some in the wider Jewish diaspora have appeared critical of the project.

Michael Burd, a presenter at a Jewish radio station in Melbourne, Australia, who has also called “divisive, progressive Democrats” “the new fascists”, left a message on the synagogue’s Facebook page claiming: “We in Australia are forced to engage armed guards at our synagogues specifically because of fear of attack from extremist Muslims including Syrian, Palestinian and other Muslims.

“In fact, due to increased Muslim immigration some of our Jewish day schools and Jewish community centres are in the process of erecting bomb-proof walls in the event of Muslim-related attacks, deranged lone wolves etc.

“Jews in London must be very lucky and the only Jews in Europe not living under siege.”

Ms Alphandary, however, said she had no such fears about a Syrian, possibly Muslim family living in the converted flat, which will have its own private entrance.

“It’s very important to remember that we are talking about human beings,” she said. “There are more things that unite us than divide us.

“It’s very easy for religion and politics to get confused, and I think it is very important to recognise our common humanity and to help challenge perceptions slightly. We have a good relationship with our local inter-faith communities.”

She added: “If you look at the rhetoric that was in the press maybe 150 years ago when there was a lot of Jewish immigration coming into the country, it’s not dissimilar to the language used today towards immigrants and refugees.

“It’s also important to distinguish between what is at the heart of a religion and what isn’t.”

Lambeth, the synagogue’s local London borough council, had committed to housing 20 families as part of the Government promise issued under David Cameron to receive 20,000 refugees by 2020. But Ms Aplhandary said the council was finding it difficult to find landlords willing to take in refugees at the local authority housing rate, which was usually well below market rents – especially in areas like Brixton which have in recent years gone from deprived to highly desirable.

It is thought that so far only six Syrian families have been housed in Lambeth, including a family of six who are now living in a cottage in the grounds of Lambeth Palace, the official residence of Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Ms Alphandary said the Abraham’s Tent project therefore represented an opportunity for the synagogue congregation to make a telling contribution.

She said: “For so many people, it’s the chance to make a bit of a difference. It’s hard to make great change in life, but if you can just take one small positive action, it’s a good place to start.”