Quote:

 

Finally, some heartwarming news.

A Canadian congregation in Ontario invited the local Muslim community to use its synagogue as a place to worship after their mosque was fire-bombed in a suspected hate crime following the Paris attacks.

The attack, which caused an estimated $80,000 worth of damage, rendered Masjid al-Salaam mosque — the only one in Peterborough, Ontario — unusable.

That’s when Larry Gilman, president of the Beth Israel synagogue in Peterborough, stepped in. Gilman quickly called a meeting of the shul’s board of directors, asking them if the Jewish community could share their house of worship with their Muslim neighbors. The vote was unanimous.

“It’s not about religion, it’s not about race,” he told CBS’s Metro Morning. “As Canadians we have to stick together.”

For Kenzu Abdella, president of the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association, that gesture of goodwill meant the world — though he admits it was weird at first. “In the beginning, it was a shock,” he told CBS. “Within 24 hours, that changed. They walked to the mosque and told us that whatever we need, they will support us.”