The top official for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
has strongly condemned the attack Saturday on a synagogue in
Southern California, denouncing the deadly incident as a hate
crime targeting Sabbath worshipers on the last day of Passover.
According to news reports, on Saturday, a gunman armed with a
semiautomatic rifle entered a synagogue in Poway, California,
some 40 kilometres north of San Diego, yelling anti-Semitic
slurs, and opened fire. The attack left one woman dead, the
rabbi and two others wounded.
This incident comes in the wake of a series of attacks against
mosques, synagogues and other places of worship in the past
months, including the Easter Sunday suicide bombings targeting
churches in Sri Lanka that killed more than 250 people. Last
month, dozens of worshippers were gunned down at two mosques in
Christchurch, New Zealand.
In a statement, UNAOC High Representative Miguel
Moratinos reiterated that such cowardly attacks are not
confined to one religion, country or ethnicity.
Mr Moratinos also stressed that this spate of violence against
houses of worship targeting innocent and peaceful citizens
“should not obstruct our efforts to combat hatred, anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination.”
He vowed to continue to work on developing his Plan of Action
for safeguarding religious
sites to guarantee that worshipers can observe their
rituals in a spirit of peace and compassion.
On behalf of UNAOC, the High Representative expressed his deepest
condolences to the family of the victim and wishes those who were
injured a speedy recovery.
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations was established in
2005, as the political initiative of former UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, and co-sponsored by the Governments of Spain and
Turkey. A High-Level Group of experts was formed to explore the
roots of polarization between societies and cultures, and to
recommend a practical programme of action to address the issue.
