Faith leaders gather in Aylesbury to show unity
Leaders from different faiths stood together in Aylesbury to promote peace and show a united front.
Last updated 26th Oct 2023
With the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine, faith leaders across Buckinghamshire wished to join forces and showcase a united front to residents across the county.
Their aim is to promote peace, deter hate crime, and display healthy interfaith relationships.
Representatives of each faith read out a segment of a joint speech, introduced by the Countess Howe, His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.
A part of the statement read: "It is wrong that the Jewish community here has been the target of hate crimes. It is unacceptable that there has been a more than five-fold rise in antisemitism."
"It is wrong that the Muslim community here has been the target of hate crimes and Islamophobia."
"...we have to respect each other and come together as one community..."
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, the Rabbi of South Bucks Jewish Community, Neil Janes, said: "What we can see is that across Buckinghamshire there's grave concerns about what the future holds, and we, as faith leaders, need to come together and share a message of how we can work together."
Meanwhile, standing alongside Imam Abdul Dayan, the President of the Aylesbury Hindu Temple Trust, Muthu Mardawan, said: "We are living in a society that is so multicultural, so diverse, and we have to respect each other and come together as one community."
Alongside messages of peace, their public address promoted their vision of a society living in love, respect, tolerance justice, an ideal they are working to build for the county.