By ISWM

By ANGELA CARBONE
acarbone@repub.com

Published: Thursday, April 03, 2008, 9:00 PM

WEST SPRINGFIELD – People of different faiths gathered in front of the Islamic Center this evening to express support and censure the violence that the center has suffered in recent days.

“When you hurt, we feel the pain, too,” said Rabbi Jerome S. Gurland, one of several local religious leaders who addressed the crowd of more than 150 people.

The vigil was a show of solidarity with the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, whose center recently was the site of three attacks and threatening phone calls.

Islamic Society president M. Saleem Bajwa welcomed all. “This gives us a feeling that we are not alone,” he said. “For the past 10 days, our Islamic Center has been the target of a campaign of hatred and harassment.”

He said those who vandalized the center are doing a disservice not just to the center, but to the whole community. “This is serious business, and we want (the law enforcement community) to reach to the bottom of this crime,” he said.

Islamic Center members are not angry, Bajwa said. “We are sad, and we are fearful. We are willing to live in peace,” he said. “The Islamic religion stresses peace, love and harmony.”

Bajwa invited the guilty parties to come to the Islamic Center to sit down with members to learn about the Muslim faith.

The Rev. Georganne Greene of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield said the faith community is strong. “This is my friend. This is my neighbor,” Greene said. “We are all connected at the most profound level. May we all be able to move forward in peace.”

Rabbi Herbert N. Schwartz, of Temple Beth El in Springfield, appealed to the local political community. “We ask them to not stand aside, but be part of the solution, to give all of us safety. All of us have that unsettled feeling of wondering who’s next,” he said.

Martin J. Pion, president of the Interfaith Council of Greater Springfield and professor of religion at Elms College, said, “Our friends at the Islamic Center are wonderful, open, loving people. We’re shocked and saddened, but mostly we stand with you.”

After the program, Pion said the Interfaith Council would welcome an opportunity to sit down with the local police to show that the faith community supports the Islamic Center and that the vandalism the center suffered is a serious issue.

Imam Wissam Abdul Baki, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center, said a closing prayer. “Evil and good cannot be equal,” he said. “Repel the evil with goodness.”

Baki said those who espouse hatred are besmirching the American ideals of beauty and kindness. “We are all together,” he said. “We came from different places not to weaken, but to strengthen, this fabric.”

In the crowd, the Rev. John H. DeBonville of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Elm Street said, “We’re all God’s people. With this many people here today, I think we are sending a message.”