[Oe List ...] A little good news

[PSchrijnen at aol.com]

In a message dated 20/07/2006 20:58:12 GMT Daylight Time,  
geowanda at earthlink.net writes:

From: Eliyahu  McLean
To: McLean  Eliyahu
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 4:45  AM
Subject: From Seville to Tel Sheva: some  good news from the Middle East


Hello  Friends,
 It has been a trying time  in the Holy Land, with immense suffering for the 
people of Gaza, Israel and  Lebanon. We ask you keep sending prayers for peace 
and healing for the family  of Abraham.
In the midst of all the awful  news coming from our part of the world, I also 
want to report to you some of  the positive news.
 1) The Second World  Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace
 2) The Abrahamic Reunion  meets in Tel Sheva, June 20
 3) Religious peacemakers  and grassroots peace groups respond to the war


SECOND WORLD CONGRESS OF IMAMS  AND RABBIS FOR PEACE
in Seville, Spain March  19-22


Over 100 Jewish and Muslim  religious leaders, and 100 experts in 
Jewish-Muslim dialogue work came  together for 3 days of dialogue, prayer, and practical 
project building.  Joining us were eight Muslim sheikhs and Imams from the 
Gaza  Strip.
The mayor of Seville welcomed  all of us, recalling that during the Golden 
Age, Seville was a place where  Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in and 
peaceful co-existence  together.
 At the plenary the  Palestinian Imams from Gaza emphasized the difficulty of 
everyday life for the  citizens of Gaza.  There was some tension, as some of 
the rabbis felt  that the discussion had turned from religious to political. 
One rabbi later  said, it's important for us to listen to our brothers from 
Gaza even if we  don't agree with everthing.
  Andre Azoulay, the Jewish advisor  to the King of Morocco, asked me to 
organize an evening of sacred singing with  the Muslims present at the Congress. 
The Imam of the Dome of the Rock, Abdel  Karim al-Zorba led the beautiful 
chanting, reciting Quranic verses and Islamic  poetry.
   The Chief Rabbi of Rishon L'Zion,  Yosef Azran, sat next to the Imam and 
started to sing the most beautiful  Piyutim (sacred songs) in Arabic, then in 
Hebrew.  Before we knew it, the  Rabbis and Imams were sitting in the circle 
together chanting sacred songs  back and forth in Hebrew and Arabic for 3 hours! 
 Observers commented,  "Now THIS is the heart of the Congress!”.
 By the second day, we had  broken up into smaller working groups.  We helped 
facilitate a dialogue  about the situation in Gaza between one of the Imams 
from Gaza and Rabbi Zion  Cohen, the Chief Rabbi of the Negev Communities who 
lives in Sderot, a town  near Gaza that has been shelled by Qassam rockets.
  Even though a close family friend  of the rabbi was killed in a Qassam 
rocket attack, he didn’t mention it. His  first response was: how can I help 
organize humanitarian support for the  Palestinians of Gaza from the Jewish towns 
around  Gaza.

By the last day of the  Congress, over 20 working groups had been formed, 
working on issues like  racism, Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism, sharing 
Jerusalem, rereading the holy  texts, misconceptions about Islam. 
Most of us present at the  Congress left with a renewed sense of hope that if 
the most religious of the  Jews and Muslims could learn to cooperate, then 
perhaps we were taking a step  closer to achieving the seemingly impossible 
dream for peace in the Holy Land  and the wider world.


See pictures from this  historic event, visit this website and click  ‘
participants’.


_http://interfaith.israel.net/imansandrabbisforpeace/_ 
(http://interfaith.israel.net/imansandrabbisforpeace/) 


ABRAHAMIC REUNION IN TEL SHEVA,  JUNE 20


Abrahamic Reunion  group member Khalil Albaz, the Imam of Tel Sheva, welcomed 
us to Bedouin  town of Tel Sheva, in the Negev, southern Israel. The head of 
the Tel Sheva  council and the people of Tel Sheva welcomed us.
Rabbi Zion Cohen,  whom I had met in Seville, came from his town of Sderot on 
the border of  Gaza.  “We as religious leaders need to call out against the 
violence…  our response to the situation should be more meetings like this, to 
plant the  seeds of peace!”
 Joining us  in dialogue and prayer was an ultra-Orthodox Hasid, religious 
Muslim Bedouin  women, the chief of the police in Tel Sheva and others.  
Abrahamic  Reunion group members Sheikh Bukhari and Ibrahim Abuelhawa called for the  
Children of Abraham to unite. Ibtisam Mahamid and Elana Rozenman spoke about  
the important role of women in peacemaking.
At a closing  prayer circle, Imam Khalil Albaz led a blessing to support and 
empower some of  the young Bedouin women present, who have a project to 
produce and market  traditional herbal remedies and medicines.  Devorah Brous of 
Bustan spoke  of her partnership with these women.
Reverend Charles  Gibbs, the Executive Director of URI, offered a prayer and 
then blessed the  work of the Abrahamic Reunion. That we could bring people of 
such diverse  backgrounds together in such a difficult time gave all of us 
hope for a better  future.
In all the midst  of all the bad news about the violence in Gaza, the main TV 
news channel in  Israel broadcasted 3 minutes on prime time of our  gathering.
Please visit this  link to see some amazing pictures from our recent 
gathering in Tel  Sheva.
_http://interfaith.israel.net/telsheva_june2006/_ 
(http://interfaith.israel.net/telsheva_june2006/) 


RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS AND  GRASSROOTS PEACE GROUPS RESPOND


On Wednesday July 19,  over fifty Jews and Arabs gathered at the Latrun 
monastery to plan the next  ‘On the Way to Sulha’ gathering, scheduled for August 
22-24. See  _www.sulha.com_ (http://www.sulha.com/) 
 The theme of this years  gathering is: Therefore Choose Life! Ihab Balha, 
Muslim co-director of the  Sulha Peace Project said: now is the time to live our 
values, not just when  its easy… to have compassion for ourselves and the 
others who are suffering in  this war, esp. people from Gaza, Haifa, Tsfat, 
Nahariya,  Beirut.
 It was announced that  next Thursday, July 27 the Sulha Peace Project, 
Bereaved Families Forum,  Middle Way and others are planning a major prayer vigil 
in a central public  space in Jerusalem, inviting religious leaders and common 
people of all faiths  to pray together. They will bear witness to the pain of 
Israelis who have fled  the north and read letters from friends in Gaza and 
Beirut about the pain of  their situation.
 Behind the scenes, Rabbi  Menachem Froman has been a bridge for dialogue 
between Israeli and Palestinian  leaders, seeking to bring about a cease-fire 
based on principles found in  Islam and Judaism.




Shalom,  Salaam,
Eliyahu  McLean


Jerusalem Peacemakers,  director
 Abrahamic Reunion,  coordinator



 
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