Religious Groups Unite in Solidarity for Ukraine
By Phil Pasquini
Washington: Considering the outpouring of support, empathy and outrage for Putin’s war on Ukraine broadcast continuously by the media that Ukraine has deservedly received in the most devastating military act of aggression and death in Europe since WWII, one must ask why are not all the other countries who are and continue to face such wanton killings and death of innocent civilians not receiving the same media exposure worldwide of concerted attention, condemnation and assistance?
Where is the moral outrage, sanctions and empathetic prayers from people of good conscience along with the intense media coverage informing the world of their suffering under relentless attacks and killing? If we are one human race as many espouse, why does the suffering of some take moral precedent over that of others? Can it be that the lives of Europeans and the inhabitants of modern Western developed nations are more important than those of non-European nations?
Dr Martin Luther King Jr put it even more succinctly when he said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
In a show of unity from religious leaders on March 16 members from a consortium of Jewish organizations and synagogues calling themselves “Jews for the People of Ukraine” demonstrated their support for solidarity with Ukraine and an end to Russia’s invasion and horrific war. Among them were representatives of the Christian and Muslim communities in a show of unification and solidarity.
On an empty lot across the street from the Russian Embassy those gathered heard from several speakers all of whom reflected on the war and killings of so many innocent victims that has enveloped the sovereign nation with such devastating consequences.
“We are all Ukrainians” was the sentiment that encapsulated their efforts to pray and sing for an end to the devastation that has affected so many lives. Many of those gathered spoke of their Ukrainian roots or of their migration to the US from there.
The demonstration was fitting in that it was the first day of Purim, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people in the 5th century BCE when Persian rulers were planning to have all their Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Bible’s Book of Esther. The saving of all Ukrainians regardless of their religious or ethnic origins was reiterated by the many rabbis and others who spoke at the protest. Among them was Archbishop Borys Gudziak of Ukrainian Catholics in America of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
The archbishop who has been busy making the rounds at demonstrations and press briefings was again speaking on behalf of all Ukrainians in a gesture of unification and compassion for both victims and refugees that the war has created. He pointed out that thus far the monetary damage and destruction brought upon Ukraine has been estimated at $565 billion, but among such bad news of killings and death was the good news that “Ukraine has won this war morally” and that the war has created a new unification in Europe. And, too, that at last both Democrats and Republicans have found something they can agree upon and that is a “miracle.”
(Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.)
