PORTLAND, Ore. — The Muslim Educational Trust in Tigard hosted a community summit to condemn hate and bigotry as the war between Israel and Hamas goes on.
As hundreds of Oregonians gathered in the same room, Jewish rabbis, Muslim imams and Christian pastors shared similar messages: Violence is not the answer.
“Pray for peace; we should seek peace, but we should also seek for a peaceful solution for the Palestinian people and the Israeli people,” said Muhammad Najieb, an imam at the Muslim Community Center.
For many in the room, the past two weeks have been painful.
“The fear of so many people in my community who have loved ones, family, friends in Israel and who feel a real fear among the Jewish people that I haven’t felt … certainly not in my lifetime," said Rabbi Benjamin Barnett of Harurah Shalom.
For Barnett, the meeting was a chance to acknowledge that many are grieving.
“It’s a very precarious time of being a Jew right now and I want to say also in the same breath, I know that is true for Arab-Americans. I know that is true for Muslim Americans and that’s why I am here today, because I know that we have to be in solidarity with each other,” he said.
Others like Abdula Polovina have personal experience with living in the midst of horrific conflict.
“I am coming from Bosnia," said Polovina, an imam from the Islamic Bosniak Educational and Cultural Organization. "I experienced this devastation, destruction, genocide.”
With that in mind, Polovina asks for unity, for people of all faith backgrounds to come together. He says he refuses to be enemies.
“Giving each other support, being there for each other," Polovina said. "Life is short, pray hard."