Panelists Promote Peace
UA MUSLIM/JEWISH DIALOGUE OFFERS OPPORTUNITY FOR UNDERSTANDING
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Chen Reingold grew up in the midst of a war, she told about 100 students, faculty and community members gathered for a Muslim/Jewish Dialogue at the University of Arkansas Multicultural Center on Nov. 6.
Her native city of Beer Sheva in southern Israel is not near the West Bank, but violence intrudes nonetheless, she said.
Rockets landed on the city in February, injuring neighbors and killing people a bit farther away.
“Palestinians and Israelis are growing up with hate,” the 22-year-old said. “We really don’t know each other. We’re not willing to know each other.
Each of the sides suffers a lot.
Each of the sides wants todefend himself, however he can - and it costs lives.”
That ingrained sense of enmity began to change for her when Reingold first met Palestinians face to face. The former second lieutenant in the Israeli army was sent to the West Bank in 2007.
“They’re not the terrorists you see on TV,” she said, recalling her shock at the realization. “They’re people that look like my family, like my friends. They tell you ‘good morning’ and you bless them back. You ask each other how you feel. You begin to build relationships.”
Most people on both sides of the conflict want peace, Reingold said. Yet it takes courage to stand up against the radical ideologues who fuel fighting on both sides of the divide. It’s easier to wait forsomeone else to lead the way.
“Here I have to say that it is my responsibility - it is everyone’s responsibility - to stand up and take responsibility and say ‘I want peace,’” she said. “Violence, unfortunately, is more popular.”
Reingold serves as Israeli community emissary to the Jewish Federation of Arkansas in Little Rock. Her role is to represent Israeli culture but not government, she said.
Other speakers at the interfaith event were Fadil Bayyari, a local contractor who grew up in the West Bank, Rabbi Jacob Adler of Temple Shalom of Northwest Arkansas and Imam Mubasher Ahmad, spiritual leader of Baitul Jami’a mosque in Chicago and regional missionary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.
The dialogue was hostedby the Al-Islam Student Association in partnership with the Hillel Jewish Association and the UA Multicultural Center. The goal was to provide a forum for dialogue about peace among Jews and Muslims, and specifically between Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East, said Saba Haseem, master of ceremonies at the event.
Common Heritage,
Shared Goals
Speakers stressed similarities between Muslims and Jews, tracing their relationship back to their forefather Abraham.
Arabs trace their lineage to Ishmael, Abraham’s first-born son, while Jews trace their lineage to Isaac.
That makes them cousins, Ahmad said. Bayyari cited recent scientific findings that bring the relationship even closer. Genetic studies have shown that Jewish and Palestinian Arab males share common Y chromosome characteristics, he said. Other studies have confirmed additional genetic linkage.
The evidence points in a startling direction, he said. A number of scholarsnow believe that Palestinian Arabs are descended from Jews who stayed in the region during 6th century purges and became assimilated into the Arab religion, he said.
Bayyari called on Palestinians and Israelis to renounce violence and work toward peace.
“The Israelis and Palestinians have done each other wrong for many years,” he said. “It’s about time to bury the hatchet and find a way out of the cycle of violence. Todo that, both need to engage their hearts, their minds and their conscience.”
Adler and Ahmad off ered religious reasons for people of both faiths to seek peace. Both the Torah and the Quran urge peace based on truth and justice, Ahmad said.
“In Islam and Judaism, life is sacred. Killing an innocent person is akin to killing all mankind.”
Asked why some Muslims point to the Quran as justification for holy war,Ahmad replied that they are misguided in their beliefs. They pick and choose small portions of the text without considering the message as a whole.
“The starting point and end point is that God is merciful,” the imam said. “He wants us to off er compassion and love for others.
“The Quran emphatically commands us to establish peace on earth,” he said. “Those crazy people who use the Quran as justifi cation for suicide and killing innocent people are completely against (the teachings of Islam).”
A central teaching of Judaism is to see each person in the image of God, Adler said. Jews are encouraged to judge other people on the scale of merit, meaning to assume the best in one another. They’re also urged to pursue peace with whatever means they have at their disposal.
“Our obligation is not simply to avoid conflict and behave peacefully, but to actively promote peacewhen we have an opportunity to do it,” the rabbi said.
Jeny Ancer, a UA student of Lebanese descent, said she found the dialogue courteous and enlightening. She appreciated the opportunity to hear scholars and religious leaders from both faiths, she said.
“It’s a very hard topic ... (but a topic) a lot of people are interested in.” Students and community members from diverse faiths and cultures gathered for the event.
Religion, Pages 10 on 11/14/2009
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