Jewish Religious Leaders Call for a Fast for Peace

Ever since the beginning of the Iraqi crisis, religious leaders from all over the world have made genuine efforts for peace. One such effort was made by Rabbi Waskow, a leader of the peace organization Shalom, which calls upon people to fast for peace. Many religious leaders of various denominations joined in and once more demonstrated that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all anti-war:

We call upon Americans to fast:

To reflect, to seek a truer peace, to pray

In the name of the God of compassion, Who commands us to seek peace and justice…

God calls on us all to seek peace and pursue it.

Yet with deep concern we see the danger that neither the government of Iraq nor the government of the United States is taking this calling as its primary goal…

God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to love the stranger and the foreigner, to do nothing to others that would be hateful to ourselves…

God calls us to feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked, heal the earth, free the mind and spirit…

God calls us to reflect—to think, to feel, and to pray before we act.

Yet we see that with no evidence of any imminent and urgent danger, our government is rushing into a war that threatens to bring death to many families—"our own" as well as those who live in another country. A war that may engulf in rage and destruction an entire region of the world, one that all our traditions hold especially dear…

At this moment of great danger, we turn toward God…³¹

Both in Israel and America, many Jews advocate peaceful coexistence with Muslims and that both sides make sacrifices in order to establish this peace. Jews who advocate peace severely criticize the Israeli policy of violence against the Palestinians as well as the Iraqi war. In its website, Tikkun, a Jewish organization in America, reveals the blunders of pre-emptive military action. News about the anti-war demonstrations in Tel-Aviv in which both Jews and Arabs participated (above left). An article by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, "Why Jews Should Oppose War on Iraq," stresses that Judaism is against all kinds of violence and belligerence.  Yeni Şafak Gazetesi, 1.4.2003

This advertisement, prepared by the Shalom group, explains why sincerely religious Jews have to oppose war. Below is the text of the call, "Fast for Peace." picture - Rabbi Waskow