Emir Saleem Talbot (Imam of the Bermuda Islamic Cultural Center), the Rt Rev Nicholas Dill (Bishop of Bermuda) and Dr Fiona Elkinson (President of the Jewish Community of Bermuda) came together with a small group of community members to show their support for the X-Roads of the City Peace Initiative that was precipitated by the New Year’s Eve 2020 Candlelight Peace Vigil.

The gathering was organised in formal observance of the beginning of the 10?th Annual United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week, as well as Vision 2020’s campaign to plant 2,020 trees by the end of this year.

The leaders all participated in the planting of a Loquat Tree of Peace & Reconciliation at the emerging ‘park of forgiveness’ that is being nurtured at the corner of Court and Dundonald Streets - the “cartographic crossroads” of the City between “uptown and downtown” Bermuda. The loquat tree species is originally from China where the golden color of its fruit is deemed to represent gold and wealth.

This underutilized park is being repurposed through social media, public events and beautification as part of a humanitarian restoration campaign being championed by Councillor RoseAnn Edwards in her capacity as the local representative to the Corporation of Hamilton. This, in the spirit of fostering ‘Harmony’. The Corporation of Hamilton facilitated the tree-planting as a part of their 225th anniversary initiative to plant scores of fruit trees throughout the City.

The three leaders from the local Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, followed up the tree-planting ceremony with an informal ‘Meet & Greet’ at the adjacent Emmanuel Baptist Church together with other members of the community, sharing perspectives of the importance of building Inter-Faith Harmony, across our Island and the Globe.

The next planned event for the ‘Week’ will be a roundtable discussion hosted by Emir Saleem Talbot of the “Docum?ent on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” ?between His Holiness Pope Francis and ?The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb?. This discussion will take place on Tuesday, February 4?th between 5 – 6 pm at the National Library. Other plans are being finalized.

• Press release from X-Roads of the City Peace Initiative