Reaffirming Our Dedication to Combatting Islamophobia and Antisemitism

This past weekend, in Plainfield, Illinois, a six-year-old Palestinian American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was killed and his mother seriously wounded in an attack that was motivated by animus towards the victims’ Palestinian Muslim heritage; their assailant shouted anti-Muslim slogans as he repeatedly stabbed them. This was the most appalling, but unfortunately not the only spillover of the current violence from Israel and Palestine. In New York City, a Palestinian man, 18, was attacked by men waving Israeli flags, while a couple of juveniles were arrested after they pointed what turned out to be fake guns at a local synagogue.

Since the current crisis between Israel and Gaza started, several Muslim and Arab civil rights organizations report unprecedented anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate incidents not felt since 9/11. Jewish organizations also report a sharp spike in antisemitic incidents.

Amidst this crisis, what steps can we take to combat growing prejudices within our communities and neighborhoods?

All faiths teach the foundational Golden Rule of treating others as we would like to be treated.

In Islam, a prophetic teaching states, “None of you are real believers until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.” (Imam Al-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith, number 13)

The Hebrew Bible commands “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Later Jewish tradition elaborates on this, saying it means that “a person should love to do abundance of good for his fellow-being as he does for himself, and he should place no limitations on his love for him” (Maimonides), while in the New Testament Jesus is recorded as calling on his followers to love even their enemies (Matthew 5:44).

We urge you to consider the following actions:

1. Speak up against antisemitism and Islamophobia if you witness it. Scapegoating an entire group for the actions of others is wrong. Both can lead to violence as we have seen all too often in recent times.
2. Invite a Jewish-Muslim panel to speak about the roots and impact of antisemitism and Islamophobia here in the US and globally, and what we can do together to combat both.  The panels are free of charge. You can schedule a panel here.
3. Speak up when a person from one group dehumanizes the other and justifies the killing of innocent civilians. In times of crisis, it’s all too easy to allow extremist voices to control the narrative out of fear or self-protection. Trust your instincts and act on it.
4. Resist the temptation to stay in your own camp. Learn more about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which began long before the current crisis from reliable sources. Israelis and Palestinians each have their own historical narratives that differ markedly from each other. Building understanding between the two communities requires understanding each narrative and finding commonalities between them. If more people had done this from the very beginning, maybe we would have avoided the bloodshed we’re witnessing today.
5. Get involved in any effort promoting peaceful engagements between Jewish and Muslim Americans and the peaceful co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians. How much more violence against our children do we need to endure before ceasing to hate those we consider the “other” or “enemies”?
6. Support organizations that are working towards peace here in the United States and inside Israel and the Palestinian territories. Your support is needed to outdo the work that is being done to divide communities. It’s never too late to seek out peace, even in crisis. Informing us is the Prophetic tradition: “If the Final Hour comes when you have a seed in your hand, you should plant it.”
7. As people of faith, pray for peace, and join circles of prayers to end the violence in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. 
8. For corporations, make sure that the statements you issue are balanced towards all groups impacted by the crisis. We also provide corporate DEI trainings as well as panels on Islamophobia and antisemitism, which you can schedule here.
9. For schools, make sure you issue statements against any and all forms of bullying in light of the crisis. We also provide educator DEI trainings as well as panels on antisemitism and Islamophobia, which you can schedule here.