Justice, humanity must prevail in face of heartbreak

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Our organizations have members throughout the Twin Cities who stand in fierce defense of life and justice during these violent and troubling times. Since the morning of Oct. 7, our hearts have broken over and over — for parents, children and elders trapped inside Gaza with no way out as the bombing escalates; for Israeli beloveds who are missing or known to be dead; for parents who do not know where their children are; for Palestinian loved ones whose safety we fear for at every moment, knowing that as violence escalates in the coming days, there are few ways for them to seek shelter or flee.

With all our hearts, and with all that our Muslim and Jewish traditions teach us about love, we call for justice and humanity in the face of such atrocities. Now is not the time to turn against one another in hate, disregard or ignorance.

Directing anger and vitriol at our Muslim community members and leaders is the antithesis of creating safety for Jews, as we know that antisemitism and Islamophobia come from the same roots: white supremacy and Christian hegemony. Neither of our communities can be safe when such bigoted and threatening behavior is allowed to continue.

We are extremely disturbed to learn of recent threats and harassment directed toward our Muslim and BIPOC colleagues, community members and leaders. These friends and colleagues have reached out to us in recent days to report being called terrorists; being confronted with demands that they make an immediate statement on what's happening in Israel/Palestine; and even being issued direct threats to their physical and emotional safety.

We know that such harassment isn't just happening online or exclusively to prominent public or elected officials. This is happening to Muslims, Jews and people of color all over our communities. Already we have seen this become deadly in the United States. On Saturday a 6-year-old boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was murdered in Illinois because he was Muslim and Palestinian.

We say loud and clear: This violence, harassment and intimidation are absolutely unacceptable, and it must cease immediately.

We also know that we've been here before. We've seen violence and threats toward our Muslim and BIPOC community members escalate in recent decades, including in the wake of 9/11 and during the height of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Each time this happens, we also see a rise in Islamophobic propaganda online and on television, feeding on the very real fear and trauma of this moment and twisting it into something extremely dangerous that becomes weaponized against our Muslim siblings.

It is essential that we have your support in putting an immediate stop to these cycles of white supremacist violence, which are detrimental to Muslim and Jewish communities alike.

We ask our fellow Minnesotans to commit to kindness and to stand up to the racism and fear that is quickly spreading across this country.

Jaylani Hussein is executive director, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Minnesota. Beth Gendler is executive director, Jewish Community Action. Malika Dahir is executor director, RISE (Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment).