Chief Rabbi Lau meets with senior Muslim cleric in joint call for an end to violence in Jerusalem

PM Netanyahu also called on all Knesset members to work to calm the situation on the issue of the Temple Mount.

By JEREMY SHARON
Chief Rabbi David Lau (R) met with Sheikh Muhammad Kiwan (photo credit: Courtesy)
Chief Rabbi David Lau (R) met with Sheikh Muhammad Kiwan
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Chief Rabbi David Lau met with Sheikh Muhammad Kiwan, an imam and chairman of the Council of Muslim Leaders in Israel, on Thursday to issue a joint call for a cessation of violence and calm in Jerusalem following weeks of riots and unrest.
Lau invited Kiwan to his home in Modi’in, where the two religious leaders discussed the need for increasing the values of tolerance in the Israeli education system and expanding opportunities for religious leaders to meet.
“We must call for unity and peace between peoples in order that we can all live together in a better way,” said Lau. “We are the children of one God, and we must live together side by side, and everyone must work in every way to prevent extremism and hatred,” Lau concluded.
Kiwan agreed with Lau’s comments, and said that are many opportunities to bring the two sides together.
“We are meeting with the chief rabbi, who is a friend and like a brother to me, and as heads of the [different] religious communities, we call on all those responsible to prevent violence and to enter into dialogue of peace,” said Kiwan.
“The holy places are a red line and such wildness and the spilling of blood is unacceptable,” he continued.