We understand, given that we work with diverse Muslim communities in the UK, that there is anger about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the large number of deaths in Gaza. The reaction within Israel on the back of the murders of three teenagers has certainly hardened public opinion in the country and we cannot forget that three young Israeli Jewish boys were murdered and who were Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyad Yifrach.
We were also shocked at the brutal murder and burning to death of young Mohammed Abu Khdeir who was an Arab resident in Jerusalem and from the Shuafat neighbourhood of the Holy City. We also empathise and feel deep pain seeing the pictures of young Palestinian children and families killed in air strikes on Gaza and the pictures on social media are graphic and show the pain of mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers coming to terms with the sudden, violent and graphic loss of their siblings, sometimes with the shock captured on mobile pictures as a way of documenting the pain. The pictures tramautise the soul and they should, since they show the processes of death taking over what was once a young healthy living child, just a few hours ago. The pictures and reality, show how fragile we all are and how much we take life for granted. In this holy month of Ramadhan, may we pray for the souls of these innocents who have left us and they should not be forgotten – they had names, loved ones and lives.
We also feel deeply saddened and pained by pictures of rockets and mortars fired into Israel which threaten the lives of many Israelis and make many sharply reflect on a historical sense of persecution and instability. Given this sorry sad state of affairs and the growing sense of injustice and a separation between two sets of people that is now a gulf, we can only suggest the following:
– That we reflect on what we can do to ensure that we value life collectively. Let us also hope that people in the region realise that they are linked not through hate, but through history, religion, culture and sometimes, through their ancestry.
– That we take the time to be aware and vigilant against threats to mosques and against synagogues. Our worship is to the same God, a God of justice and mercy and our places of worship are not places to target any hate towards.
– That we temper our language and whilst people have the right to call to account the actions of any Government, and rightly so, ‘Muslims’ or ‘Jews’ are not responsible for what is taking place in the Middle East today. There are criminal actions and there are collective acts of wanton destruction which should be scrutinised and held to account.
May we all find pray for real peace since no doubt we can all see our sons and daughters in the faces of those young people who have left us and who are at peace.These are the names of the people who have lost their lives in this latest set of actions. They include:
– Naftali Fraenkel,
– Gilad Shaar,
– Eyad Yifrach,
– Mohammed Abu Khdeir,
– And here the names of the other Palestinian dead from this conflict to date.