Contact: Max Rosenblum or Jonathan Edelman
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Washington, D.C., July 31, 2015 -- In response to the overnight terror attack on a Palestinian family in the West Bank, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
It is with equal amounts of horror and heartbrokenness that we awoke to the news of the overnight terror attack in the West Bank that claimed the life of a toddler and badly injured other family members. All indications are that the perpetrators of this violence are Jews, engaged in the kind of “price tag” attacks that have become all too frequent.
The growing phenomenon within Israel of racist incitement violates the values of democracy and compassion. It contributes to an atmosphere in which the violence like that seen last night can occur. Simply put, there can be no place for hate-filled rhetoric or violence in Israel or in any civilized society; these acts must be clearly and loudly condemned by all people of goodwill. We call on the government to use all its resources to swiftly find and prosecute those responsible to the full extent of the law. May the memory of Ali Saad Dawabasha be for a blessing and may his parents and brother have a full recovery from their wounds and find comfort in their memories of his too short life.
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The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose nearly 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis. Visit www.rac.org for more.
