• Issues Warning of  Rising Trend of Hate Crimes against Religious Adherents

KAICIID’s Interreligious Board of Directors, composed of religious leaders from five major world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism) issued the following statement on the murder of Mireille Knoll, a survivor of the Holocaust, in Paris, France:

“We condemn unequivocally the brutal murder of Mireille Knoll in Paris, France, and are troubled by the suspicions that she was targeted because of her religious identity and beliefs.. Ms Knoll’s murder is a tragedy in itself, and more so because she was a survivor of the Holocaust, one of the worst human atrocities in our common history. This heinous and cowardly attack indicates a worrying trend of vulnerable people killed for their faith. We view with growing concern the marked rise in recent times in hate speech, and hate crimes, against people of faith, not only in France, but indeed in many parts of the world.

We call on people, everywhere, and in particular leaders of all religious communities, and policymakers, to step up their efforts to reinforce the values of common citizenship and coexistence among all people, and to do more to stem this growing tide of hatred by reaching out to other religious communities to model dialogue.

We stand united against acts of religiophobia and discrimination of any kind. No religion, and no religious community, is immune from hate crimes. The only defense against them is to drive out the source of the hate itself, which is often ignorance of the Other, and to strive to shape societies in which people of all faiths and none are equally respected and treasured.”