Standing in Solidarity

Uniting Church members joined Muslims, Jews, and other members of the community in a vigil to show solidarity with the victims of the recent Christchurch mosque attack.

The event took place at Town Hall square on Thursday 21 March and gathered a diverse cross-section of Sydney’s community. It coincided with Harmony Day.

Uniting Church minister and Exodus Foundation CEO Rev. Bill Crews told those assembled that the Christchurch attack was “evil at its worst.”

Rev. Crews encouraged those gathered to speak to someone that they had never met before, as a sign of the peace that they stood for.

“Bringing love and bringing peace is up to each of us,” Rev. Crews said.

“Each one of us can be a sign of that.”

Vic Alhadeff is the CEO of the Jewish Board of Deputies. He said that the Christchurch attacks were an example of a wider endemic prejudice that had taken hold in recent years. Mr Alhadeff cited racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic pamphlets distributed by the neo-Nazi group Antipodean Resistance last year as an example of this white supremacy becoming visible.

The Jewish Board of Directors recently launched a fundraising initiative to raise money for victims of the attacks. At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $65,435.

Read the official Uniting Church statement regarding the Christchurch mosque attack.

Jonathan Foye is Insights’ Editor