Conquering without arms ” “

“We strongly deplore the terrible terrorist attack of 15 November, on the Jewish holy day of the Sabbath. May God be full of mercy for the dead and grant a speedy recovery to the injured. We present our condolences to you personally and to the Jewish community”. That’s the text of the letter sent by the Turkish bishops to Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva and to the Vali (Prefect) of Istanbul immediately after the explosion of the car bombs, on Saturday 15 November, in front of two synagogues in Istanbul, crowded for the traditional prayer: 23 were killed in the blasts, over 300 injured. On 20 november two other attacks, in Istanbul, against the English Consulate and a bank, caused 26 dead and 450 wounded. The attacks have been claimedes by extremist Islamic factions linked to Al Qaeda. After the massacres, for the first time, Turkish premier Erdogan paid a visit on Turkey’s senior rabbi and expressed his solidarity with the country’s 35,000-strong Jewish community. “They have struck at all religions”. “We are shocked. By striking the Jewish community they wished to strike at all religions, in Istanbul of all cities, a symbolic city of religious dialogue and friendship”. That’s the comment of Msgr. Georges Marovitch, secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature of Turkey and spokesman of the Turkish Episcopal Conference, in deploring the massacre in the synagogues of Istanbul. “Terrorism has no religion – declared Marovitch –. They struck during the holy month of Ramadan and on the occasion of the Jewish prayer of the Sabbath. Those who perpetrated these massacres are not Muslims but only terrorists. Such acts only reinforce the feelings of religious tolerance in this country. The Jewish community itself has already said it will never leave Turkey because this is its homeland”. As regards the places of worship of the other faiths, “measures of security and control have been reinforced by the police forces”. In the view of the spokesman of the Turkish bishops, this attack “is an attempt to destabilise Turkey just at a time when it is drawing closer to Europe and has stepped up its efforts to curb terrorism and fundamentalism. “Terrorism can be conquered – he concluded – not with arms but with the force of prayer, the only force that can obtain the conversion of hearts. Last Saturday we joined in prayer with a group of Islamic faithful and recited together the 99 names of God. Only God can save us”. Dialogue must continue. “They were moments of great fear. A violent explosion such as I have never heard before. I saw people fleeing, people covered in blood desperately seeking help in a devastated area”. That’s the eyewitness account of Father Lorenzo Piretto, vicar general of Istanbul, in describing the attack on the synagogue of Neve Shalom, one of the two struck by the terrorist outrage, which is situated not far from the convent of the Dominican Fathers and the ancient Genoese tower of Galata. “Turkey – said Father Piretto – has always been threatened by Bin Laden and Islamic extremism. It’s a Moslem country but a secular state. The Jewish community was struck, but together with it the whole of Turkey. The reaction of the city was resolute and composed. Against those few fundamentalists who justified such a gesture there’s the overwhelming majority of the population who reacted by expressing their solidarity with the Jewish community. And just think – recalled Father Piretto – that only three days previously the Rabbi had offered the iftar (the dinner to break the fast of Ramadan) to the religious representatives in this synagogue as a sign of dialogue and friendship between peoples. But the dialogue will continue. The bombs won’t stop it”. Terrorism has no religion. “Terror knows no religion or ideology. More Muslims than Jews were in fact killed in these attacks”. That’s the reflection of the Chief Rabbi of Turkey, Isak Haleva, immediately after his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogana. “The Jewish community is very happy about this visit by the premier which is of great help and comfort to us – said the Rabbi whose son was seriously injured in the explosion -. We feel ourselves very protected in our country”.