Israeli-Arab religious leaders hold march for human rights, peace in Jerusalem

Around 200 people gathered in Jerusalem on Sunday for an interfaith march for human rights and peace. 

Religious leaders and participants from all religions practiced in Israel — Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Buddhists — gathered in Zion Square, where they held prayers and sang for peace. From there, they marched towards the Jaffa Gate and concluded the event with a musical performance by the Jerusalem Youth Choir. 

The march was opened by Avi Dabush, CEO of NGO Rabbi's Voice for Human Rights, who said, "It takes a lot of courage to believe in God and man in difficult times. This is our strength and it cannot remain only inside synagogues, churches, and mosques. We have a tremendous responsibility,” Dabush said. “We have superpowers of faith, of treasures of knowledge, wisdom, and of love. We have no choice but to join forces to create a miracle of change and repair. To turn blood into water and war into peace."

A prayer for lasting peace

Sheikh Yunus Amasha, a member of the Supreme Druze Religious Council, read a prayer for coexistence, brotherhood, love, and peace, and said, "Everyone who unites with God flows in him a stream of love, and the most excellent quality of a human being is that he loves others unconditionally, without limits and without reward, and even to the extent that it overcomes and transcends enmity.

"The goal of love is for everyone to be one."

Tamar Elad Applebaum, rabbi of the Reform and Conservative Zion community in Jerusalem, and Haja Ibtisam Mahamid, an Arab-Israeli peace activist, recited a prayer for peace together, "A king who treasures life, the healer of the broken-hearted and the healer of their sadness, please hear the prayer of mothers who were not created to kill each other and not so that we live in fear, anger, and hatred in your world, but so that we know how to give permission to each other to live up to your name,” they recited. 

Rabbi Leah Shakdiel spoke during the event and said, "Belief in God is also faith in man who works in the world to correct it according to the divine vision. The task of correcting the world according to the divine vision falls on all human beings. Together, we must correct a world that works for all human beings according to standards of uniformity and justice for all. We know that there are people who use different religions to sow division and hatred between people, to spread the lust of control of these people over others, to justify violence and wars, to incite quarrels, and to cultivate feelings of revenge.”

Shakdiel continued her speech and said, “Here today, shout loudly because it is a grave sin to use faith in God and the Torah that God gave to the world to sow destruction. We march here today to remind you that leadership and religious leaders have a vital and central role in spreading messages of peace between all people and all nations based on a commitment to the equal value of all human beings and a commitment to justice for all."

The march was planned and executed by Rabbi's Voice for Human rights, along with a coalition of partner organizations.