JCPA Stands with Paris
NEW YORK – Just two days after the terrorist attack by Islamic extremists on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a gunman took several people hostage at a kosher supermarket in Paris. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) expresses its support for the French community, horror and anger at these acts of terrorism, and sorrow for all the innocent lives senselessly lost in these attacks.
“Today, as French Jews were preparing for the Jewish Sabbath, our worst fears were realized as a gunman took hostages at a kosher supermarket as another hostage situation unfolded on the outskirts of the city,” said JCPA President Rabbi Steve Gutow. “Barbaric acts of violence like those seen in Paris this week affect individuals of all faiths and backgrounds, as seen by the victims of the attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices, which included Muslim, Jewish, and Christian victims. These events underscore an unacceptable worldwide resurgence of anti-Semitism and violent acts against Jews and others. It must stop. There is no place in a civil society for such brutal intimidation and violence. We mourn with all the people of Paris for the victims of these attacks. We stand by the Paris Jewish community and all the inhabitants of France at this difficult moment and offer our prayers for peace and restoration of calm and security for all in the city.”
“Our world deserves better than runaway extremism and vicious hate,” said JCPA Chair Susan W. Turnbull. “We must tolerate one another – but we will not tolerate hatred, anti-Semitism, and violence. The situation we witnessed in France is unacceptable anywhere. We pray for all who have been the innocent victims of these crimes against humanity. We call on every responsible civic leader at home and abroad to denounce these acts and take a categorical stand against this runaway extremism and violence – and the anti-Semitism that too often fuels it.”
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JCPA, the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community, serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 16 national and 125 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations.
