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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Local faith groups will hold a unity rally this weekend in the wake of the recent deadly terror attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.</p><p>&#8220;Standing Against Terror: United with our Muslim Neighbors&#8221; is slated for 3:30 p.m. Sunday on Public Square.</p><p>Dr. Ibrahim Almeky, the imam at Masjid Al-Noor Mosque in Wilkes-Barre, will speak; as will his wife, Dr. Azza Almeky; Rev. Dr. Robert Zanicky of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre; and Rabbi Larry Kaplan of Temple Israel.</p><p>The goal is to show solidarity and offer prayers from different faiths for peace and understanding.</p><p>Organizers also are encouraging people to bring along &#8220;Posters for Peace&#8221; to show &#8220;that this is truly the Valley with the Heart especially in times of despair and sadness,&#8221; according to Kaplan.</p><p>Almeky, Kaplan and Zanicky sat down with the Times Leader to talk about the event, and how the New Zealand slayings &#8212; as well as October&#8217;s shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh &#8212; have affected them and their congregations.</p><p>Thursday&#8217;s conversation took place at Masjid Al-Noor Mosque, where there is a locked entrance through which guests must be buzzed in.</p><p>That is not new, but contracting Wilkes-Barre police to provide protection during services is. That&#8217;s also something Temple Israel has been doing since the Pittsburgh synagogue killings.</p><p>Edited highlights from the conversation follow.</p><p><strong>TL:</strong> This is the first time I have ever walked into a place of worship with security cameras at the door. How long has it been that way?</p><p><strong>Almeky:</strong> We installed that more than three or four years ago, when we put in the school upstairs. You know, with the shootings at schools in this country. It was for the safety of the school upstairs, and for the families to be comfortable bringing their kids in.</p><p>After New Zealand, I spoke with Rabbi Kaplan about what they do, and we decided to have police, just to be on the safe side.</p><p><strong>TL:</strong> That must be a very terrible feeling to have to do that.</p><p><strong>Almeky:</strong> It is. I spoke with some of the community members, and it is for them, especially for some of the youth &#8212; you know, the idea that when they come to the mosque, somebody can walk in and start shooting when they are here to worship.</p><p><strong>Kaplan: </strong>We&#8217;re doing the same things. As a matter of fact, this morning at the temple keypads were just installed so that members don&#8217;t have to knock at the window for daily worship and have someone open the door. You can imagine the amount of money that we&#8217;ve spent on that &#8212; and on security, because we also have a police officer every Saturday.</p><p>The question is: There have been shootings at churches, so why do churches still feel so secure, you know? Is it that we&#8217;re such a minority?</p><p><strong>Zanicky:</strong> It could be that one level it hasn&#8217;t hit the tipping point in America (for churches). I know there are some large churches in America that do have security, but most churches have not come to that.</p><p><strong>Kaplan: </strong>In Israel, all synagogues have security. Everything has security.</p><p><strong>TL:</strong> Dr. Almeky, do you worry that things will get worse here?</p><p><strong>Almeky:</strong> With the world that we&#8217;re living in nowadays, it is expected. Some people will copycat. This is something also where we have to think about the people in charge making remarks about different people &#8212; say Spanish, Latin Americans, Jewish, or Muslim or whatever &#8212; not knowing that this gives a green light to some people to take it to the next level, which is really dangerous for all of us. Can it happen? Definitely.</p><p><strong>Zanicky:</strong> It certainly could happen here. But here in our little part of the world, we want to say to the Muslim community, &#8220;We&#8217;re with you, we&#8217;re in solidarity. We want you to enjoy freedom of religion and feel safe.&#8221; The more we reach out, the better.</p><p><strong>Almeky:</strong> I think there are a lot of things we can do, and mainly education. When I speak to the congregation, I always say the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had no problem with Christians, with the Jews. There is a whole chapter in the Quran about treating (other religions) fair and good, helping them. We need to educate people about that. Some people think Islam is about killing. No, no! That&#8217;s not at all what it&#8217;s meant to be.</p><p><strong>Kaplan:</strong> In many ways the Old Testament is a much bloodier book than the Quran. On the other hand, the phrase that repeats is &#8220;Love your neighbor as yourself,&#8221; and it doesn&#8217;t say, &#8220;only if that neighbor happens to be an Israelite.&#8221; It says &#8220;love the stranger, because you were strangers in a strange land.&#8221; How could anyone see that and think it&#8217;s OK to go into a mosque and start shooting?</p><p><strong>Zanicky:</strong> For Christians, Jesus &#8212; you know, the Jewish fellow &#8212; says the great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.</p><p><strong>TL:</strong> So Sunday is designed to bring people together. What happens after the crowds go home?</p><p><strong>Kaplan:</strong> Beyond the vigil, when we stand together on Sunday, we are in the early stages of planning more educational activities. There should be panel discussions &#8212; especially in front of groups of young people, for example at the colleges &#8212; it&#8217;s got to become something that&#8217;s regular.</p><p>Religion has to come back. The kids have to see that we have standards and values that we&#8217;re all obligated to follow. Let&#8217;s face it, we have allowed society to ignore religion, to say it&#8217;s not important anymore. If every public school is devoid of a higher authority saying, &#8220;you must be nice to each other,&#8221; then we can expect kids to grow up and not be nice to each other.</p><p>We need to teach that the foundations of our religions are peaceful, and that we have a certain obligation to be good.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">From left, Rev. Dr. Robert Zanicky of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre; Dr. Ibrahim Almeky, the imam at Masjid Al-Noor Mosque; and Rabbi Larry Kaplan of Temple Israel discuss interfaith dialogue during a Thursday meeting at the mosque. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032219Islam3-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>From left, Rev. Dr. Robert Zanicky of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre; Dr. Ibrahim Almeky, the imam at Masjid Al-Noor Mosque; and Rabbi Larry Kaplan of Temple Israel discuss interfaith dialogue during a Thursday meeting at the mosque. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032219Islam4-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Imam Dr. Ibrahim Almeky, of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Masjid Al-Noor Mosque, talks about plans for Sunday&#8217;s &#8220;Standing Against Terror&#8221; rally on Public Square.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032219Islam4-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Imam Dr. Ibrahim Almeky, of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Masjid Al-Noor Mosque, talks about plans for Sunday&#8217;s &#8220;Standing Against Terror&#8221; rally on Public Square.  </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032219Islam2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rabbi Larry Kaplan, right, talks with Times Leader News Editor Roger DuPuis about this weekend&#8217;s planned unity rally on Public Square, which comes in response to the deadly New Zealand mosque shootings. Looking on at left is Imam Dr. Ibrahim Almeky. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032219Islam2-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Rabbi Larry Kaplan, right, talks with Times Leader News Editor Roger DuPuis about this weekend&#8217;s planned unity rally on Public Square, which comes in response to the deadly New Zealand mosque shootings. Looking on at left is Imam Dr. Ibrahim Almeky. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032219Islam1-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ibrahim Almeky, the imam at Masjid Al-Noor Mosque, talks about plans for Sunday&#8217;s &#8216;Standing against Terror&#8217; rally on Public Square as Rabbi Larry Kaplan listens.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032219Islam1-2.jpg</photo3><caption3>Ibrahim Almeky, the imam at Masjid Al-Noor Mosque, talks about plans for Sunday&#8217;s &#8216;Standing against Terror&#8217; rally on Public Square as Rabbi Larry Kaplan listens.  </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>NZ mosque slayings prompt security, plans for unity rally in WB</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

NZ mosque slayings prompt added security, plans for unity rally in Wilkes-Barre