NEW YORK – In a tense political climate, members of Muslim and Jewish communities in Buffalo, New York, came together Tuesday, March 7, in a show of support and solidarity against recent threats.

“It is a great time to be together, but it’s also a time for great concern and trepidation,” Dr. Khalid Qazi, of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York, told Buffalo News.

“Hopefully, we’ll be going together for some distance because, for some reason or the other, that has not happened in the past. It happened for a very brief time when I had conversations with my Jewish friends back in the mid ’80s to late ’80s, early ’90s and then it fell apart for one reason or the other.

“I’m hoping this will be a more lasting relationship because I can see that we are ready for it and you are ready for it,” he added.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council and members of the Muslim community met with members of the Jewish community at the Jewish Community Center on North Forest Road in Getzville.

Members of both communities stressed that it was important that they stand together as Americans to send a strong message.

“We’re delighted that members of our Muslim community reached out to us to say that ‘we want to show our support and we want to express solidarity with the Jewish community,’ ” said Rob Goldberg, chief executive officer of the Buffalo Jewish Federation.

“Here, in Buffalo, we are really blessed.”

The visit came two weeks after the Jewish center in Amherst became one of numerous Jewish Community Centers around the country to receive threats.

Rick Zakalik, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Center in Buffalo, expressed gratitude to the Muslim community for its support of the Jewish community.

“It means a great deal to us,” he said.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with members of the Jewish community at the Jewish Community Center on North Forest Road in Getzville, Qazi reiterated the Muslim community’s support to their neighbors.

“There is no question in terms of where the Muslim community is in relation to our Jewish brothers and sisters: we are with you,” Qazi said. “An attack on you is an attack on us.”

He continued, “I don’t think, as Americans, any one of us can have any doubt about that. And I’m here to tell you, from the entire Muslim community that this region and nationally that there is absolutely no doubt in our mind that if we don’t stay together, we all will be targets.”