Interfaith dialogue in Israel-Palestine
February 2nd, 2006 by sfuqua
Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer of the American University in Washington, DC writes about the important, though as yet largely potential, role for interfaith dialogue in the continuing Middle East peace process. One interfaith organization making real strides in bringing together the region’s religions is the Interfaith Encounter Assocation, as recognized in their receipt of the Immortal Chaplains Foundation’s Prize for Humanity (also covered this month).
Mohammed Abu-Nimer
February 1, 2006
WASHINGTON DC — For the last two decades scholars and practitioners of
peace have promoted the hypothesis that religions and religious actors can be
sources of peace and pluralism, and not only sources of war, violence and
conflict. Others are less sure of the benefits of including a religious
aspect in resolving conflicts. In Israel-Palestine, some even feel that the
inclusion of religious actors does more harm than good in attempting to
resolve the conflict.
It is usually incorrect to view any conflict as being caused or dominated
by one source or dimension. Thus, religion and religious identity in places
of conflict like Northern Ireland, the Philippines, India or Israel/Palestine
should be seen as one influential factor among several others, such as
economics or politics.
Nevertheless, in a context like the Israel-Palestine conflict, religion
has been manipulated by the three religious groups involved to fuel and
perpetuate past and current violence (religious symbols, rituals and sites
are constantly brought into the conflict dynamics). It is, therefore, crucial
to constructively engage people's religious identity as a source of peace
and pluralism to counter its manipulation in the cycle of political
violence.
Having completed a study that examined interfaith dialogue in five Middle
Eastern societies of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, it became
clear that many civil societies and some of these governments understand the
potential constructive role that interreligious meetings can play in bridging
the gaps within each society.
However, there are few interfaith initiatives between Israelis and
Palestinians in the region. Some of the reasons that Palestinians gave for
demonstrating caution in participating in such meetings were the risk of
normalizing the occupation; frustration resulting from the failed Oslo peace
process; the fact that Jewish-Israeli organizations are the initiators of
these activities; and that most of these meetings avoid focusing on the
political reality of occupation and oppression.
A Christian priest declared in one of the study's interviews: "I
have participated in interfaith dialogue for over 15 years, but after the
second intifada, I could not do it anymore. They kill our children during the
day and we dialogue with them at night. I found that impossible to
tolerate."
Despite the above critique and reasons for rejecting interfaith work, a
few interfaith initiatives do offer an exceptional opportunity for Muslims,
Christians and Jews to discuss their faiths in a peaceful setting. As a
result, they contribute to breaking down negative stereotypes; learning more
about other faith groups (their rituals, ceremonies and basic tenets); and,
most importantly, rehumanizing the "enemy".
In a reality of hatred, suicide bombings and 40 years of occupation and
humiliation, images of the other side are dehumanized and the two people have
no space (social, public or even personal) to meet face to face. Under such
circumstances, interfaith dialogue becomes a rare window through which Arabs
and Jews view each other as humans and learn to cope with their mutual
ignorance of each other's faiths.
Among the successful initiatives is the well-cited January 2002 Alexandria
meeting, convened by the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, and
hosted by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi.
This resulted in the first ever declaration signed by leaders of all the
faiths in the Holy Land, including the Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Bakshi-Doron;
the Chief Justice of the Sharia Courts, Sheikh Taisir Tamimi; the Latin
Patriarch, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah; deputy foreign minister, Rabbi
Michael Melchior; and the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt. Reverend Riah
Abul Assal.
Their statement called for the Palestinian and Israeli governments to
implement a peace process and, as religious leaders, they pledged to continue
a joint quest for a just peace that would lead to reconciliation in Jerusalem
and the Holy Land, for the common good of all our peoples. They also
announced the establishment of a permanent joint committee to carry out the
recommendations of this declaration, and to engage with their respective
political leaderships accordingly.
Unfortunately, escalating violence reduced the impact of this important
declaration and its translation into immediate practical steps on the ground.
However, the recent inauguration of a Palestinian/Israeli Religious Leaders
Council and the establishment of interfaith centers in Jerusalem and Gaza can
be seen as offshoots of the Alexandria process.
Although interfaith dialogue is not going to resolve the conflict and end
the occupation, many Palestinian participants continue to attend such
dialogues in hopes of educating Israeli Jews about their national aspirations
and accurately presenting their Muslim and Christian faiths and their basic
tenets.
Similarly, Jews who attend these meetings, though they understand that
they are meeting with politically "marginalized" Palestinians,
discover that they are alike in their desire for peace and rejection of
violence.
"We are the only space where women can talk about religion and
peace," declared an Israeli Jewish woman participating in one of the
very few interfaith women's groups in the Middle East. In this group,
Christian, Jewish and Muslim women gather on a regular basis to discuss their
views and explore their perceptions of their faiths and traditions.
Clearly these interfaith groups face many limitations and obstacles,
including lack of funding, little government support and the continuing
conflict. In addition, Israeli and Palestinian policymakers are not usually
involved with, or even updated on, these initiatives. Sometimes, long-term
planning is also missing.
Despite the above shortcomings, interfaith dialogue does have the
potential to play an important and necessary role in helping people and
politicians realize that they cannot resolve the conflict in the Holy Land
without genuine input and consideration from its religious communities.
Most importantly, interfaith dialogues provide an all too rare opportunity
for Christians, Jews and Muslims to work together as fellow human beings in
the joint pursuit of conquering their mutual ignorance and learning to live
together in peace.
Mohammed Abu-Nimer is an associate professor of International Peace
and Conflict Resolution at American University's School of International
Service in Washington, DC, and is the director of the Peacebuilding and
Development Institute. Acknowledgement to Common Ground News
Service.
We need to do more than dialogue. We need to sit down at table with each other as families, and encourage our children to listen to each other, to share the food and the stories, and the beauty of those common threads that bind us together as God’s holy and beloved children. If God is indeed a God of love, then surely His children will demonstrate that brightest and best of His qualities. As it says in Christian scripture “God is love, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.” I John 4:7-8.
Joanne, you are absolutely right about the need to simply listen and learn about each other in such a direct manner. My friends at the Interfaith Encounter Association in Israel are doing just that, I encourage you to look into their work for inspiration. http://www.interfaith-encounter.org/
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