With the war in Gaza claiming more lives and wreaking more havoc on infrastructure, a group of Durban women held a night vigil to pray for an immediate ceasefire.
Dressed in white, the women from different religions and races started their night vigil on Thursday by lighting up candles and reading religious scripts that encouraged them to know each other better and live in harmony.
The night vigil was held at St Joseph Hall on Florida Road in Durban.
One of the organisers, Nadia Meer, said Palestine and Israel are part of what in the world is known as the Holy Land, and they would like to see peace there.
The call comes as Israel is continuing with its bombardment of Gaza, claiming self-defence after Hamas attacked it two weeks ago under Operation ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’.
“The issues that are happening around the Holy Land are very divisive, and this is a way of coming together.
“That is a holy land, but it’s a holy one that has never seen peace; there is constant conflict, and it seems incredible having visited there.
“When I looked at the spaces of these revered buildings that are sacred to the three big Abrahamic faiths, they were all together, and they were all so close to each other,” Meer said.
The women came from the Christian faith, Jewish faith, Moslem faith, Hindu faith, and Bahai faith.
Meer added that as South African women, they have gone through the same, but they managed to avert war.
The secretary for Religions for Peace in KwaZulu-Natal, Hailey Fudu, also joined the night vigil.
“All religions are founded on love and peace and the golden rule of treating others as you would like to be treated. So, all the things that are happening are not in alignment with what all these faiths are teaching.
“We want to separate true religion from these conflicts because that is not what God wants his children to be doing,” Fudu said.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
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