Other items in today’s column include:
*Jewish nonprofits
*In memoriam
SAN DIEGO — In an international Zoomcast Tuesday, the secretary general of the Muslim World League invoked the shootings at Chabad of Poway and the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, along with other attacks on worshipers in Christchurch, New Zealand; Sri Lanka, Monsey, New York, and Halle, Germany, to call for world unity in fighting “the forces of hatred and intolerance.”
Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa was honored by the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement and the American Sephardi Federation with their very first award for fighting against anti-Semitism. Earlier this year, Al-Issa led a delegation of Muslim leader to Auschwitz, and after touring the death camp, attended Shabbat services at a Polish synagogue.
In an acceptance speech, Al-Issa, a former Justice Minister of Saudi Arabia, said “the 1.1 million murdered at Auschwitz were human beings just like any Muslim and even though it has been 75 years since the gates of the Auschwitz death camp were torn down, creating a better world for future generations is a constant struggle that we must not give up on.”
“There are those who still try to falsify history who claim the Holocaust, the most despicable crime in human history, is fiction,” Al-Issa said. “We stand against these liars no matter who they are or where they come from for denying history can only serve to further the aims of those who perpetrate the hateful ideas of ethnic, racial, or religious purity. Genocide tragically persists as a modern threat. We encountered it in Darfur, where thousands of Darfurian men, women and children were wrongfully targeted. We also saw it in Rwanda, and even in Europe only decades after the Holocaust. The world failed to stop the senseless massacre of Muslim men and boys in Bosnia, and even now today, the plight of the Rohingya people in Myanmar goes on. The lessons of the Holocaust are universal, and Muslims have a responsibility to learn them, heeding the warnings of history and standing as part of the international community to say ‘Never Again.'”
The secretary general added that “true Islam opposes these despicable and deplorable crimes. The teachings of Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, shows us that they are among the most heinous and atrocious crimes ever committed. That is what true Islam deems an ultimate insult to the dignity of those who perished. But the phrase ‘Never Again applies to much more than just the Holocaust; it should also apply to our unified opposition to prejudice and discrimination based on race, religion, gender, creed, ethnicity, or any such category.”
During the ceremony, a panoply of world leaders involved in combating anti-Semitism and fighting bigotry spoke in praise of Al-Issa. They included Malcolm Hoenlein and William Daroff, respectively the executive vice president and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Elan Carr, the U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism; U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback; Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rappoteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief; Besiana Kadare, the Albanian Ambassador the United Nations; Laziza Dallil and Elmehdi Boudrah, cofounders of a program in Morocco to teach lessons of the Holocaust; Mark Wilf, chairman of the Jewish Federations of North America, and Lebanese-born Rabbi Elie Abadie, who now is a U.S. citizen. A common theme of their short talks was that Muslims and Jews have lived harmoniously in the past, and could do so again.
Sacha Roytman-Dratma of the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement, who presented the award to Al-Issa, and Jason Goberman, executive director of the American Sephardi Federation, helped organize the 80-minute tribute.
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Jewish non-profits
*In an accompanying article, Beth Sirull, president and CEO of San Diego’s Jewish Community Foundation, says Jewish organizations should consider saving money by collaborating with other non-profits and be open to the possibility of mergers.
*Some 800 rabbis and cantors have signed a letter promulgated by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism that states, “Throughout American history, the right to protest peacefully has been a hallmark of free expression … Protests are a just response to all-too-familiar anger, frustration, and pain. I stand for the right to peaceful protest and call on our nation’s law enforcement and elected officials not to interfere with this bedrock First Amendment expression.” Among San Diego County clergy who signed the letter were:
— Rabbi/Cantor Arlene Bernstein, Congregation Beth Israel
—Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel, Congregation Beth Israel
—Rabbi Mark Hurvitz, Davka.org, and former rabbi of Congregation Etz Chaim of Ramona
—Rabbi Emeritus Martin Lawson, Temple Emanu-El
—Rabbi Dana Magat, formerly rabbi at Temple Beth Israel
—Rabbi Sheldon Moss, Central Conference of American Rabbis, and former rabbi at Temple Adat Shalom
—Rabbi Deborah Prinz, former rabbi at Temple Adat Shalom
—Rabbi Yael Ridberg, Congregation Dor Hadash
—Rabbi Jonathan Stein, Union for Reform Judaism and former rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel
*Jack Rosen, president of the American Jewish Congress, messages: “With an alarming global spike in antisemitism, the decision of the Argentinian authorities to use IHRA’s definition of antisemitism is a crucial step that will contribute to actively combating domestic antisemitism in all its forms. The only Latin American member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Argentina serves once again as an example to be emulated in the region for its commitment to combating antisemitic hate.”
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In memoriam
Shirley (Freedman) Silverstein, 94, died Friday, June 5. Graveside funeral services will be conducted by Rabbi Josh Dorsch of Tifereth Israel Synagogue on Thursday, June 11, at the Home of Peace Cemetery, 3688 Imperial Avenue, San Diego
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com Free obituaries in memory of members of the San Diego County Jewish community are sponsored on San Diego Jewish World by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg.