Milwaukee church holds hour of prayer, UWM students gather as calls for peace in the Middle East continue

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee is joining a worldwide call for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Catholic church continued the call Monday evening with prayers said aloud and in silence.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki was there, closing an hour of prayer where the Catholic church invited people of all faiths to pray hard for peace in the Middle East. 

"We stand in solidarity with those, basically, who suffer," said Archbishop Listecki. 

Ten days into the latest round of attacks in the Middle East, thousands of lives have been lost, both Israeli and Palestinian. 

"As soon as you start to ask that question as who's right and who's wrong, ultimately so much so that the other side is totally wrong, then you know you're going down the path that leads to bad things," said Father Tim Kitzke of Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. 

The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist offered up an hour of prayer to people of all faiths Monday evening. The topic settled onto the UWM campus, as well. Students filled the room for a session hosted in part by the Muslim Student Association. 

"Anything that's not humanitarian that's going on, it'll get better," said UWM student Saif Ahmad. 

For some Muslims, the fear they felt in the US following 9/11 is back, especially after the attack on a little boy near Chicago. 

"This young man, six years old, was stabbed 26 times, 26 times because this individual had nothing but hate in his heart," said Munjed Ahmad, Islamic Society of Milwaukee board member. 

Like we've seen outside synagogues and Jewish schools in the Milwaukee area, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee says it's the same for them. 

"We had to hire security. We contacted Milwaukee Police Department because parents were calling us saying, hey, especially after this boy was killed, hey, look, our kids aren't safe. You guys need to step up the security, and so we did," said Munjed Ahmad. 

Mostly, though, for the people in Milwaukee on both sides, it's about peace. 

In Cathedral Square, people were asked to continue the prayers at home.