Brooklyn Borough President

Statement of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz to Brooklyn’s Jewish and Arab Communities

I join with everyone in hoping for a peaceful resolution to the horrible events in the Middle East. In the past several weeks, we have watched far too much bloodshed, and my heart goes out to the hundreds of families who have lost loved ones. The deliberate destruction of innocent human lives is morally abhorrent to those of us who respect life. We owe it to our young people to provide a world where they can have dreams and realize those dreams, and that is only possible when the state of Israel and all people in the region can live in peace.

Today, I urge Brooklynites to show their usual peacefulness and restraint as they march and rally to show support for their respective causes. We live in the greatest country in the world, where people of every race, creed, religion and ethnicity can participate in rallies without fear of governmental retribution. We hope that some day this kind of freedom can be enjoyed in all nations. With this liberty comes a responsibility to demonstrate non-violence, no matter how passionate we are about issues. Brooklyn is the world’s showcase of ethnic diversity. And we prove it every day, with one of the country’s largest Arab communities and one of the world’s largest Jewish communities living side by side in peace and with respect. We are an example to the rest of the world.