By Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport
Southport should be the place where communities come together to ‘shine a light’ after the darkness of the recent tragedy in which three young girls were killed and several other girls and adults were injured in a knife attack.
Phil Rosenborg, the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, spoke at the Walk Of Unity gathering in Southport on Monday where he called on people to put an end to ‘importing conflict and export peace instead’.
He was among Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith leaders, local politicians, community leaders and members of the public who walked together in unity from Southport Mosque on Sussex Road to Southport Synagogue on Arnside Road, where guests chatted and enjoyed a shared meal.
Phil Rosenborg said: “We want to see an end to the death and destruction in Gaza. We want to see the hostages released. We want to see an end to the fighting.
“We all hope that that will happen soon.
“What I think is really important, in the words of the late Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, is that we don’t import conflict, we export peace instead.
Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith leaders, local politicians, community leaders and members of the public today who took part in a Walk Of Unity from Southport Mosque on Sussex Road to Southport Synagogue on Arnside Road. Phil Rosenborg President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews (left) with Maurice Ostro OBE KFO, founder of the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation (right) with copies of the book: Philanthropy, Consensus and Broiges: Managing a Jewish Community, A History of the Southport Jewish Community
By John Cowell. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport
“One of the things I have been determined to do since I was elected President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews is to work with people of different faiths, particularly in the Muslim community, to build what I call ‘an optimistic alliance’.
“An alliance where together we will fight Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, different forms of prejudice, and work together to tackle extremism and to support mainstream voices and cohesion within our society.
“Together we will defend religious freedoms in our society, things like kosher and halal, while we work together to confront problems that we have like poverty, and climate change.
“We will work together to better understand and better relate to problems around the world too, to, as I say, not import conflict but to export peace instead.
Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith leaders, local politicians, community leaders and members of the public today who took part in a Walk Of Unity from Southport Mosque on Sussex Road to Southport Synagogue on Arnside Road. Ibrahim Hussein, Imam of Southport Mosque (left) and Maurice Ostro OBE KFO, founder of the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport
“I am really, really pleased to be here. What I think we can do, from the tragic circumstances that we saw just a few weeks ago, is to begin from Southport in that dark place to begin to shine a light.
“I hope that from here today we can begin to do that, not just here in Southport, but around the United Kingdom as well. I thank all of you for coming, and for having us, and for organising this.”
Organisers of the Walk Of Unity hope that the gathering inspires communities across the country to come together once again as the country continues to rebuild community connection following the riots.
The event was backed by Strengthening Faith Institutions, Together, The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Faiths Forum for London and the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation.
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