Saltley Gate Peace Group

Last updated February 20, 2019

The Saltley Gate Peace Group, is an inner city interfaith organisation based in Birmingham, England.

Birmingham City in the English Midlands, 2nd highest population of UK cities

Birmingham is the second-most populous city in the United Kingdom, after London, and the most populous city in the English Midlands. With an estimated population of 1,137,100 as of 2017, Birmingham is the cultural, social, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. It is the main centre of the West Midlands conurbation, which is the third most populated urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population in 2011 of 2,440,986. The wider Birmingham metropolitan area is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a population of over 3.7 million. Birmingham is frequently referred to as the United Kingdom's "second city".

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Background

The Saltley Gate Peace Group (SGPG) was initially formed as a joint Christian/Muslim peace initiative in response to the threat of war in Iraq as a part of the growing peace movement in Britain following 9/11.

Christians are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words Christ and Christian derive from the Koine Greek title Christós (Χριστός), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ).

War is a state of armed conflict between states, governments, societies and informal paramilitary groups, such as mercenaries, insurgents and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, aggression, destruction, and mortality, using regular or irregular military forces. Warfare refers to the common activities and characteristics of types of war, or of wars in general. Total war is warfare that is not restricted to purely legitimate military targets, and can result in massive civilian or other non-combatant suffering and casualties.

The group played an active role supporting the Stop the War Coalition in the city and encouraged local activism through a united faith-based front.

The Stop the War Coalition is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars.

It continues to participate in the anti-war establishment along with its other work.

Community

The SGPG has since become more community based, working with various authorities to ensure a better quality of public service for residents in the more deprived areas of Birmingham.

A community is a small or large social unit that has something in common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity. Communities often share a sense of place that is situated in a given geographical area or in virtual space through communication platforms. Durable relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties also define a sense of community. People tend to define those social ties as important to their identity, practice, and roles in social institutions. Although communities are usually small relative to personal social ties (micro-level), "community" may also refer to large group affiliations, such as national communities, international communities, and virtual communities.

The organisation also takes a tough stance on vandalism, racism and crime and encourages inter-religious dialogue. It works closely with Birmingham Citizens and the Birmingham Quaker-Muslim Peace and Social Justice Group.

Campaigns

Amongst its causes has been working with faith leaders to prevent the promotion of glorification of terrorism amongst younger Muslims in the inner city.

Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror among masses of people; or fear to achieve a religious or political aim. It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence during peacetime or in war against non-combatants. The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but gained mainstream popularity in the 1970s in news reports and books covering the conflicts in Northern Ireland, the Basque Country and Palestine. The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the September 11 attacks in New York and at the Pentagon in 2001.

In 2005, the SGPG also called on the West Midlands Police to ban the flying of Pakistani flags in the city during the festival of Eid to prevent racial tensions. This followed a similar ban enforced in London .

In January 2007, the group publicly supported the city's Green Lane Mosque against accusations of extremism, made in the Channel 4 documentary Undercover Mosque.

Founders

The Saltley Gate Peace Group was founded by Methodist minister Simon Topping and community activist Adam Yosef in 2003.

The organisation is currently based at the Saltley Methodist Church in the West Midlands and is supported by Reverend Chris Shannahan, founder of youth programme Yeast in the City.

Sources

Police hunt killer of Birmingham stab victim – Birmingham Mail, March 2009
Man, 20, 'critical' after shooting in shop – Birmingham Post, February 2008
Man gunned down in shop – Birmingham Mail, February 2008
Anger over anti-British hate posters – Birmingham Mail, May 2007
Birmingham's Muslims fear reprisals after anti-terror raids – The Independent, February 2007
Birmingham rocked by terror raids – The Asian Today, February 2007
Terror arrests anger community – BBC News, February 2007
Communities must unite – Birmingham Post, February 2007
Terror arrests: A call for calm – Birmingham Post, February 2007
Community leaders fear raids could be 'damaging – Birmingham Mail, February 2007
Channel 4 accused of creating mischief over portrayal of Black Muslim in Dispatches documentary Black Britain, January 2007
Channel 4 Blasted for Demonising Muslims MD News, January 2007
Mosque launches probe after TV claims Birmingham Mail, January 2007
Faces behind the faith – BBC Birmingham, July 2005
City outrage over pro-Osama poster Evening Mail, September 2004
Muslim leaders outraged by bin Laden posters Birmingham Post, September 2004
Mission alongside the poor The Methodist Church of Great Britain, 2003/2004

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