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Bostonians Share Prayers

Many of the speakers shared words of caution with the crowd.

“What we must fear is not evil,” Starr said. “We must fear becoming evil ourselves.”

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Karim Khudairi, a representative of the Islamic Council of New England, emphasized the importance of waiting for the FBI investigations to finish before “passing judgement” on Arab-Americans. He compared Tuesday’s attack to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and urged the audience to remember the lessons of the past.

“We shoud not repeat history when mistakes were made against Japanese-Americans,” he said.

Cardinal Bernard Law of the Boston Catholic Archdiocese echoed Khudairi’s warning. In his prayer, he asked for the “wisdom to not judge...a group of people based on the abhorrent acts of a few.”

The crowd responded emotionally to the speakers, clapping, waving American flags and holding banners that read “Defy Terrorism” and “Viva USA.”

“It was very powerful to see such a huge group of people,” said Sarah D. Beller ’03, who attended the vigil with several other Harvard students and also placed signs on campus kiosks publicizing the gathering.

“I wanted to join with the larger Boston community during the crisis,” she said, “and show that Harvard students do care.”

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