Dutchess County rabbis speak out against Islamophobia

POUGHKEEPSIE – A group of rabbis from Dutchess County has banded together to urge residents of the region to embrace all people and not get pulled into hysteria of Islamophobia. “A statement against Islamophobia is a statement against ISIS,” said Rabbi Daniel Victor of Poughkeepsie.
Representing nine rabbis who joined together to speak out, Rabbi Victor said as religious leaders in the Mid-Hudson, they call upon all people in the region “to resist the darkness of the soul, especially that which allows any group to become the target of demagogues and bigots.”
Rabbi Victor said all people should “embrace the light” that is the blessing of many faiths including Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
“As Jews, we have had the experience of being new immigrants and of being a persecuted minority, as well as being barred from immigration because of baseless fears,” Victor said. “Our history teachers us that no good can come of excluding, restricting, or monitoring a single religious or ethnic group. We urge this community and its leaders to continue to show solidarity and friendship towards our Muslim neighbors.”
The rabbi said Muslims “are not enemies of the Jews because one person who has committed an act against a group of Jews happens to be Muslim.”
Rabbi Victor said words of hate should be taken seriously and to “respond with words of respect, tolerance and love to those who are being unjustly targeted.”
He said Jewish people should be spokesmen against a screening policy for any one group. That does not preclude being vigilant and careful, he said, “but it’s a statement that things have gone too far when an ethnic or religious group is being clumped together as a whole.”
As for ISIS, Victor said the terrorist group is a global problem and it needs to be tackled on a global level. Governments have to join together with policies that attack that which fund and fuel the group, he said.
The religious coalition includes Rabbis Leah Berkowitz, Kerry Chaplin, Michael Fessler, Paul Golomb, Miriam Hyman, Neal Joseph Loevinger, Daniel Polish, Brent Chain Spodek, and Victor.