‘Love and unity will defeat hate’
THE rabbis of the Pittsburgh synagogue where a gunman massacred 11 worshipers during Sabbath prayers have urged mourners at an interfaith memorial service to embrace tolerance and unity, while the mayor vowed to “defeat hate with love”.
Themes of inclusion and compassion dominated the speeches delivered to an overflow crowd of some 2500 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Soldiers and Sailors Hall on Sunday, as speakers decried the rise of toxic political discourse widely seen as creating an atmosphere conducive to violence.
Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers elicited shouts of “vote” from the audience as he called on political leaders, starting with “those in the room,” to help put an end to hate speech.
“My words are not intended as political,” he said from the stage. “My mother always taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.”
The gunman, Robert Gregory Bowers, opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons during worship services inside Tree of Life Synagogue, killing eight men and three women before a tactical police team tracked him down and shot him. He expressed hatred of Jews during the rampage and later told police that “all these Jews need to die”.
All 11 of the dead were middle-aged or elderly. They included intellectually disabled brothers and a husband and wife. The youngest was 54, and the oldest was 97.