Earlier today, Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders gathered to denounce religious hatred and express solidarity two days after the Bronx terrorist plot was foiled.
They spoke in a joint news conference at the Riverdale Jewish Center, which was one of the two sites targeted by four terrorist suspects who had allegedly planned to detonate plastic bombs outside synagogues and shoot down military planes upstate New York.
The interfaith gathering aimed to send the following message:
“Our purpose is also to express our solidarity with Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt and the Riverdale Jewish Center and Rabbi Judith Lewis and the Riverdale Temple, and our gratitude to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the FBI, NYPD and other law enforcement agencies that comprise it, for the swift action that foiled the plot. As leaders of New York’s diverse communities, we stand together against the poisonous hatred that drove four men to attempt murder and destruction.
At this moment of tragedy averted, we are inspired by the beliefs that unify our communities of faith and our great city and nation: our belief in the inherent dignity of all persons; our belief that our diversity is our strength, and that religious, racial and ethnic bigotry cannot be tolerated. It is these shared beliefs that are the antidote to the hatred and bigotry that endanger us all.“
