This morning at IHW: Interfaith partners prayed for peace and the end of war in Gaza and the region.

A meeting of interfaith at IHW brought different perspectives related to Israeli- Palestinian bloody conflict in Gaza, West Bank and South of Lebanon.

Imam Elahi opened the meeting with saying peace is one of God’s name. We call for peace and friendship, but that won’t happen except we agree on two fundamental features in our Abrahamic traditions: Truth and Justice.

Imam Elahi added, we may agree or disagree on every aspect of history of this conflict but we all know this didn’t start on Oct 7th.

There is no justification for 18 days of non-stop brutal bombardments of residential areas, hospitals, mosques, churches, schools, UN shelters and refugees on the streets of Gaza.

Massive killing of over 6000 civilians, half of them women and children in front of the world’s cameras, is a big failure for humanity, for moral principles and human conscience.

To call the Palestinians animals and justify their genocide is an act of racism, and vicious war crimes against humanity.

Imam Elahi ended with a simple question:

Is there any laws that Netanyahu and the Israeli army may respect?

Any respect for the Ten Commandments that say: don’t kill, don’t steal and don’t lie?

Any respect for UN Resolutions or International Law?

Where is wisdom, where is our moral compass? Where are the voices of peace and justice in the world?

All participants shared their words and showed interest in continuity of this dialogue and relationship to bring healing in our state and peace in the Middle East