by Dana DiFilippo
NewsWorks
The mayor — a longtime defender of the Muslim community — pointed at more than 100 Muslims who gathered for afternoon prayers and told them: “You are America. Hopefully, a generation from now this will be a bad memory… I am telling you: We will get through this.”
City Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez, police Capt. Mike Cram, and others also stood to voice support for the community.
“My parents were both refugees from the Holocaust. I know what it means when America’s borders are closed,” said Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, director of social justice programs at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. “Islamophobia is no different from anti-Semitism. It destroys democracy.”
Jacob Bender, executive director of the Council for American-Islamic Relations’ Philadelphia chapter, handed out Know Your Rights cards and urged anyone encountering harassment or hate attacks to contact them for help. Read more…
