Op-Ed: We Stand With the Muslim Community

From the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center

125 days ago we issued a statement that began:

"To say once again, "our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families," rings hollow. It does not adequately convey the deep sorrow, pain and anger that we feel. We mourn any death. How do we mourn death when it happens in the very place we seek solace, peace, and respite from the world?"

Tragically, these words echo in our hearts again today.

The heinous attacks at the Masjid Al Noor Mosque next to Hagley Park, and at the Linwood Masjid Mosque in the suburb of Linwood, Christchurch, killing 49 people are yet another manifestation of the incomprehensible evil that springs from philosophies of prejudice, intolerance and hate.

We join with the people of Christchurch and with the Muslim communities around the world in grieving for those who were murdered and those who are injured and their families. The perpetrators must be brought to swift justice and the world must unite in opposition to those who wish to foment hate.

The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center solemnly pledges to fight such racial hatred by educating our youth, creating upstanders and defending human rights with the hope of preventing such horrors in the future.

Joseph Kaidanow, Chairperson

Millie Jasper, Executive Director