Rabbi and Imam Unite for Palestine/Israel Peace In Ridgewood Vigil

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — In the wake of tensions experienced by their Muslim and Jewish constituents, a local Rabbi and Imam in Ridgewood, New Jersey, held a peace vigil in their community Friday, inviting leaders from around the area.

After the recent terrorist attack and fighting in Israel, Rabbi David Fine and Imam Mahmoud Hamza held the "unifying event" in order to issue a "joint public statement calling for peace, harmony, and unity between these communities."

Fine is the rabbi at temple Israel in Ridgewood. Hamza is the president of the Muslim Society of Ridgewood.

Among the hate crimes that have occurred nationwide amid tensions, a landlord is accused of stabbing a Palestinian 6-year-old to death in Illinois.

Hamza said, "Rabbi Fine and I have been close friends and neighbors for over 15 years. We reached out to each other a few days ago and decided it is important for the leaders of the Jewish and Muslim community in Ridgewood to come together in a unified stance for peace and unity."

At the event, at Van Neste Park, the pair was joined by other leaders, including from local towns and school boards, to release this statement:

Here in Ridgewood, we are one community. There isn’t your community or my community. There is only our community. We recognize the pain and suffering of all those affected in our community by the crisis in the Middle East; We the community and faith leaders, of Muslim, Jewish, and other faiths urge respect during these tragic times in the Middle East; We agree in condemning terrorism, mourning the loss of innocent life - regardless of faith or ethnicity – and coming together as a community.

While we may disagree on political and other issues, we are all bound by a common decency as neighbors and as Americans. We urge our fellow citizens to remember that what unites us is far greater than what divides us and that we agree on far more than we disagree. We ask our fellow citizens of opposing views to respect and to listen to each other, to show empathy and to set an example for our community and nation in civil discourse.

We completely denounce any act of violence, Islamophobia, Antisemitism or disrespect here in the United States in the name of any cause.

We hope for a world of safety, security, freedom and self-determination for all; Israelis and Palestinians alike. We are fortunate to call the United States our home where we live in peace, safety and freedom amongst our diverse faiths, ethnicities and viewpoints.

We pray for that same peace, safety and freedom for Christians, Jews and Muslims alike in the Middle East and call for mutual respect for human rights for all and an end to the violence.

God bless all of our neighbors and these United States of America.

A video is here.