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Comments (0)An interfaith summit of Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders denounced anti-Muslim bigotry.
In a statement released by the group, which represented the majority of the country’s Jews, Muslims and Christians, participants announced that they came together Tuesday in Washington, D.C., “to denounce categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed against America’s Muslim community.”
The emergency summit was called by the Islamic Society of North America and co-organized by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Representatives from the Reconstructionist movement, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding founded by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella organization of more than 100 synagogues and other Jewish groups, also were in attendance.
Summit participants included the national leadership of the mainstream Protestant, evangelical Christian, Baptist and Catholic churches, as well as Muslim and Jewish leaders.
Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center is among several in the group scheduled to meet with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday to coordinate Muslim outreach efforts with the Obama administration.
The group called upon religious clergy to join efforts to denounce anti-Muslim bigotry and hate violence, saying “leaders of local congregations have a special responsibility to teach with accuracy, fairness and respect about other faith traditions.”
Also Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League announced the formation of the Interfaith Coalition on Mosques to monitor and respond to anti-Muslim bigotry related to efforts to build mosques across the United States. The coalition is expected to begin functioning in about two weeks, according to ADL national director Abraham Foxman.
Palestinian Arrested in Florida for Trying to Buy Weapons
A Palestinian man was arrested in South Florida for allegedly trying to buy stolen weapons.
Abdalaziz Aziz Hamayel is accused of attempting to purchase 300 stolen weapons, South Florida’s WSVN television reported. He said the weapons were headed to “his people,” according to the criminal complaint.
Hamayel, who reportedly is from a village in the West Bank, was arrested in Miami after exiting a plane that originated in Jordan. He has a family friend from his village living in that city, according to the complaint.
The complaint says that Hamayel specifically requested M-16 rifles, 9 mm handguns, and Uzi submachine guns, silencers and grenades, as well as remote detonation devices.
U.S. Television, Film Artists Join West Bank Boycott
More than 150 American television and film artists have signed a letter in support of an Israeli artists’ boycott of performing in the West Bank.
The letter, signed by American actors, writers and directors, was drafted and organized by the Jewish Voice for Peace organization.
Praising the “brave decision” by Israeli theater professionals not to perform in Ariel, the letter says “we salute our Israeli counterparts for their courageous decision.”
“Most of us are involved in daily compromises with wrongful acts. When a group of people suddenly have the clarity of mind to see that the next compromise looming up before them is an unbearable one —and when they somehow find the strength to refuse to cross that line — we can’t help but be overjoyed and inspired and grateful, ” the letter says.
Signatories include actor Ed Asner of “Lou Grant” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”; Cynthia Nixon, Miranda on “Sex and the City”; actor Mandy Patinkin; playwright Tony Kushner, who wrote “Angels in America”; and actor Theodore Bikel.
British artists also signed the petition.
More than 50 Israeli theater professionals signed a petition in late August saying that they will not perform in the new Ariel cultural center when it opens in November. The center, which cost more than $10 million, was built with public funds. Several major Israeli theaters are scheduled to stage productions there this year.
At least 150 Israeli academics and authors also threw their support behind the boycott.
Ariel is one of the largest Jewish settlements in the West Bank.