Days before President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, and a week before he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff gathered an interfaith group of leaders to talk about bringing peace and love to the world.
“Right now, we’re in a crisis,” Emhoff said in a text message sent to The Informer. “It’s a crisis of hate. And what better way to fight against it and bring us together than bring a group like this together. And to lean on our faith, and to see and explore how we can use that deep faith that we all have, together.”
The Rev. Thomas Bowen, former director of the Mayor’s Office of Religious Affairs, who is now a senior adviser in the White House Office of Public Engagement, explained that he has worked closely with the second gentleman to address important affairs, and was present for the July 18 meeting. Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, also included Jewish, Muslim and other religious leaders such as barrier-breaking African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Vashti McKenzie.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have bombed public places and communities, from schools, churches and hospitals in search of the group’s officials. Reports show more than 39,000 Palestinians– including 15,000 children– have died since the start of the conflict, causing calls for cease-fire, rising religious tensions, and igniting protests across the nation.
“This was a meeting to discuss ways faith leaders can work together, bring communities together, combat hate, and promote unity during these divisive times,” said Imam Talib Shareef of Masjid Muhamad, “the Nation’s Mosque,” in Washington, D.C. While he couldn’t attend the meeting, Shareef said he sent a representative because he supports what Vice President Harris and Emhoff have been doing.
“I look forward to receiving an invitation to continue the discussions with the White House and faith leaders to address these critical challenges and concerns,” he told The Informer.
Since the meeting, Harris has become the presumed Democratic presidential nominee and kicked her campaign into high gear, acknowledging many Americans’ calls for a cease-fire.
Last week Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of Congress that was boycotted by protesters who say that Israel has gone beyond reprisal and killed 39,000 people in Gaza. While Netanyahu compared the battle he is waging to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s challenge after the U.S. was attacked in Pearl Harbor, Vice President Harris in a meeting with Netanyahu used blunt words to call for a cease-fire.
“To everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you,” said Harris after her White House meeting with Netanyahu.
She did not hold back on how she felt about the violence inflicted on thousands of Palestinian people, families and communities.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating,” Harris said. “The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.”
Netanyahu was critical of Harris’ comments after he met with former President Donald Trump but Harris didn’t back down.
“We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies,” the vice president said. “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”