On the Interfaith Menu: Anti-Imperialist Class Unity

NEW YORK CITY—In November, the news said that Muslim terrorists killed hundreds of people in Paris. For the next days and weeks, the bosses’ media sounding the same racist alarm. As a club of the revolutionary communist Progressive Labor Party, we have been organizing interfaith friendship dinners with the local Muslim community for 15 years, since 9/11, to fight racist anti-Muslim propaganda. This year’s interfaith dinner came one day after the Paris shootings, and we wondered how it would go. 
We carried out our usual work to ensure a successful dinner. Typically, about 70 workers attend this event. This year? Ninety! Normally, most of the attendees are our Muslim guests, with about a third of the workers coming from our congregation and other friendly groups. But this year, we saw an outpouring from our church. Workers responded to our ideas of building unity in the international working class against imperialism and racist terror.
At first, the atmosphere was a bit muted because of the shootings and the response of the racist capitalist media. But as soon as everyone started socializing, the room warmed up!
All Partake the Same Bread: Working-Class Unity
Our senior minister welcomed all of us and offered a prayer for the terrible events in France, Lebanon, and Syria. Then the Imam of our local mosque led another prayer. We broke bread together and talked. Each table was integrated with Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists.  
As the meal ended, speeches began. The mosque’s president spoke first, saying that Muslims are just like everyone else. They worry about their children, their home life and their jobs. It was painful to hear these words; the racism of capitalist society makes it necessary to say the obvious.
Other workers talked about our obligations to stand up for each other, irrespective of religion. A visiting worker, whose church organizes against racist police terror and for workers’ rights, connected many seemingly separate international events, and shared a plan for action.
He explained that the biggest cause of terrorism is U.S. imperialism. He related the current racist oppression of Muslims to the historic, centuries-old racism against Black, Latin, Asian, and immigrant workers. By fighting to unify and organize the international working class, he stated, we can become part of the solution.
After that talk, there was palpable joy from our friends and guests. More workers spoke about various aspects of our common struggle, animating and transforming the tenor of the evening. A great weight was lifted from the shoulders of those present—a coming together.
Building Antiracist, Revolutionary Devotion
Over 15 years of building friendships and holding these dinners, our communist group within the church has built a real community. PL’ers and their friends from church have protested the oppressive surveillance of mosques by the local police department, and have been invited to many Iftars (the break-the-fast meals during the month of Ramadan).
At our most recent dinner, despite our different religious beliefs, immigration status and national origin, we shared a clarity about the source of working-class division: the tiny minority of the ultra-wealthy, the capitalist class, who profit from imperialist war and maintain power with racism, sexism and nationalism. We discussed and debated working-class revolution, the need to seize state power, and the egalitarian essence of communism.
While this particular event is a beacon of our church work, we must continue to move forward each day.
To this we are committed.
We are sharpening the political struggle in our club to distribute greater numbers of CHALLENGE to workers in our church and in the mosque. We will struggle with more workers to attend our study groups, take an active role in our Party, and plan more unifying events. Little by little, the clouds are parting and the sun is starting to shine. Stay tuned for updates, comrades!