With calls to ban Syrian refugees from entering the United States, starting on Thursday evening a coalition is coming together to call attention to refugees escaping violence in their homeland as a last resort.
To support Syrian refugees and other displaced peoples in the Greater Middle East, starting at 4:45 on Thursday there will be a candlelight vigil at the Japanese American Community & Cultural Center Plaza, 244 S. San Pedro St., downtown Los Angeles.
The vigil will proceed to the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave.
The vigil is organized by CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations, and sponsored by L.A. Jews for Peace among others.
We recognize our country’s failure to fulfill its humanitarian responsibility to provide a sanctuary for Syrian refugees.
Moreover, we condemn how media outlets have capitalized on the horrific attacks in Paris by portraying the Syrian refugee crisis with an overwhelming amount of fear, Islamophobia, and a lack of compassion for the men, women and children fleeing for their lives.
Last week the House of Representatives cast a majority vote of 289-137 to further restrict the refugee entry process into the United States.
Political officials, such as the mayor of Roanoke, VA, even went as far as to exemplify the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, as a precedent for creating similar camps for the Syrian refugees.
This Islamophobia and racism impact the American Muslim, Sikh, South Asian and Arab American communities. They are targeted with harassment and abuse just as they were after Sept. 11.
Mr. Warner, Action Coordinator of L.A. Jews for Peace, may be contacted at http://lajewsforpeace.org/
Public Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LAJP.org
Follow them on Twitter: @LAJews4Peace
