Israel – Chief Rabbi David Lau met with Sheikh Muhammad Kiwan, an imam and chairman of the Council of Muslim Leaders in Israel, on Thursday to call for a cessation of violence and calm in Jerusalem following weeks of riots and unrest.
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Lau invited Kiwan to his home in Modiin where the two religious leaders discussed the need for increasing the values of tolerance in the Israeli education system and expanding opportunities for religious leaders to meet.
“We must call for unity and peace between peoples in order that we can all live together in a better way,” said Lau. “We are the children of one God, and we must live together side by side, and everyone must work in every way to prevent extremism and hatred,” Lau concluded.
Kiwan agreed with Lau’s comments, and said that are many opportunities to bring the two sides together.
“We are meeting with the chief rabbi who is a friend and like a brother to me, and as heads of the [different] religious communities, we call on all those responsible to prevent violence and to enter into dialogue of peace,” said Kiwan.
“The holy places are a red line and such wildness and the spilling of blood is unacceptable,” he continued, seemingly in reference to the assassination attempt of Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick on Wednesday night.
Additionally, Prime Minister Netanyahu called on all Knesset members to work to calm the situation on the issue of the Temple Mount and to show responsibility and restraint, according to his official twitter account on Saturday.
The Prime Minister has spoken with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and asked him to work with MKs on the issue.
Tensions have been high on the streets of east Jerusalem and around the Temple Mount compound for weeks, following the Gaza war and Israel’s moves to expand settlement building in eastern areas of the city, which the Palestinians want for a capital of an independent state alongside Gaza and the West Bank.
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
What a cute couple!
Now we need for Lau and Yosef to call upon the right wing nutcases like Glick who want to trigger another Infatada to stop or be put in charem. If the Rabbonim don’t speak out, there will be a real bloodbath on har habayis and throughout Yerushalayim. Glick’s shooting was a blessing in disguise in terms of raising the red flag of how high tensions have become.