Jewish Labor Committee Condemns Recent Massacres in Beirut and Paris
November 16, 2015 -- New York, NY: Jewish Labor Committee President Stuart Appelbaum released the following statement moments ago:
The Jewish Labor Committee strongly condemns the recent massacres in Beirut and Paris carried out by ISIS. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the victims' families and loved ones and to the people of Lebanon and France.
Clearly, these atrocities demand increased and stronger steps by a coalition of countries, with the United States continuing its leading role, to defeat this evil force. That has already begun, with the retaliatory air strikes that are being conducted.
This tragic situation, however, should not become an excuse for turning our backs on the refugees fleeing war and the atrocities perpetrated by ISIS in areas they conquer. We especially reject as abhorrent statements that refugees should be accepted on the basis of their religion, in particular, that only Christian refugees should be accepted. As an organization founded to oppose the rise of Nazism in the early 1930s, we find restrictions on who is aided -- and who isn't -- based on religion repugnant. All countries accepting refugees, including the United States, just have to ensure that the screening process for allowing refugees to come into their country is rigorous enough to block any potential terrorists attempting to cynically take advantage of this act of humanity.