Hate - is a crime against humanity.

I am a Jew and I have often decried the lack of public outcry from the Muslim community when a synagogue is attacked and Jews are targeted, injured, or killed. If I am to remain true to myself I now must publicly speak out to denounce the attacks on two mosques yesterday in Christchurch,New Zealand. Hate crimes are crimes against humanity. End of story!

NO person should be made to feel unsafe and afraid especially while they are in a house of worship (or anywhere else for that matter) because of their religious or cultural belief. I have no stomach to "hate for hate's sake". A mosque, like a church, synagogue, or temple, should be a safe haven - not a killing ground! I urge all humanity to put aside partisan politic, religious difference, and cultural differences to recognize the human tragedy that has befallen these two New Zealand communities. When we refuse to speak out or to lend a hand in times like this we are passively condoning the dastardly actions taken yesterday.

Speak up. Act kindly. Please, send the survivors and their families your support, your compassion (rachmones), your care...

If you believe in a higher power, or not, isn't important. It costs nothing to act kindly, humanely, with care and respect. The cost of perpetuating this behavior (even tacitly) is incalculable.


Bill Green 3/15/19
note: Rabbi Albert Gabbai (in the photo) presides over my synagogue KKMI, Philadelphia
Sheik Imam Mohammed Shchata, left, and Rabbi Albert Gabbai talk during a public assembly for religious tolerance on September 11, 2010, in Philadelphia. (photo credit: AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek) published in Israel times ​2 April 2015

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