Members of religious groups from across Metro Vancouver gathered at an event Sunday to call for peace and an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Dozens of people from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities gathered at the Baitur Rahman Mosque in Delta, British Columbia, for Voices of Peace, a national campaign launched by Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Canada.
The gathering began with prayers led by each religious leader and was followed by a roundtable discussion during which community members were able to ask questions and share concerns.
Imam Umran Bhatti of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at hopes that bringing different faith groups together can ease the growing polarization following the Israel-Hamas conflict and ultimately bring peace to the Middle East.
“Regardless of our religious background, whatever our teachings, we must come together and promote love for all, hatred for none and call for a ceasefire in the Middle East where innocent people are losing their lives daily” , Bhatti said. said.
Laura Duhan-Kaplan, professor of Jewish studies at the Vancouver School of Divinity and rabbi emeritus of Vancouver’s Or Shalom Synagogue, says a message of peace and hope in dark times is especially important this week so that the Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah.
“We are seeing violence, harassment, intimidation, vandalism and other types of hate crimes, and I think it is very, very important that Canada’s spiritual leaders and religious leaders come together and say we want a peaceful multicultural society here. » said Duhan-Kaplan.
In a statement released in early November, British Columbia’s human rights commissioner, Kasari Govender, said the conflict between Israel and Hamas had led to an increase in hate incidents and violence against Jews and Muslims of the province.
Jaynas Prasad of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Surrey, British Columbia, said the event was emblematic of how greater unity can be achieved.
“There’s a lot of grief seeing what’s happening in the Middle East and so as we come together, we shake hands, we hug… I think (we can) achieve some sort of – not a conclusion – but ideas on how we can help our community get through this crisis,” Prasad said.
Fighting in the Middle East began on October 7 when Hamas militants staged surprise attacks in Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. In response, Israel pledged to wipe out Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Since then, around 18,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza, and 49,500 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Around 100 Israeli hostages were freed during a week-long truce that ended on December 1.
Fighting raged across Gaza on Sunday as Israel signaled it was prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Hamas, and a key mediator said willingness to discuss a ceasefire -the fire was fading.
