On this Sabbath day Jews were brutally gunned down in their place of worship, at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while celebrating the baby naming of a new born Jewish infant. Eleven people were killed in the massacre and another 12 injured, including police. The holiness of the Shabbat and the joyous celebration became a scene of slaughter at the hands of an American terrorist, whose anti-Semitism and hate for refugee immigrants, as evidenced by his tweets, were a clear motive. The terrorist was arrested and the FBI has called this a hate crime.
African Human Rights Coalition stands in solidarity with the families and friends of those who died today, and all injured in the Tree of Life Synagogue Shabbat massacre. May the memory of your loved ones be for a blessing and may you heal from all wounds.
We stand with the Rabbi, leadership, staff, board, congregants and the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, with love and in thought and prayer.
We condemn the act of terrorism clearly motivated by anti-Semitism and the hate for refugees, fueled further by the fact that Jews, often refugees themselves through the course of history, continue to be sympathetic to, welcoming of and working toward the resettling of all refugees and asylum seekers, regardless of religion or race.
At African HRC, we will not be intimidated by acts of this nature, as we continue our work, with Jewish leadership and volunteers also at our helm. We will continue to align with HIAS and others in our missions, as we ate African HRC advocate for and work with LGBTQI refugees who escape persecution.
We are also calling on the President of the United States of America to stop the lies and rhetoric that is directly causing a fear and hate for refugees. We are calling all American leaders to come out and condemn anti-refugee statements. Refugees are not to be feared. What is to be feared is the hateful dicta that incites violence of any kind.
