wfn.org | UAHC statement "We Add Our Voices in Outrage and Mourning"

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Emily Grotta
UAHC Director of Communications
(212) 650-4227
EGrotta@uahc.org
http://uahc.org

"We Add Our Voices in Outrage and Mourning"
Statement by Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie
President, Union of American Hebrew Congregations
October 12, 2000/13 Tishrei 5761

We read today of the tragic and frightening news of the violent behavior of
a mob in Ramallah and their capture and lynching of a group of Israeli
soldiers. We add our voices in outrage and mourning to those of the
soldiers' families and the whole nation of Israel.

This horrible act only serves to heighten the sense of isolation and
vulnerability among the Jewish citizens of Israel. At this time the most
salient message we can send to them is that they do not stand alone. In
gathering today as we do, we reaffirm to them-and to the world-that we stand
with them and with the government of the state of Israel in these ominous
and dangerous times. We commit ourselves to defending the safety and
security of the State of Israel and its citizens.

We recognize that a common commitment to peace, and an ability to provide
security for all citizens, is a necessary prerequisite for a lasting peace.
Peace will never be achieved in the streets. And peace cannot be made with a
mob. We fear for a larger conflict, with more bloodshed on all sides, and we
pray for a return to diplomacy. We demand that Chairman Arafat and other
leaders of the Palestinian community denounce the lynching, call for an end
to mob violence, and take the necessary steps to restore stability in the
West Bank. Only in this way can they demonstrate that they prefer the path
of peace to the way of war.