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Your view: Announcing run for Ashley Council

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JCC ribbon-cutting celebrates decades of Jewish life in region

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; As a gathering of more than 200 stood in respectful silence, Imam Ismail Mohamad sang out the Islamic call to prayer Sunday afternoon on Public Square.</p><p>This was not a prayer service, however.</p><p>And many &#8212; maybe even most &#8212; of those in the crowd were not Muslims, however, but members of the community come together to stand in solidarity with members of the local Islamic community in the wake of this month&#8217;s fatal terrorist attacks that left 50 worshippers dead at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.</p><p>Surrounding Mohamad on the steps were members of his own religion, as well as faith leaders from Luzerne County&#8217;s Protestant, Catholic and Jewish communities.</p><p>&#8220;As a community committed to certain values of faith, freedom, respect and compassion, we&#8217;re here to declare our support for our Muslim neighbors,&#8221; said Rev. Dr. Robert Zanicky of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre, who came up with the idea for Sunday&#8217;s &#8220;Standing Against Terror&#8221; rally.</p><p>Zanicky and others spoke passionately about the need for interfaith dialogue and understanding.</p><p>But it was, perhaps, Dr. Ibrahim Almeky, the imam at Masjid Al-Noor Mosque in Wilkes-Barre, and his wife, Dr. Azza Almeky, who may have moved the crowd most.</p><p>Both spoke of the horror in seeing worshippers gunned down as they bowed their heads in prayer that fateful Friday half a world away.</p><p>Ibrahim Almeky read a letter to the New Zealand shooter, &#8220;that criminal&#8221; whom he refused to name.</p><p>&#8220;The last thing that those brothers and sisters were doing was praying. They were worshipping. They were mentioning God&#8217;s name,&#8221; Almeky said. &#8220;This is an honorable ending &#8230; God willing they will be rewarded with the highest possible place in paradise.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;As much as you&#8217;ve broken our hearts,&#8221; Almeky added, &#8220;you have brought communities together to understand and to support one another. &#8230; You failed to instill fear in us. Look at the actions of the whole world.&#8221;</p><p>Azza Almeky gave thanks to all who organized the event, including Zanicky, Rabbi Larry Kaplan of Temple Israel; to Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George and city police for their support; as well as the attendees.</p><p>&#8220;It is with great sadness that we stand today to mourn our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in a heinous attack in a place that is supposed to be sacred and holy,&#8221; she said.</p><p>&#8220;He did not only go in and fire at them at one time,&#8221; Azza Almeky said of the shooter.</p><p>&#8220;He proceeded to go in with three or four rounds of firing at the people who had already fallen to be sure that no one was left alive &#8212; a scene that has since been haunting my thoughts,&#8221; she added. &#8220;I cannot imagine how much hate someone must carry in their heart to commit such a crime.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;None of us are born with such hate, and the ability to commit such acts,&#8221; she added. &#8220;So we must ask ourselves, what is fuelling this anger and these horrendous crimes? Ignorance and arrogance.&#8221;</p><p>She called on the group to educate themselves and their children about other people&#8217;s faiths, and also said they should take away games that normalize killing.</p><p>&#8220;Your presence sends a very powerful message, and your sympathy and support means a lot,&#8221; Azza Almeky said. &#8220;We stand together, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.&#8221;</p><p>Addressing the crowd, Mayor George described Wilkes-Barre as a diverse community and called for tolerance of the immigrants who have and continue to build America, such as his own Lebanese parents.</p><p>&#8220;We were all immigrants at one time,&#8221; George said, adding that hate crimes will not be tolerated in the city.</p><p>&#8220;My mom taught us growing up that we were all God&#8217;s children, and we should treat everybody as a brother and a sister,&#8221; George said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Eimaan Shahid, 5, of Exeter, holds up a sign during an interfaith rally on Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square. The Sunday gathering was attended by leaders of the Catholic, Jewish and Muslim communities in response to the recent mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519Muslims1.jpeg-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Eimaan Shahid, 5, of Exeter, holds up a sign during an interfaith rally on Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square. The Sunday gathering was attended by leaders of the Catholic, Jewish and Muslim communities in response to the recent mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519Muslims2.jpeg-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rabbi Larry Kaplan speaks during Sunday&#8217;s interfaith rally. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519Muslims2.jpeg-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Rabbi Larry Kaplan speaks during Sunday&#8217;s interfaith rally. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519Muslims3.jpeg-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Attendees stand to listen during Sunday&#8217;s interfaith rally on Public Square. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519Muslims3.jpeg-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Attendees stand to listen during Sunday&#8217;s interfaith rally on Public Square. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519Muslims4.jpeg-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Imam of the Masjid Al-Noor mosque Ismail Mohamad, left, and Ibrahim Almeky, also an imam and president of the Islamic Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania, stand together before speaking during Sunday&#8217;s interfaith rally on Public Square. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519Muslims4.jpeg-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Imam of the Masjid Al-Noor mosque Ismail Mohamad, left, and Ibrahim Almeky, also an imam and president of the Islamic Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania, stand together before speaking during Sunday&#8217;s interfaith rally on Public Square. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Interfaith rally draws respectful crowd to Public Square</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>