Source :  OnIslam & News Agencies / 26 June 2013

Reaping the fruit of community cohesion, a new group has been launched in the British city of Leicester to build on the successful cohesion between Muslims and Christians in Britain.

"The aim is to show people what Christian and Muslim women are doing in Leicester and how they have been coming together for a long time,” Julian Bond, director of the Christian Muslim Forum (CMF), told the BBC News Online on Tuesday, June 25.

"These quiet movements and groups can have a great impact.”

The group, Muslim Christian Women's Network, has been launched at the Women in Faith conference in Leicester.

It consists of members of the Muslim and Christian communities, including Sunni, Shiite, Anglican and Catholic.

The network is part of the Christian Muslim Forum (CMF), which was founded in 2006 following calls for followers of the two religions to work together more closely.

A meeting of the new group was recently hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Another directory to bring together various women's groups and organizations in Leicester was also launched at the conference to encourage these groups to work on women’s issues.

Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority, estimated at nearly 2.7 million.

In 2011, think tank Demo found that Muslims in the United Kingdom are more patriotic than the rest of population.

Responding to the statement “I am proud to be a British citizen”, 83% of Muslims said they are proud of being British.

Cohesion

Supporters hope the group would help build on cordial relations between Muslims and Christians in Britain.

“A lot of good work has been done by mosques since 11 September and 7 July (attacks),”said Anjum Anwar, who was appointed as the only Muslim to work in a Church of England cathedral.

“We want to continue this good work - to create conversation between communities and demystify facts from myths.”

Anwar hopes to replicate the way the church works in Blackburn where she is based.

As for Bond, the director of the CMF, the Muslim-Christian cooperation gives hope to the society to overcome racial attacks.

"This is happening against the backdrop of difficulties of the murder, mosque-building and mosque-burning in recent weeks,"Bond said.

British Muslims have been in the eye of storm since the machete killing of an army soldier by two converts of immigrant origin in Woolwich, near London, last month.

According to Tell Mama project, which monitors anti-Muslim attacks in Britain, 212 “anti-Muslim incidents” have been reported after the Woolwich attack.

The figure included 11 attacks on mosques, in a series manifestation of anti-Muslim sentiments.

In recent weeks, several mosques in Britain have opened their doors to welcome neighbors or even angry, anti-Muslim protesters.

Earlier this month, Bradford mosque organized an event, themed “United We Stand”, to condemn violence in the name of Islam and bring together nearly 400 people of different religions and races.

In London, members of the North London Central Mosque have invited members of the EDL to a friendly discussion about their concerns, reiterating Islam’s opposition to violence.

The invitation was similar to another one extended last week by members of York mosque who invited angry EDL members for refreshments, tea and biscuits inside the mosque.