January 17, 2022
IJMA – Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance
On this Martin Luther King Day, we the members of IJMA are determined to respond to the hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. We are grateful that the situation has resolved with all hostages safe and we pray for healing of the hostages, their families, and the entire Colleyville community. We are a bipartisan coalition of American Muslim and Jewish leaders, and others, who are united in our efforts to promote understanding and comity between our two communities and across the entire country.
We stand united in the bedrock belief that our faiths are not compatible with antisemitism, and each of us strongly condemns this act of violence. We know words of condemnation are not enough. We will respond to all forms of bigotry targeting our communities through outreach and education, and will call on others to join us in fighting for change. We also call upon the US Senate to pass the bipartisan Pray Safe Act (S.2123), which would establish a federal clearinghouse on security best practices for houses of worship, and to fully fund nonprofit security grants to keep our communities safe.
Opportunists may seize upon this moment in attempts to divide our communities. They may attempt to appropriate this incident to push antisemitic or Islamophobic rhetoric.
We will not let them. We will stand arm and arm, united against hate, seeking a more tolerant, united, and loving America. We walk alongside Congregation Beth Israel as Muslims and Jews, and we cannot be divided.
The Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance (IJMA) was founded in January 2019 by individuals and communal organizations of the two communities, to work together on projects that serve the interests of the entire nation. One of our priority projects is addressing bigotry in each community directed towards the other community, through outreach and educational efforts.
Signed:
Raheemah Abdulaleem, lawyer
Mohamed Abubakr, President of the African Middle Eastern Leadership Project
Atiya Aftab, co-founder of the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom
Majid Alsayegh, Chairman of the Dialogue Institute
Adnan Ansari, Executive Director of Muflehun
Imam Abdullah Antepli, Duke University professor and co-director of Muslim Leadership
Initiative of the Shalom Hartman Institute
David Bernstein, Founder, Jewish Institute for Liberal Values
Marshall Breger, Professor of Law at Catholic University
Dr. Georgette Bennett, Founder & President, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious
Understanding and Founder, Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees
Rabia Chaudry, attorney and author
Richard S. Cohen, President of The Walden Group and Marcia’s Light Foundation
Richard Foltin, religious freedom policy expert and advocate
Maital Friedman, co-director of Muslim Leadership Initiative of the Shalom Hartman Institute
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
Wade Henderson, Interim President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and
Human Rights
S.A. Ibrahim, former CEO of Radian Group Inc. and interfaith leader
Rizwan Jaka, Chair of Interfaith & Government Relations, All Dulles Area Muslim Society
Suhail Khan, Vice President of IJMA
Moses Libitzky, businessman and community leader in the San Francisco Bay Area
Imam Mohamed Magid, Executive Religious Director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society and
Chairman of Interfaith Peace Corps
Melanie Nezer, Senior Vice President of HIAS
Sheryl Olitzky, co-founder of the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom
Daphne Price, co-founder of IJMA
Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Imam Talib Shareef, Masjid Muhammad, the Nation’s Mosque, and
Vice Commander of the Muslim Americans Veterans Association
Robert Silverman, President of IJMA
Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America
Rabbi David Wolpe, Max Webb Senior Rabbi, Temple Sinai, Los Angeles
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