Jews ‘extend hand of friendship’ to Muslims with Eid cards
The cards were sent by all denominations of the Jewish community to Muslims across the UK
Jack Mendel is the former Online Editor at the Jewish News.
A groundbreaking initiative saw Jews “extend the hand of friendship” to Muslims, sending over 100 cards to to mark the Islamic festival of Eid.
The interfaith initiative follows a project set up by the Joseph Interfaith Foundation (JIF) in 2015 which saw Muslims send Chanukah cards to the Jewish community.
More than 120 card were sent by members of the Orthodox, Reform, Liberal and Masorti Jewish communities, in an programme trying to create stronger relations between the two faith groups.
The card read “I send this message to you as a Jewish person and share with you the celebration of the spiritual message of Ramadan.”
“Judaism and Islam share much more that unites them than separates them. We are united in fighting Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism, and, confronting the small but vociferous and active minority who spread hatred, terror and division.”
“I extend my hand of friendship to you as a Jewish person and join you in working for peace. May it be God’s will that together we will strengthen bonds of friendship and continue to remove religious hatred.”
Cards were sent by JIF to major mosques in London, Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Birmingham, Bradford as well as smaller communities. All of these cooperate with the organisation’s interfaith projects.
Executive Director Mehri Niknam said: “The cards were much appreciated by the Imams who brought them to the attention of their congregations. It is an important way of making a friendly connection between the two communities. We will continue this project and expand it.”
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