BY REV. GAIL LINDSAY MARRINER AND
REV. VICTOR NELSON
Acting Co-Presidents
Interfaith Leadership Alliance of Santa Fe

We have been watching the news from Israel and Gaza this past month; watching and praying and grieving. Though we are clergy we have been at a loss for words to express our grief and dismay. We are horrified by the violence. We grieve the senseless loss of life and the deep trauma experienced by all involved. We watch with deep concern as tensions continue to escalate in Israel, Gaza and in our own community.

As leaders of the Interfaith Leadership Alliance of Santa Fe we condemn the unspeakable terror attacks from Hamas on Israeli civilians, and the taking of innocent hostages. There can never be justification for such an attack.

We mourn the harm to innocent civilians caused by the Israeli government’s retaliation against Hamas in Gaza, and implore the Israeli government to do all it can to protect innocent civilian life and avoid further escalating military action.

We call on people of faith here in Santa Fe to speak out against all anti-Semitism and Islamophobia that may be enflamed by this conflict. We are still one community.

We pray for peace and an end to this humanitarian crisis.

Editor’s note: Events in the Middle East have led to the creation of an entity called the Jewish Community Relations Coalition of New Mexico (www.jcrcnm.org), according to Rabbi Jack Shlachter.  JCRCNM, which includes the Los Alamos Jewish Cente as a signatory, developed a document expressing our views which can be found at https://www.jcrcnm.org/_files/ugd/44f834_21423e7b836b4a43bf40b1f008c0d19e.pdf.