events
European Muslim Forum, Hamburg
29 – 30 March 2019
Muslim leaders of Europe are urgently meeting in Hamburg. Special guest – the Imam of the Mosque of Christchurch.
On March 30, the European Muslim Forum, exactly two weeks after the inhuman tragedy in Christchurch, New Zealand, convenes an Emergency Meeting with the participation of European Muslim leaders to discuss issues of countering the growth of Islamophobia, far-right sentiment and racism.
The meeting will be held in Hamburg – the Federal State of Germany with the largest percentage of the Muslim population. The EMF announces the main leitmotif of the emergency meeting as following: necessity to prevent the recurrence of tragedies like the one that happened in New Zealand and to develop a roadmap of measures for a joint European response to this monstrous bloody provocation.
There is no doubt that this cynical action was planned in advance and aimed at intimidating Muslims not only in New Zealand, but in general in all countries of the Western World and primarily in Europe.
Moreover, the attacker himself declared a desire to pit against each other as many people, communities and countries as possible, first of all, Muslims and Christians, to achieve his insane goal. At the same time, the terrorist attack in Christchurch exposed the growth of anti-Islamic hysteria and far-right sentiment in many European countries. It is necessary to do everything possible so that this inhuman cruel attack in Christchurch receives the most severe response from the Continent's authorities, condemnation from the entire world community, so that any repetition of the tragedy is made impossible. Unfortunately, the recent events in and around the Middle East also fail to contribute to stability and unity.
All the more important are measures to foster mutual understanding and trust. Therefore, on the eve of the Hamburg meeting, the EYF leadership held a meeting with the President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, and the Head of the Lutheran Church of Iceland, Bishop Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir
Meetings with many other European leaders and heads of confessions are being prepared in order to express solidarity and compassion for the joint countering of hatred and violence.
It is noteworthy that the Imam of the Al Nur Mosque in the New Zealand town of Christchurch, Gamal Ali Fauda, urgently arrives in Hamburg to share sorrow and solidarity with his European brothers and sisters! The meeting of the leaders of Muslims of Europe will end with a visit to the Mosque of Hamburg with the same name “Al Nur”, as in Christchurch, in order to demonstrate the unity of Muslims all over the world.
It is also significant that this Hamburg mosque is located in the building of a former Christian church, which by the decision of the inhabitants of Hamburg was transferred to the Muslim community of the city. And this is a clear confirmation of the unity of goals and aspirations of representatives of the Muslim and Christian communities of Europe to strengthen good neighbourly relations and mutual support.
All these symbolic aspects are the best response of the representatives of the Abrahamic communities to the attempts to oppose each other with inhuman attacks on mosques and the massacres of believers. This testifies the transformation of the strategic partnership and interaction of these communities of Europe into a factor of stability and strengthening of peace, security, human rights and freedoms at the global level.
Executive Committee of EMF
On March 30, the European Muslim Forum, exactly two weeks after the inhuman tragedy in Christchurch, New Zealand, convenes an Emergency Meeting with the participation of European Muslim leaders to discuss issues of countering the growth of Islamophobia, far-right sentiment and racism.
The meeting will be held in Hamburg – the Federal State of Germany with the largest percentage of the Muslim population. The EMF announces the main leitmotif of the emergency meeting as following: necessity to prevent the recurrence of tragedies like the one that happened in New Zealand and to develop a roadmap of measures for a joint European response to this monstrous bloody provocation.
There is no doubt that this cynical action was planned in advance and aimed at intimidating Muslims not only in New Zealand, but in general in all countries of the Western World and primarily in Europe.
Moreover, the attacker himself declared a desire to pit against each other as many people, communities and countries as possible, first of all, Muslims and Christians, to achieve his insane goal. At the same time, the terrorist attack in Christchurch exposed the growth of anti-Islamic hysteria and far-right sentiment in many European countries. It is necessary to do everything possible so that this inhuman cruel attack in Christchurch receives the most severe response from the Continent's authorities, condemnation from the entire world community, so that any repetition of the tragedy is made impossible. Unfortunately, the recent events in and around the Middle East also fail to contribute to stability and unity.
All the more important are measures to foster mutual understanding and trust. Therefore, on the eve of the Hamburg meeting, the EYF leadership held a meeting with the President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, and the Head of the Lutheran Church of Iceland, Bishop Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir
Meetings with many other European leaders and heads of confessions are being prepared in order to express solidarity and compassion for the joint countering of hatred and violence.
It is noteworthy that the Imam of the Al Nur Mosque in the New Zealand town of Christchurch, Gamal Ali Fauda, urgently arrives in Hamburg to share sorrow and solidarity with his European brothers and sisters! The meeting of the leaders of Muslims of Europe will end with a visit to the Mosque of Hamburg with the same name “Al Nur”, as in Christchurch, in order to demonstrate the unity of Muslims all over the world.
It is also significant that this Hamburg mosque is located in the building of a former Christian church, which by the decision of the inhabitants of Hamburg was transferred to the Muslim community of the city. And this is a clear confirmation of the unity of goals and aspirations of representatives of the Muslim and Christian communities of Europe to strengthen good neighbourly relations and mutual support.
All these symbolic aspects are the best response of the representatives of the Abrahamic communities to the attempts to oppose each other with inhuman attacks on mosques and the massacres of believers. This testifies the transformation of the strategic partnership and interaction of these communities of Europe into a factor of stability and strengthening of peace, security, human rights and freedoms at the global level.
Executive Committee of EMF
