DoubleBurn: mosque and synagogue
[ by Charles Cameron — tipping my hat to a moving interfaith gesture ]
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This past Wednesday, a person or persons unknown torched a mosque in Gdansk, Poland, known to me as the place where Lech Walesa founded the Solidarnosc movement.
Thankfully, the physical damage doesn’t appear to have been complete [upper panel, below]:
What brings this particular event to our attention is the response from the city’s Jewish community [lower panel, above: an image of a current Gdansk synagogue].
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency [JTA] gives us the story:
Polish Jews say mosque torching reminiscent of Kristallnacht
Representatives of the Jewish community of Gdansk, Poland, said the torching of a mosque had “frightening connotations” of the Nazi-inspired Kristallnacht pogroms against Jews.
The association was inescapable, three of the city’s Jewish leaders wrote in a statement Thursday.
“On the eve of the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, during which synagogues were burned in the Free City of Gdansk, the burning of the mosque must bear frightening connotations,” the statement said.
Unidentified individuals started the fire early Wednesday morning. It consumed the mosque’s door and some of the equipment, resulting in damages to the tune of $16,000.
“In the face of this cowardly act of barbarism, Jews of Gdansk cannot stand idly by,” wrote the authors of the statement, Michal Samet, Michal Rucki and Mieczyslaw Abramowicz. “We express our deep indignation against the attack on the temple and the sadness of the fact that it took place in Gdansk.”
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An echo in time.
A powerful analogy, deeply felt.
October 20th, 2013 at 8:07 pm
It would be interesting to read what the reaction of the Muslims was to this interfaith gesture. Also, to see if this starts any kind of interfaith communication of if this is just a one time thing. True tolerance requires ongoing dialogue, a “coming together”. if you will.
October 20th, 2013 at 8:44 pm
I haven’t been able to find a direct answer to your question, Scott, but the image below shows the blessing of an interfaith chapel in Warsaw last year, with Jewish, Christian and Muslim clerics presiding:
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As it happens, Poland recently voted, under protest by both Jewish and Muslim leaders, to continue a ban on the kosher / halal slaughtering of animals.
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I’m under the impression that such bans, and conversely, joint halal / kosher meals and food-halls are providing a common ground for further Jewish-Muslim interfaith dialogue here in the US, from a USC food truck via an Oberlin Coop to a farm in rural Pennsylvania. Animal rights activists may not like it — but it’s certainly an innovative way to encourage mutual recognition, respect and dialogue — over a common cause, and even a common meal.