The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago has issued the following statement in the wake of this week’s terror attacks in Paris. Learn about JUF’s “French Terror and Security Fund” and donate here.

At the end of a week of terror and sorrow, today we join with the people of France, with France’s Jewish community, and with all people of conscience, in crying out in pain and protest at the savage attacks that have taken the lives of at least 17 citizens. We mourn the dead, offer condolences to their loved ones, and pray for the recovery of the injured.

The related attacks in Paris on the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket today and on the Charlie Hebdo magazine on Wednesday, underscore the extreme threat to civilized society posed by terrorists who murder in the name of Islam. The assault on employees and customers at a kosher shop in a Jewish neighborhood in Paris is but the latest example of increased, violent anti-Semitism in Europe.

As we prepare to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, the worldwide Jewish community calls on all peoples to be vigilant. We know all too well that a direct line can be drawn between hate speech, radical ideologies, and assaults on innocents such as we now witness with alarming regularity. A rapid rise in attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in France, across Europe and even in the United States, sounds the alarm for people of all backgrounds and faiths: prejudice and intolerance targeting any one group threaten us all, and shake the very foundations of our society.

We stand in solidarity with the French Jewish community, and will continue to work diligently in our own community to defend our cherished freedoms. We call upon all echelons of society—including faith and civic leaders—to break the cycle of incitement, radicalization and hate that leads to acts of violence and terror.

JUF has created a condolence page for the Chicago community members to express their sympathies to the French Jewish community. A community memorial service for the victims will be held at noon Wednesday, Jan. 14, at Chicago Loop Synagogue, 16 S. Clark St., Chicago. To ensure security and seating, please register.