San Francisco Frontiers - Shomrim: the Jewish volunteers protecting their community

They were part of the Shomrim neighbourhood watch group, a 60-strong, non-profit volunteer group set up in northwest London in 2008 to boost security amid a spate of crimes and break-ins.

Two Jewish men were stabbed in the morning incident in Golders Green, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denounced as "utterly appalling".

The volunteer group was modelled on the first Shomrim -- meaning 'Guardians' in Hebrew -- set up in New York in the 1970s. There is another one in Stamford Hill, London North and East, with some 40 members.

"Its dedicated team of unpaid male and female volunteer responders and telephone operators are made up from members of the local community regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation," the London NW group says on its website.

It has a 24-hour emergency hotline, allowing teams to be dispatched to any incidents reported to them.

The group is funded by donations, and volunteers also complete a Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism training course.

Patrolling unarmed on foot or in cars their aim is to "help the police reduce crime and help citizens feel safe within the Jewish community of North West London", the group says on its website.

"When Shomrim is dispatched to a scene of a crime, our volunteers then bridge the time gap between when police are called and when police attend. This enables Shomrim to follow suspects and preserve evidence until the arrival of police."

- Praise from mayor, PM -

Both Starmer and London mayor Sadiq Khan praised the group, as well as a volunteer ambulance charity Hatzola, for helping to get Wednesday's incident under control.

"Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain. Thank you to Shomrim, Hatzola and the police for acting swiftly," Starmer said.

"Those responsible will be brought to justice," he vowed.

But volunteer Steven Bak, who helped found the group 17 years ago, said: "I think the government needs to do more. They know exactly what they need to do, what they should be doing."

"As an organisation, we're doing our part to protect the community. We need the government to do their part also," he told AFP.

He said they had received the call on Wednesday morning and were at the site within 90 seconds.

Mayor Khan also praised the "heroic volunteers for their response".

"London's Jewish community have been the target of a series of shocking antisemitic attacks," he wrote on X.

"There must be absolutely no place for antisemitism in society."

P.Thomas--SFF