By: Gul Rukh Rahman

Gul Rukh Rahman — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:18:44 +0000

Dear Frankel, Most of the Jewish-Muslim dialogue work revolves around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In a nut shell, the point of our program is not to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, there are hundreds of initiatives trying to resolve that. We want the youth from different parts of the Muslim world to be able to connect to their Jewish peers in major Jewish communities. The goal of the program is to have these teenagers talk about their relationship to Islam and Judaism, their complex identitites, their own understanding of their faith and how they think it relates to others and how others relate to it.
There is not a problem between Islam and Judaism per say but there is deep suspicion, ignorance and very deep-rooted biases and misunderstandings on both sides. Lack of exposure to the ‘other’ has bred hatred and fear of the unknown and the media imagery of Muslims and Jews do not help either. Globalisation of the Palestinain-Israeli conflict has also globalised the intolerance and hatred. We very much want to address the anti-semitism and Islamophobia that is out there and help these young people open their minds and hearts to their perceived unknown, faceless ‘enemy’ and give them a chance to know who the ‘other’ is and what they are all about.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the program, its content or how it is conducted.

By: Josh Frankel

Josh Frankel — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 08:35:10 +0000

This sounds like a lovely idea, but why no Israelis and no Palestinians? Across the world, there have been man occaissions of Muslims and Jews cooperating. While erhaps today there is some animosity, it has been clearly demonstrated that there is no real conflict between teh religion. This program seems cute, and good, but misses the place where it can be most effective, and is most needed.

Comments on: Jewish Teens Wanted for Online Interfaith Dialogue

By: Gul Rukh Rahman

By: Josh Frankel