AN INTERFAITH gathering in St George’s, Leeds, last Sunday has been described as "unique" and "heart-warming".

Nearly 100 Christians, Jews, and Muslims met for the event,  Standing Together, to join forces against the use of violence in the name of religion.

Representatives from each reli­gion spoke on behalf of sufferers from another. Thus, Rabbi Jason Kleiman spoke of the infliction of suffering on Muslims at Srebrenica by those who considered themselves Christian; Imam Zeeshan Baloch recounted how Christians had been targeted by members of the Pakistani Taliban in Lahore; and Professor Debbie Murdoch Eaton from St George’s recounted examples of the persecu­tion of the Jewish community.

In addition, the Bishop of Richmond, the Rt Revd Paul Slater, spoke of the example set by the Archbishop of Canterbury; a mem­ber of the Jewish Representative Council, Mike Fligg, spoke of the former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks’s book Not in God’s Name; and Qari Asim, a senior imam at Makkah mosque, spoke of his visit to Marrakesh and the drawing up of the Marrakesh Declaration, a Muslim document that condemns violence in the name of faith.

At the end, all signed a declara­tion denouncing violence in the name of religion. It also con­demned anti-Semitism, the per­secu­tion of Christians, and Islamo­phobia.

Rabbi Kleiman said afterwards: "It is heart-warming to see how we all share the goal of promoting harmony and understanding and seek a world free of intolerance, prejudice, and racism."

Imam Asim tweeted that this had been "an unpre­cedented event to tell each other’s story".