American Muslims have condemned the attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, expressing solidarity with the Jewish community and calling it a cowardly assault on a house of worship.
Eleven people were killed when a gunman, identified as Robert Bowers, went on a shooting rampage while shouting anti-Semitic slurs. The attacker is in custody and has been charged with 29 criminal counts including hate crime.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, issued a statement condemning the attack on the Tree of Life congregation.
“We condemn this heinous and cowardly attack on a house of worship, offer heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of all those who were killed or injured and express our solidarity with the Jewish community during this time of shock and grief,”CAIR-Pittsburgh Program Director Zohra Lasania said.
CAIR-Pittsburgh Chapter President Safdar Khwaja also issued a statement:
This barbaric attack on our neighbors, with whom we share our city and have visited and dialogued multiple times, is deeply disturbing and horrifying. Such an act of terror affects all of us. We offer our full support and assistance in the aftermath of this tragedy, and our doors are open at all times to our neighbors. This attack is on American values and principles of humanity, and we all need to come together to restore civilized values to our society. We urge law enforcement authorities to bring to justice all those responsible or complicit in this act of terror.”
The Washington-based civil rights organization also urged all houses of worship and faith-based and advocacy organizations to take extra security precautions.
Meanwhile, American Muslim Institution (AMI), a Washington-based think tank, has also expressed solidarity with victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue.
“We send our condolences to all the families affected by this senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and all their loved ones on this tragic day. We stand united with the people of the State of Pennsylvania and with the people around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives.
“The attack on the Tree of Light Synagogue is an attack on all our houses of worship and the American Muslim Institution mourns with the Jewish community in Pittsburgh for this tragic loss of life,” AMI President Ambassador Islam A. Siddiqui said in a statement.
