An Abrahamic Family Reunion

Can Jewish and Muslim religious leaders forge a working relationship grounded in their common spiritual ancestry? The Second World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, held March 19-23 in

--where Jews flourished under Muslim rule eight centuries ago--appears to have answered in the affirmative the question of whether modern-day Jewish and Islamic religious leaders can break bread together in a convivial and mutually accepting way, despite the bitter conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

The next challenge facing the approximately 300 imams, rabbis, scholars, and activists for Jewish-Muslim dialogue from around the world who gathered here will be to stay in contact with each other via telephone, e-mail, and regional meetings and to do the grueling day-to-day work needed to fashion a common agenda addressing both the

conflict and universal moral issues.

The upbeat note on which the Congress ended at least gave hope that the concept of a working alliance between religious Jews and Muslims may no longer be a pipedream. After nearly four days during which the proceedings teetered precariously between expressions of mutual respect and affection between prominent rabbis and imams from around the world, and explosions of rage against Israel by an angry Palestinian delegation, the Congress of Imams and Rabbis, which was convened by the Paris-based Hommes de Parole with the financial and political support of the Moroccan government, managed to adopt a closing statement affirming that proponents of the two faiths can indeed work together for a more peaceful world.

The Seville congress, which marked only the second time in history that an international conclave of rabbis and imams has met (the first such meeting, also convened by Hommes de Parole, was held in Brussels 14 months ago) had nearly twice as many participants as its predecessor and a decidedly more activist tenor. Many attendees declared that imams and rabbis must not only meet periodically to talk and compare notes, but predicted that if they do so they can develop a collaborative program.

The closing statement, drafted by an eight-member steering committee which included both the Chief Rabbi of Haifa, She’ar Yashuv Cohen, and Imam Imad Falouji of Gaza, former Minister of Communications in the Palestinian Authority, asserted: “There is no inherent conflict between Islam and Judaism" and declared "While modern politics has impacted negatively upon the relationship, our two religions share the most fundamental values of faith in the One Almighty whose name is Peace."

Deploring “bloodshed and violence…especially when such is perpetrated in the name of religion,” the statement proscribed "any incitement against a faith or people, let alone a call for their elimination"--a statement Jewish and Israeli representatives asserted amounted to a rebuke to calls by Hamas, which has just taken over the Palestinian government, and by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the elimination of Israel. 

In a behind-the-scenes deal to win the Palestinian delegation’s assent to the final statement, the steering committee included language calling on governments to show respect for "holy sites, houses of worship and cemeteries, particularly in the Holy Land.” This was an apparent expression of opposition to plans by the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center to build a Museum of Tolerance in a park in West Jerusalem that was once part of a Muslim cemetery. Both Cohen and Falouji said during a closing press conference that maintaining ongoing discussions between Israeli rabbis and Palestinian imams is vitally important, especially at a time that Israeli and Palestinian political leaders have broken off nearly all contacts in the wake of the installation of the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Continued on page 2: Joining together for food and song, but how about theology? »