The international Jewish women's organization "Project Kesher," which is a part of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), has published an open letter in Ukraine about the attempted arson of a Simferopol mosque, which took place in the early morning hours of the 24th of August. The letter expresses solidarity to the Muslim community of the Crimea and condemns any nationalistic and xenophobic displays.

The letter reads: "We would like to express our deep concern with the religious intolerance towards the Crimean Muslim community, as well as with the negative stereotypes, hostile acts, and violence against communities – which are spreading wider and wider – based on their religious faith, their ethnicity, or their so-called racial origin.
We also recognize the strengthening of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in different regions of the world, as well as the appearance of racist movements, which are violent and defend racism and discriminatory ideas towards the Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities. The history of humanity is full of horrendous tragedies that happened because the principle of equality between all peoples had been violated, and we are disturbed to note a rise in the number of such "practices" in different regions of the world."
On the 14th of September, the letter, which had circulated around the entire country and collected dozens of signatures of activists from Project Kesher and its partners, had been forwarded to Emirali Ablayev, the mufti of the Crimean Muslims. Tolerance, the possibility of interfaith dialogue, and the development of further cooperation were discussed during the meeting between Project Kesher activists and the mufti.
EAJC President Alexander Mashkevich heartily supported the Project Kesher initiative. "The Project Kesher support of the Muslim community of Crimea once again proves that there are no antagonistic clashes between Judaism and Islam," the EAJC leader underscored. "All of these clashes are artificial, a result of the activity of a small number extremists, who cover their political ambitions with religious rhetoric. We need to conduct a constant, constructive dialogue wih Islam, we must stand together against all displays of xenophobia. This is one of the strategic directions of EAJC activity. Only through cooperative effort can we make our world better."