You think there is no hope for Muslims and Jews to live in PEACE? I beg to differ! See what Rabbi Marc Schneier is saying in an email to his congregation: The International Muslim - Jewish Movement We will never resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without simultaneously bridging the chasm of mutual misunderstanding, fear and yes, hatred, that separates Muslims and Jews worldwide. On the other hand, let us not overlook that during the past seven years, as Israeli-Palestinian relations have steadily deteriorated, Jews and Muslims have indeed been coming together in unprecedented fashion under the aegis of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and collaborators in many parts of the world. During our annual Weekend of Twinning, tens of thousands of Muslims and Jews have joined together to hold hundreds of Muslim-Jewish festive, educational and social service events in more than 30 countries on six continents. The growth of this international Muslim-Jewish movement shows that there are many Muslims and Jews out there prepared to take our collective destiny directly into our own hands by reaching across the barricades and encountering each other face to face. When we do that, we discover that the person on the other side of the chasm is a human being very much like oneself; and that our two faiths share numerous commonalities in our rituals, traditions and mindsets, literally going back to our common Patriarch Abraham/Ibrahim. So we have made a promising start, yet the ominous trends toward religious conflict show that all of us must urgently double, triple and quadruple our efforts to break down the walls separating Muslims and Jews worldwide. Listening to each others perspectives can sometimes be frustrating, but it is far preferable to mass violence. For the sake of our children and the future of the world, Jews and Muslims of conscience and clarity of vision must urgently summon the strength and courage to put aside self-righteousness, fear and mistrust, and reach out to each other. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Marc Schneier FFEU: The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding - ffeu.org/ Jewish-Muslim Twinning proliferate in the Muslim World for the FIRST Time Events in Indonesia, Singapore, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria 7th Annual Weekend of Twinning features hundreds of programs around the globe In a year during which conflict in the Middle East has cast doubt on co-existence efforts, thousands of Muslims and Jews came together in over 200 events spanning over 30 countries during the 7th Annual Weekend of Twinning to make the point: We refuse to be enemies. We will join together to build ties of communication and cooperation for the good of both our communities and the diverse societies around the world in which we live side by side. The Weekend of Twinning is an initiative spearheaded every November and December by the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) based on the concept of synagogues, mosques and Muslim and Jewish student, womens and young leadership groups in countries around the world forming partnerships and holding joint programs with the goal of building ties of communication, reconciliation and cooperation between Muslims and Jews.The official Weekend of Twinning is November 14-16, but Muslim-Jewish programming bringing together thousands of Muslims and Jews around the world kicked off on November 2 with a groundbreaking Muslim-Jewish womens conference in Philadelphia and will continue until December 19, with upcoming events in Tunis, Abuja, Nigeria, Chicago, Paris and Bronx, NY. This years Weekend of Twinning broke geographical records, with a greater range of twinning events particularly in the Muslim world. To visualize this range, check out our Twinning map and click on different locations for pictures and event descriptions. Among the most notable twinning events this year were a series of appearances by FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier and Imam Shamsi Ali, a New York-based imam, in Jakarta, Jogjakarta and Bali, Indonesia before government leaders, university students and members of a major national Muslim movement to discuss their book Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues that Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims, which was recently translated into the Indonesian language. After a meeting with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalia, Rabbi Schneier and Imam Ali traveled to nearby Singapore for a Muslim-Jewish event. FFEU Media Director Tamar Schneck and European Coordinator Samia Hathroubi were among the featured speakers at a Jewish-Muslim-Christian womens conference in Rabat, Morocco under the patronage of King Mohammed II from November 11-13 entitled Women at the Heart of Monotheism. On December 5-6, FFEU will co-sponsor the first ever Weekend of Twinning in Nigeria together with the Chief Rabbi of Nigeria Israel Uzan and Tony Araoye, a Nigerian-Canadian, who serves as President of HD Public Relations Canada. At this unprecedented event in a country that has been torn apart in recent months by violence between Christians and Muslims, Rabbi Uzan will bring together prominent Nigerian Christian and Muslim leaders like Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, Pastor Sam Otenaike, and Dr. Abdul Isiaq to call upon Nigerians and all Africans, regardless of their faith tradition, to embrace a new culture in which people shift from ethnic and religious strife to a new mindset of mutual respect and co-operation of its diverse community. On Sunday December 7, FFEU will co-sponsor together with the Tunisian Association for the Protection of Minority Rights and the Embassy of France, a Muslim-Jewish event, featuring film director Karim Miske screening his award winning documentary, Jews and Muslims, So Far Apart, So Close Together. FFEU Muslim-Jewish Program Director Walter Ruby will speak at the event, stressing the importance of Tunisia as a democratic Islamic country with a Jewish minority, where the two communities can and must forge strong ties. In Paris on Sunday December 14, FFEU Executive Director Will Eastman and Suhail Khan, White House Liaison to South Asian and Muslim communities during the George W. Bush Administration. will take part in a panel discussion highlighting the ongoing efforts of the FFEU affiliated Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders to create a Europe-wide network of Muslims and Jews committed to standing together against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and educating our two communities about each other. The event is co-sponsored by FFEU and the U.S. Embassy. According to FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier; We are profoundly heartened that even as the grim headlines in recent months have created a picture of endemic conflict between our two faith communities, the Weekend of Twinning has shown that more and more Muslims and Jews around the world are reaching out to each other. Russell Simmons, FFEU Chairman, commented, I am so proud of the inspiring and critically important work FFEU is doing to buttress Muslim-Jewish relations. Despite difficulties in the Middle East, we are moving together with friends and collaborators around the world to build a global movement of Muslims and Jews. See below for an overview of some of the principle events of the Weekend of Twinning: 2- Over 100 Muslim and Jewish women came together under the aegis of FFEU, the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom (SOSS) and the Dialogue Center at Temple University to hold the largest Muslim-Jewish womens conference ever held in North America. The more than 100 participants, who were nearly equally divided between Muslims and Jews and came from a wide range of ages, ethnicities and levels of religious observance, expressed a common commitment to building a common agenda for Muslim and Jewish women and strengthening overall relations between two faith communities. SOSS is committed to building a Muslim-Jewish womens movement across North America in close coordination with FFEU. Northern New Jersey Wednesday November 5 and Friday November 7- Dr. Ali Chaudry,President of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and Rabbi Deb Smith of Congregation Or Ha Lev in Mt. Arlington made appearances at the Islamic Center of Morris County and Congregation Or Ha Lev to hold spirited discussions on The Centrality of the Concept of Peace in Islam and Judaism. The two hope to take this important discussion to many more congregations in the months ahead. Houston Sunday November 9- Muslim and Jewish doctors, dentists and medical personnel affiliated with the Ibn Sina Foundation and Temple Brith Shalom came together at Ibn Sina Community Health Center in southwest Houston to offer health screenings and medical consultations to people in without health insurance. The Houston Muslim-Jewish Health Fair will be the model for other such medical collaborative efforts by Muslim and Jewish doctors and dentists across the U.S. in 2015. Denver November 9 and 16- On Sunday November 9, a group of Jewish and Muslim leaders held their second meeting to build relationships and work toward the creation of a Muslim-Jewish Leadership Coalition in the Denver Area. On Sunday November 16, Muslims and Jews gathered under the auspices of the Abrahamic Initiative for a special concert: Glorious Noise: Interfaith Harmony. Los Angeles Sunday November 16- FFEU, Claremont Lincoln University, ReGeneration and Pico Union Project co-sponsor Together in the City of Angels; A Musical Celebration of Muslim-Jewish Unity an exuberant concert event that featured such renowned performance artists as Riad Abu-Gawad, Cantor Mike Stein, Aryell Cohen, Ben Youcef, Hillel Tigay and Judeo and Merima Kljcuo, and which featured an SRO crowd of over 400 Muslims and Jews snake dancing through the aisles of Pico Union Project, which was built over 100 years ago as LAs first synagogue. The concert was held in honor of the SoCal Muslim-Jewish Forum, an FFEU-affiliated umbrella body dedicated to strengthening Muslim-Jewish relations in Greater LA. Detroit Sunday November 16- Muslim and Jewish activists from around the Detroit area took part in a cleanup of empty and overgrown lots in the urban enclave of Hamtramck as part of an ongoing Muslim-Jewish effort to revitalize Detroit. Afterwards, they came together for a festive lunch at ICMD Mosque in Hamtramck. New York City Sunday, November 16- A wide spectrum of Muslim and Jewish activists brought together by FFEU and Muslims Against Hunger gathered at Columbia University to prepare food for hungry and homeless people and then move to the nearby JCC in Manhattan to launch the New York Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee, a new umbrella body for Muslim-Jewish relations in New York. The discussion was led by Tamar Schneck of FFEU and Huma Mohubullah, an anthropologist with ties to a range of New York Muslim organizations. Jerusalem Sunday, November 16- The Circle of Light and Hope, an Israeli-Palestinian discussion group including Jews from Jerusalem, Christians from Beit Jala and Muslims from Hebron to discuss the interface between religion and politics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli and Palestinian participants alike shared the perspective that they feel threatened by coercive forces in their respective societies, but vowed to go on meeting together and building ties at all costs. The Circle of Light and Hope is one of 30 grass roots groups strengthening ties between Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians under the aegis of the FFEU affiliated Interfaith Encounter Association, Toronto Sunday November 16- Muslims and Jews from around the Toronto metro area took part in a reception at the University of Toronto for launch of Beyond Calligraphy: Jewish and Muslim Artists Explore Texts and Contexts. The event was sponsored by the Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims together with the University of Toronto and Dr. Shari Golberg. London Thursday,November 20- Hendon Town Hall Rabbi Maurice Michaels and Dr. Dorab Mistry participated in a panel discussion on the efficacy of Interfaith Dialogue sponsored by the Barnet Borough Multi-Faith Forum as part of the Weekend of Twinning. Muslims and Jews in Barnet Borough are actively working through the Barnet Borough Multi-Faith Forum to strengthen ties. Washington DC Sunday,November 23- More than60 rabbis, imams and Muslim and Jewish activists from around Greater Washington participated in the first Summit of Washington Area Summit of Imams and Rabbis at Washington Hebrew Congregation (WHC). The Summit, co-sponsored by FFEU, WHC, the All-Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS Center) and the FFEU-affiliated Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum; focused on the importance raising the profile of Muslim-Jewish relations in mosques and synagogues throughout the area. (Thanks to my dear friend Stephen Rosenberg for bringing this to my attention.)
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:30:45 +0000
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