Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
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A smear campaign we like

On Sunday, while rockets were flying out of Gaza into Israeli cities and Israeli airstrikes were targeting terrorist hotbeds in Gaza, quite a different scenario was taking place at a Denver mosque.

Sixty Jews and Muslims of all ages were working side-by-side at the Northeast Denver Islamic Center, making more than 1,000 peanut butter sandwiches for homeless Denverites as a kickoff to Thanksgiving week.

The event, part of a national “Day of Twinning,” was sponsored locally by Rabbi Steven Booth-Nadav’s Wisdom House Denver, AJCommittee and the Multicultural Mosaic Foundation.

After brief introductions and sharing of Jewish and Islamic texts about the commandment to feed the poor, Jews and Muslims started smearing (peanut butter, that is) and wrapping. Then about 10 cars fanned out in central Denver where they gave the sandwiches to homeless people in parks and at shelters.

Energy was high. People were thrilled to be doing this together, and every sandwich was greeted with a sincere “thank you.”

Will this kind of interfaith cooperation in Denver, Colorado, influence Hamas to extirpate its hatred of Israel and let reasonable Palestinians make peace? No.

Does it show adherents of both religions that neither’s faith need be evil — that there is a genuine and vast difference between jihadists and other Muslims? Yes.

Does this contrast illustrate to critics what Israel is up against? Maybe.

Regardless, those 1,000 peanut butter sandwiches brought well-intentioned Denverites together to alleviate the hunger pangs of some of the needy in Denver for a bit. That’s a good thing.

Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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