Jones visits Paramatta mosque
AIJAC’s Jeremy Jones has laid flowers at the Parramatta site at which police employee Curtis Cheng was gunned down last week.
Neil el-Kadomi and Jeremy Jones
Jones lays flowers at the spot where Curtis Cheng was murdered
The Director of International & Community Affairs of The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council had been attending a specially convened prayer meeting at the site of brutal murder of police employee Curtis Cheng, shot in cold blood last Friday by 15-yr-old Farad Jabhar.
Jones, in his capacity as a member of the Police Multicultural Advisory Council, read psalm 23 in Hebrew and English with others prayers being recited by members of the Christian and Hindu communities.
After laying flowers at the spot where Curtis Cheng lost his life, Jones headed towards the Parramatta Mosque from where Jabhar had left on what was to be date with destiny wearing black robes and carrying a loaded revolver.
Jones told J-Wire: “My intention was to meet up with Neil el-Kadomi, the president of the mosque and offer him support. I wanted to reinforce the message of using dialogue to combat extremism. I had met him some time ago at the Misrachi shul in Bondi at which we were celebrating an Order of Australia being awarded to a mutual Jewish friend.”
El-Kadomi was at the mosque and the two men spoke of the value of being able to live a full life following your religious beliefs but being able to do it inclusively rather than exclusively. Jones told J-Wire that Jews and Muslims have lived peacefully within the overall Australian community for two centuries.
Jones told J-Wire: “I told him that religion cannot be used as a tool to say that all those not practising your brand are bad. That contradicts the very essence of multiculturalism. He agreed.”
