This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1558

Jews for Jihad? How the American Jewish Committee abets Islamists

The AJC's interreligious affairs director Rabbi David Rosen partners with Saudi Princes Alwaleed Bin Talal & Al Saud to spread Wahhabism via" Western Islamic World Dialouge "
January 19, 2006

Jews for Jihad?
How the American Jewish Committee abets Islamism

By Binyamin Axelrod

January 19, 2005 - Washington, DC - PipeLineNews.org - What do the American Jewish Committee, and Wahhabists have in common?

They are both helping to perpetrate jihad through Da'wa [faith spreading through aggressive conversion] via the "Chicago Coalition for Interreligious Learning," a program launched by the American Jewish Committee which is aimed at "creating guidelines for teaching other faith traditions - for Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim educators."

In the 2005 newsletter, the coalition's founder and AJC board member, Esta Star proclaimed that "the group saw the endeavor as a breakthrough for Jewish, Christian and interfaith relations in Chicago, and would produce changes in how differing religions were presented in textbooks and classrooms in an effort to promote respect among the communities." - Source Link

But instead of promoting "mutual understanding" those running the AJC's misguided "Coalition for Interreligous Learning" program have allied themselves with Islamists who cynically exploit interfaith programs to spread Wahhabism and Saudi hate propaganda. The inclusion of Kazi publications and the IQRA Education Foundation in the AJC's interreligous learning initiative will enable Da'wa materials to be introduced into school curriculums as the Muslim "contribution" to this "learning program."

Both the Northbrook and Batavia Islamic Centers have a history of activities with radical Islamists including CAIR and ISNA.

Islamisation via conversion was hailed as the ultimate weapon by Yusuf al-Qaradawi who told a 1997 conference of Muslim youth that, "We will conquer Europe - we will conquer America! Not through the sword but through Da'wa." - Source Link.

Ironically it was none other then the director of the AJC's counter terrorism division, Yehudit Barsky, who labeled CAIR and ISNA, as "extremist" and warned about Islamist groups using interfaith to gain legitimacy. In a widely disseminated interview entitled - "Expert - Saudis have radicalized 80% of all US Mosques," Barsky declared that:

The Islamic Society of North America, "supports the Muslim Brotherhood and the Saudi regime," and that [CAIR] the Council on American Islamic Relations "[was] founded in the 1980s by pro-Hamas activists."

Barsky noted that many mainstream Muslim organisations were "pro Saudi and pro Muslim Brotherhood." She suggested that her colleagues should "proceed with caution, [since] some of the [extremist] organizations have concluded that interfaith dialogue is a good way to spread the ideology."

Barsky added:

"'Interfaith dialogue' gives such organizations a public legitimacy that their ideology would deny them if they expressed it outright...and that these organizations come to the Jewish community to talk about interfaith ,while they still teach anti-Western and anti- Christian doctrines to their followers." - Source Link

Such considerations raise troubling questions:

Why has Barsky done nothing to stop the AJC - which has just announced the launch of a new website called "Counterterrorism Watch" under her direction - from working with similarly constructed Islamist groups who are spreading Wahhabism under the auspices of the Chicago Coalition for Interreligous Learning?

Why does the AJC continue to work with radical Islamists who are affiliated with the very same organizations that their own counter terrorism "expert" has labeled as extremist?

[Editor's note: It is worth mentioning that the AJC website recently removed the interfaith links page, which listed the Center for Muslim Christian Understanding an organization which recently changed its name to the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding, in honor of their Saudi benefactor who also raised money for the families of suicide bombers.]

One would like to speculate that the link was removed because it was deemed unseemly for the AJC to list the Alwaleed Center as a partner but this seems unlikely given their other - blatantly Islamist - affiliations.

The AJC is also working with people like Dr. Scott Alexander, [please refer to the PipeLineNews.org series The Catholic Theological Union And The Limits Of Understanding] the head the Muslim Christian program at the CTU's Bernardin Center. In 2004 Alexander had planned to act as an expert witness at the terrorism trial of Fawaz Damra. He declined to appear after a controversy erupted over his justification or Damra's urging of Muslims to kill Jews "on the grounds that he was speaking as a victim."

Instead of severing their ties with the CTU and the Bernardin Center, AJC director Emily Soloff, and Jonathan Levine - the AJC's Chicago regional outreach director - joined CTU's advisory board.

Fellow Bernardin Center board members include seven representatives of radical Islamist groups such as CAIR and ISNA , including Sayid Sayeed - the General Secretary of ISNA - and John Esposito - the director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding." - Source Link.

In 2004 the head of the AJC's New York office, David Harris, lead a delegation of 100 members to meet with the terrorist Jabril Rajoub in Jerusalem. - Source Link

The Buffalo branch of the AJC recently held an 'interfaith meeting' entitled "Religious expression in the public square," at which they hosted Welton Gaddy, the director of the Interfaith Alliance, whose board members include noted Islamists Mahdi Bray of MAS and Maher Hathout of MPAC. - Source Link

The Muslim groups which the American Jewish Committee has chosen as partners in their interreligous education endeavor, offers a casebook study of how Saudi backed Islamist propagation - Da'wa - enterprises can enter the mainstream under the aegis of interfaith and become undeservedly legitimized.

Kazi Publications is an Islamist publishing house based in Chicago. Kazi's webmaster and production director, Mary Bakthiar, aka Laleh, is a living testimony to the crazy quilt that missplaced multiculturalism and interfaith produce - as an American Christian who converted to Islam after marrying an Iranian who had been dispatched to the United States to study on an Islamic missionary scholarship in 1927. [Prior to divorcing her husband, Bakthiar lived for years in Iran where she and her spouse ran the Hamdami publishing house in Teheran] - Source Link

The Kazi website states that they are "the oldest Islamic bookstore in America." Kazi offers an array of Islamist books and multimedia materials by radical theologians like Jamal Zarabozo, Al Ghazali, and Abdul Al Mawdudi - whose "Principles of the Islamic State" - stresses the necessity of the establishment of the Khalifate. Kazi also stocks videos and CD's of rabid anti-Semites such as Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X. Source Link

The AJC's Coalition for Interreligous Learning is also working together with IQRA and the International Educational Foundation - an international source of Wahhabist propaganda which disseminates DVD's such as "Why the West is Coming to Islam," and books like "Sacred Law in Secular Lands" by Abdullah Bin Bayyah - a radical Islamist cleric who is cited as a source of spiritual inspiration by jihadist websites. Source Link

IQRA's refers to itself as an "Islamic Waqf," [Islamic trust] which means that it falls under the auspices of the North American Islamic Trust [NAIT] an arm of the Saudi government, which controls and funds 80% of all the Islamic institutions in North America to insure that Muslims can live "in a shari'a compliant way." Source Link

NAIT is one of America's largest Islamist umbrella organization; its goal is to "Islamise North America through conversion." - Source Link

A mosque partner in the AJC's Coalition for Interreligous Learning is the Batavia Islamic Center, whose vice president Mazher Ahmad, worked as the executive director of the Islamic Research Foundation, based in Bombay, which also has a branch in the United States. The aim of the IRF is "to promote "Islamic Da'wa proper presentation, understanding and appreciation of Islam, as well as removing misconceptions about Islam amongst less-aware Muslims as well as non-Muslims."

Ahmad's experience as head of an Islamic missionary organization is another example of how the AJC in Chicago is aiding Muslims with Islamic propagation by granting them legitimacy through participation in a coalition for 'interreligous learning'.

Mazher Ahmad the vice chair of the Council of World Religions [CWR], another interfaith vehicle used by Muslims to lure other faiths into contact with Islam [one member of the executive committee is Abdul Malik Muhajid, the director of Sound Vision, a radical Islamist media company directly tied to Hamas and the radical Bridgeview Mosque Foundation.]

The American Jewish Committee is inexplicably partnering with the CWR - the head of the AJC's Council for Interreligious Affairs -Rabbi David Rosen - was listed as a member of the CWR's Advisory Board Committee in 2002. His name appears directly under that of Adullah Omar Naseef, a Saudi millionaire who was cited in US government indictment for involvement in Al Qaeda funding. - Source Link

The AJC has affiliated itself with the Northbrook Islamic Center, which was "founded by Bosnian Muslims, and boasts of their commitment to interfaith activities."

"Imam Senad Effendi Agic is representative of the Bosnia-Hercegovina National Ministry of Religion in America. As imam of the Northbrook Mosque of Chicago and Chairman of the Bosnian Relief Committee of Chicago, where perhaps the most Bosnian refugees in the nation are located, Imam Senad is extremely active in helping the refugees in relocating to their new homes in the US, in collecting donations and supplies for the Muslims in the former Yugoslavia who are in dire need, and in supporting the jihad movement in Bosnia-Hercegovina.

After attending the International Islamic Unity Conference as the leader of the Bosnian Youth Mawlid Group and as a speaker, Imam Senad returned to Sarajevo, Bosnia to meet with rais al-ulema, Dr. Mustafa Ceric." - Source Link

Ceric was a pivotal figure at the Northbrook Islamic Center.

"In the 1980s, Ceric earned his Ph.D. in Islamic studies at the University of Chicago. For four years he was also the imam at the Islamic Cultural Center in Northbrook, one of the area's oldest mosques and an important gathering place for Bosnian Muslims in the United States." - Source Link

Mustafa Ceric is now the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, among other associations, he also works with the UK branch of the AMSS - The Association of Muslim Social Scientists, which is the sister organisation of the the International Institute of Islamic Thought [IIIT], a Wahhabist funded group which is being investigated for terror funding. Source Link

According to a recent Bosnian news report Mustafa Ceric also played a leading role in CIRKL, another funding front which was organised by Osama bin Laden and Sheik Abdel Rahman, that functioned as:

"...the only link between the Bosnian Muslim political leadership of the time and its wealthy Islamic benefactors...key people in the CIRKL in charge of Bosnia as Dr. Fatih al Hassanein, Hasan Cengic, Salim Sabic, Muhamed Catic, Mustafa Ceric, Husein Zivalj, and Senad Sahinpasic." - Source Link

[Editor's note: for PipeLineNews.org's analysis of Bosnian Islamist politcs see - 10 Years And Counting - Still No Exit Plan From Clinton Created, European Al-Qaeda Base.

Of additional interest regarding how organizations like the AJC have been duped in the recent past by media savvy Islamists, the international PR firm, Ruder Finn and Hill & Knowlton, Inc., of Washington, D.C, were hired by the Bosnian Muslims to spin publicity in their favor, successfully obscuring the association that the Bosnian Muslims had with the Nazis during World War II.

James Harff the director of Ruder and Finn Global Public Affairs, bragged that the firm's campaign had not only "outwitted" groups like the AJC, but had used them:

"We outwitted three big Jewish organizations - B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Jewish Congress. We suggested to them to publish an advertisement in the New York Times and to organize demonstrations outside the United Nations." - from French TV2's Jacques Merlino's interview with James Harff. The interview was published in Merlino's 1993 book "Les vérités Yougoslaves ne sont pas toutes bonnes à dire," an analysis of the PR campaign that accompanied the war.

For the record, in 1993 Ruder Finn was awarded the "Silver Medal of the Public Relations Society of America" in the category "crisis communication," relating to its work assisting Bosnia in selling the Muslim slant on the war in the Balkans to the American public.

Seemingly having learned little, more then a decade later, the AJC continues to support the Bosnian Muslim cause. In 2005 the assistant director of the AJC Melanie Maron, spoke at a rally organised by the Council of Islamic Organisations of Greater Chicago - a Saudi funded umbrella group also tied to the Muslim World League. The CIOGC Chairman Abdul Malik Mujahid , who is the CEO of Sound Vision a radical Islamist media company linked to Hamas and the IAP, also spoke at the rally. The event was hosted by a member of the Northbrook Islamic Center.]

The NIC continues to work closely with the Council on America Islamic Relations, a group which was described by the AJC's head of counterterrorism , Yehudit Barsky, as being "founded in the 1980's by pro-Hamas activists." In 2005 the NIC helped CAIR recruit elderly converts to Islam with a program entitled Building Bridges to Islam, co-sponsored by a group called Elderhostel. - Source Link

The Northbrook Islamic Center also hosted a 5 week program by the Saudi funded Nawawi Foundation, on "The Universal Precepts and Concepts of Islamic Law," a study which they hoped would "foster a deeper understanding of Islam within and beyond our community." - Source Link.

The Muslim partners in the American Jewish Committee's "Coalition for Interreligous Learning" are part and parcel of the Saudi propagation enterprise which the head of the AJC's Middle East and International Terrorism division, Yehudit Barsky, said was "...spreading anti-Western and anti-Christian teachings to their followers..."

It's time that donors to the AJC start demanding that the organisation halt their interfaith programs which are abetting jihad through Da'wa, and that AJC leaders cease their interaction with individuals and institutions tied to terrorism both in the United States and abroad.

©1999-2006 PipeLineNews.org, all rights reserved.

http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=jewishjihad%2Ehtm

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MIM: The html has been removed but the pdf contains information on an interfaith program, and and a picture with the AJC's interreligious affairs 'rabbi;' David Elcott meeting with the head of Kazi Publications and the IQRA Foundation mentioned above.

Summer Newsletter 2005
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
world, including AJC International Interreligious Affairs Director Rabbi David ... meeting of the "Chicago Coalition for Interreligious Learning: Catholics, ...
www.ajcchicago.org/atf/cf/ %7BDDCFFE02-F892-433B-AC2C-EB2181D85044%7D/Volume5No2Newsletter2005.pdf - Similar pages

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MIM: According to the information in the article above, the AJC appeared to have removed the link to the Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown from their website together with their Muslim Jewish links page.The author speculated that this could have been because the Saudi funded center had now 'outed' itself as Wahhabist and been renamed the Prince Awaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding.

A search reveals that the links page does indeed exist, and it is reprinted below.

The AJC whose mission statement is to 'protect Jewish interests' seems to have no 'conflict of interests' when it comes to working with Wahhabists.

The director of their Interreligous Affairs Committee, Rabbi David Rosen, also sits on the board of the Western Islamic World Dialouge which is chaired by uber Wahhabist Prince Turki Al Saud, the present Saudi ambassador, who was a consultant to Osama Bin Laden when he was waging Jihad against the Russians. The Western Islamic World Dialouge organisation is also funded by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and is an international Da'wa (Islamic propagation and conversion) enterprise comprised of "100 religious leaders"

The name or the group expresses the goal - i.e, to have a Western Islamic World and Dialouge only for Islam and about Muslims.

For more about the World Economic Forum and he Western Islamic World Dialouge aka Western Islamic World Da'wa movement see:

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1560

On the Western Islamic World Dialouge website the AJC head of interreligous affairs Rabbi David Rosen's name is listed above that of Abdullah Omar Naseef, who is cited in the above article as being linked to funding for Al Qaeda and as being named on a U.S government indictment against the SAAR terror financing network.

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MIM: The AJC interfaith links page goes directly to the what is now the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding. They also partner with the Hartford Seminary. which is a radical Islamist enterprise which has hosted the jailed Imam Fawaz Damra, who is awaiting deportation from the US for not mentioning his association with a terrorist organisation on his immigration forms, and the vice president of the Islamic Society of North America, Ingrid Mattson. ISNA is one of the largest Islamist propagation enterprises in North America and it's mission is in it's name - to turn the the United States and Canada into an Islamic Society of North America. For more on the Hartford Seminary see:

"Dupes for Da'wa: How the Muslims exploit interfaith programs in schools and universities to promote Wahhabist Islam via Hartford Seminary

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1527

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http://69.20.5.215/InTheMedia/RelatedArticles.asp?did=646

Muslim-Jewish Related Links

Muslim-Jewish Related Links

Links to Muslim Organizations

American Islamic Congress (AIC)
Founded in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, concentrates on the issue of pluralism-within Islam, and for Islam as part of the pluralistic make-up of America.

The American Sufi Muslim Association

Muslims AGAINST Terrorism

Three Faiths Forum

Islamic Supreme Council of America

Links to Muslim-Christian Studies Centers

Note: At the present time, no center for Muslim-Jewish Studies exists, but Jewish participation is sometimes included in projects or events coordinated by the two Muslim-Christian Centers that exist at this time.)

Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU), Georgetown University

The Duncan Black MacDonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary.

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http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/West-Islamic+World+Dialogue%5CCore+Group+and+Members

MIM: The head of the CORE group is none other then Turki Faisal Al Saud Ambassador from the KSA to Washington. The Western Islamic World Dialouge group is also funded by Prince Alwaheed bin Talal who raised money for the families of suicide bombers.

"...The World Economic Forum is pleased to acknowledge Xenel /Saudi Cable Company and HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulazziz Al Saud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Co., Saudi Arabia as Initiative Partners providing support to the C-100..."


Core group

Co-chairs
Lord Carey of Clifton, Former Archbishop of Canterbury, United Kingdom
H.R.H. Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the USA

Business
Khalid A. Alireza, Chairman, Xenel/Saudi Cable Company, Saudi Arabia
Geda Condit, Owner, Storybook Partners, USA
Thomas Pickering, Senior Vice President, International Relations, The Boeing Company, USA
Muna Abu-Sulayman, Executive Manager, Strategic Studies, Kingdom Holding Co., Saudi Arabia

Public Figures
Katherine Marshall, Director and Counsellor to the President, World Bank, Washington DC
Jan Petersen, Member of Parliament, Norway

Religious leaders
Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland
Rabbi David Rosen, President, The International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Relations, USA
Abdullah O. Nasseef, President, World Muslim Congress, Saudi Arabia

Academic leaders
John L. Esposito, Founding Director, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, USA
Heba R. Ezzat, Lecturer, Cairo University, Egypt
Farhan Nizami, Prince of Wales Fellow in the Study of the Islamic World, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, United Kingdom

Media leader
Jihad B. Khazen, Director, Al Hayat Newspaper, United Kingdom

Civil society
Shamil Idriss, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

From the World Economic Forum
Monica Lodygensky, Senior Project Manager, C-100 Initiative
Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, Senior Advisor, C-100 Initiative
Richard Samans, Managing Director, Global Institute for Partnership and Governance

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MIM:
In 2001 the AJC announced their appointment of Rabbi David Rosen the head their department of interreligious affairs.

"...The American Jewish Committee announced today that Rabbi David Rosen will head up the organization's worldwide pioneering initiatives and programming in interreligious affairs.

"Rabbi David Rosen is a true leader in the interreligious affairs world, and we are delighted to have him head AJC's efforts in this new century," said David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee. "Rabbi Rosen exemplifies the kind of visionary leadership that is essential to enhancing religion as a tool for bettering the human condition and for achieving the international peace and harmony we so much desire..."

http://www.charitywire.com/charity11/00675.html

In 2005 he was appointed to head the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations which was touted as being the most "...authoritative official position for interelligious relations in the Jewish world..."

Which begs the question as to who, besides the AJC, has made Rosen and his organisation (which promotes secularism) into the leaders of "the Jewish world".

http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=837277&ct=1287265

August 11, 2005 – New York – Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee has been appointed President of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC).

"I am grateful to my colleagues in all the Jewish organizations that make up IJCIC, for the confidence they have placed in me in electing me to this position, which is both a great privilege and a real challenge," said Rabbi Rosen, AJC's International Director of Interreligious Affairs, a position he will continue to hold.

IJCIC represents organized world Jewry in its relations with other world religious bodies, such as the Vatican. Rabbi Rosen met with Pope Benedict XVI as part of the IJCIC delegation in June.

The President of IJCIC is considered the most authoritative official position for interreligious relations in the Jewish world...."

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MIM:It appears that Rosen is so taken with his new position as the self proclaimed most 'authoritative figure in Jewish world' ( and the travel and salary it brings with it) that he has also joined the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace. One wonders if his new found friends Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, and Saudi Ambassador Al Faisal Al Saud, are also part of this Muslim Jewish Da'wa lovefest. A gushing account by one of the participants ends recounts that:

"...To formally close the Congress we sang together Haveinu Shalom Aleichem and held hands in a circle.

On Thursday, the final day Rabbi Albert Guigui welcomed some of us at the central synagogue of Brussels. Later at the central mosque we sat on the carpet together where the imam received us graciously..."

undefined

Eliyahu McLean, 3/8/2005

Hello friends,

From January 3-6 2005, I had the opportunity to be a part of a historic meeting, the First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace that took place in Brussels. Hommes de Parole, an organization based in Paris and led by director Alain Michel, in cooperation with many other organizations organized the Congress.

We were about 180 participants, including 100 Jewish and Muslim religious leaders and 80 experts in the field of Jewish-Muslim cooperation, from all over the world. The Jewish religious leaders were rabbis who came from Europe and North America as well as about 30 rabbis from Israel, including chief rabbis of different cities and heads of prominent yeshivas.

The Muslim religious leaders included imams who came from Europe, the U.S., Africa and Asian countries like Indonesia and Uzbekistan. From the Middle East there were Palestinians from Jerusalem, the Galilee and the West Bank as well as from Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Iran. Christian clergy and others, including a delegation of teenage Muslim girls from France came as observers to every session.

During the three-day Congress we joined in large roundtable plenary sessions, workshops, open discussions and gala dinners together. All the sessions were translated simultaneously into English, French, Hebrew and Arabic.

At the opening session on the evening of January 3rd, there was such a feeling of excitement as we all first gathered together in Egmont Palace in Brussels.

Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron, the former Chief Sefardic Rabbi of Israel, said, "when I see all of the imams and rabbis coming together, this is a message to the Creator that we are here to do your will, that is to bring peace."

Sheikh Talal Sider from Hebron said that for Jews, Muslims and Christians, the Holy Land is beloved and blessed and that our meeting together in this Congress was a blessing from God.

Dr. Ahmad Toufiq spoke on behalf of the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, who gave his support and blessings. He spoke about how Jews, Christians and Muslims have lived together peacefully for centuries in Morocco.

The Hindu swami Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "May God give us the courage to unite as a human family. I leave momentarily for India and Sri Lanka and I bring to them (tsunami survivors) the message that the imams and rabbis are with them."

There was extensive media coverage from European and Middle Eastern news agencies. Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari and I were interviewed by MBC, the second largest Arabic news program shown in the Arab world. I gave a full interview in Arabic, calling on Muslims everywhere to unite with the Jews as members of one family, the family of Abraham.

Each night the band 'the Voices of Fez' played live Arabic music. On the first night a Moroccan rabbi got on the stage and started singing Hebrew sacred songs with the band. On the second night, Abdel Karim al Zurba, an Imam of the Dome of the Rock, got up on the stage and moved everyone with his powerful rendition of the call to prayer.

On Tuesday morning we discussed the Judeo-Muslim heritage. Imam Sajid from England said that as Jews and Muslims living as minorities in Europe we need to combat together the twin evils of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

The rabbis responded deeply to the words of Dr. Abdul Rahman Abad from East Jerusalem when he said, "let us walk the path to peace. Instead of calling the Land Israel or Palestine, let us talk about the Holy Land. Let the Land be our mother and we its children."

In the Tuesday afternoon plenary session on acceptance of the other Rabbi Michael Melchior declared, "We will help God who makes peace in the heavens, make peace between us."

Rabbi Naftali Brawer from the office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom said, "Learn how to smile at those different from us and to see in the reflective smile of the other, a reflection of the Divine."

At the afternoon workshop sessions we broke small groups and discussed concrete cooperative projects. Some of the workshops were: bringing a religious dimension to the Mid-East peace process, creation of a Jewish-Muslim observatory and Abraham's Vision- a textbook for Jewish and Muslim youth weaving together a shared narrative of our stories.

At the Wednesday morning plenary session about human dignity, Rabbi Naftali Rothenberg spoke of the challenge of morality in times of war. "The Torah demands from us to see the enemy as a human being who deserves to be treated with dignity. There is no such thing as a morality of peace and a morality of war, only morality."

A special moment for everyone present was when the imams and rabbis stood silently together for three minutes in honor the victims of the tsunami in Asia. To open the 3 minutes the chief rabbi of Haifa sang El Maleh Rahamim, the Jewish memorial prayer for the dead. The former mufti of Istanbul closed by reciting verses from the Quran. Rabbi Yosef Azran, chief rabbi of Rishon Letzion spontaneously chanted a psalm. It was an emotional moment; everyone felt a sense of unity coming together in our shared humanity.

Later more of us had a chance to share in an open forum:

Rabbi Reuven Firestone from Los Angeles spoke about the need to have public celebrations together as a way to build bridges.

Sheikh Yusuf Murigu from Kenya said, "The Islamic tradition offers a model for human dignity as seen in the Quran: 'Allah says: I have made you into nations and into tribes to get to know one another.'"

Rabbi Soetendorp from Holland said, "Let us all have the courage to be Rodfei Shalom. May God give us the courage to make peace."

A sheikh from the Islamic Council of Tunis said, "Just by our meeting together we are dispelling ignorance of the other."

In the final plenary session on Wednesday we discussed how to deal with extremism within our own communities. Rabbi Yosef Hadane, Chief Rabbi of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel spoke about the need for religious leaders to explain the Torah and the Quran in a truly spiritual way that could not lead to extremism. I said we should not demonize the extremists but include them in the circle of dialogue and reach out to them with the tools found within Judaism and Islam.

The final declaration called for: political leaders to work for a peaceful solution in the Holy Land, respect for human rights, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders to devote regular sermons in their communities to the theme od reverence for all human life and the establishment of a permanent joint committee to implement these commitments.

On the first day many of the imams and rabbis, many of whom had never met one of the other, stood apart. By the end they were holding each other's arms.

At the closing session, one of the Muslim teenage girls from France spoke eloquently saying, "We thank you for what you taught us. Thanks for helping us build peace with you."

To formally close the Congress we sang together Haveinu Shalom Aleichem and held hands in a circle.

On Thursday, the final day Rabbi Albert Guigui welcomed some of us at the central synagogue of Brussels. Later at the central mosque we sat on the carpet together where the imam received us graciously.

Please refer to the Hommes de Parole website

http://www.shalomctr.org/node/831

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http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/cd45-10.html

CURRENT DIALOGUE
Issue 45, July 2005

Final Declaration
First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace
Egmont Place, Brussels, January 6, 2005

We, leaders, representatives, Rabbis and Imams of Muslim and Jewish religious communities who have assembled from all over the world for the first world congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace affirm our commitment to strive to end all bloodshed and attacks against innocent human beings that offend the right to life and dignity given by the Almighty to all human beings.

We call upon all people to combat hate, ignorance and their causes and to build together a world of peace, rich in diversity, in which all faiths and their practices are respected and protected.

We call upon the political leaders of all peoples to work for righteous and peaceful durable solutions around the world and in particular in the Holy Land for the benefit of all peoples and faith-communities who live in the land and hold it dear.

We pledge ourselves to pursue a shared goal of respect for human rights for all people and peoples, without which no peace can be possible.

We call upon all religious leaders in Jewish and Muslim congregations around the world to devote regular sermons and addresses to their communities on the importance of inter-religious respect and reverence for all human life under all circumstances.

We announce the establishment of a permanent joint committee to help implement these commitments and propose programmatic initiatives on a regular basis, in keeping with the proposals presented during the congress and in its spirit for the wellbeing of all peoples.

The First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, organized by the foundation Hommes de Parole, took place from the 3 to 6 January 2005 in Brussels, under the High Patronage of the Kings Albert II and Mohammed VI.

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MIM: Not everyone was taken by the warm fuzzy idea of Imams and Rabbis meeting together for 'peace' since the Congress had to be relocated "for security reasons".

http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/3418_ccju_s_rabbi_joseph_ehrenkranz_participates_in_world_congress_of_imams_and_rabbis.cfm

"...The congress was originally conceived to take place in Morocco, but due to security concerns was relocated to Brussels, Belgium at the invitation of Belgium's King Albert II, who hosted proceedings at the royal Egmont's Palace. Speakers dealt with issues such as the Judeo-Muslim heritage, the dignity of the human person, and the problems of interpreting difficult sacred texts – texts that can give rise to violence when abused but bring forth understanding and wisdom when studied carefully in their appropriate contexts..."

Abdul Rahman ABAD Officiel spokesman of the council of Palestinian's Ulemas
Sheikh Ahmed ABADDI Director of islamic affairs in Morocco
Master of Theology Kimzanbay ABDURAHMANOV Imam hatib
Docteur Younès ABERKANE vice-President of Terres d'Europe
Rabbin David ABRAHAM Talmud Torah Teacher
professeur Khalid ABU-RAS Professor in Arabe litrature
Mr Mohammad ABUMOKH Director General of Al-Qasemi Academy
Monseigneur Emmanuel ADAMAKIS Metropolitain of France
Dr Lateef ADEGBITE Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
Sheikh Senad AGIC Imam of Bosniak communities in North America
Sheikh Pr Dr Ahmed AKGÜNDÜZ Dean of islamic university of Rotterdam
Ari ALEXANDER
Sheikh Abdul Kareim ALZORBA Imam of the dome of the Rock
Rabbi Roberto ARBIB Director of "Yiun" academy
Mr Chief Rabbi Yacov ARIEL Chief Rabbi of Ramat Gan
Mr Nafez ASSAILY Director of the "Library on Wheels " association
Professor Mehmet AYDIN Lecturer at the Faculty of Theology, University of Ondokuz Mayis.
Professeur Mahmoud AZAB Professor titular in Islamology at the National Institute of Orientales Civilizations
Mr Mohamed Moui. AZIZA
Monsieur André AZOULAY Counselor to His Majesty King Mohammed VI
Mr Chief Rabbi Joseph AZRAN Chief Rabbi Av Beth-Din of Rishon Letzion
Chief Rabbi Eliyahu BAKSCHI DORON Harishon Letzion Chief Rabbi of Israel
Monsieur Paul BALLANFAT Chief of Turkish-Persian Studies at the Lyon III university
professeur Foad BDIR Manager of Islamic college
Monsieur le président Rachid BENMOKHTAR President of the Al Akhawayn University
Anass BENMOUSSA
Cheikh BENTOUNÈS
Monsieur Rachid BENZINE
Grand Rabbin Laurent BERROS Rabbi of Sarcelles
Rabbi David BIGMAN Rosh Yeshiva Head of Talmudic Academy
Monsieur Mohamed BOULIF President of the Executive office of the Belgium Muslims
Rabbi Dr. Naftali BRAWER Rabbi in charge of the interreligious relations for the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom
Rabbi Daniel BRENNER Director of the Center for Multifaith Education Auburn Theological Seminary
Monsieur Patrice BRODEUR Titular of a Canada Research Chair: Islam, Pluralism and globalization
Sheikh Abdul Aziz BUKHARI Sheikh Of the Naqshabandian Sufi Method and Head of Uzbeke Community in Jerusalem
Archpriest Vsevolod CHAPLIN Archprist, representant Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia
Madame Pascale CHARHON
Sheikh Hassan CHIZENGA Secretary of Ulamaa Council of Tanzania
Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Yoseph COHEN Chief Rabbi of Haifa. President of Rabbinic Court and President of the Ariel Institute
Monsieur Moïse COHEN President of the Jewish Consistory of Paris
Monsieur Jean Arnold DE CLERMONT President of the french protestant federation
Monsieur Albert DE PURY Professor of biblical sciences at the University of Geneva
Père Christian DELORME Catholic priest
Monsieur Brahim DERAWI Vice-Président of the Moroccan Associations Federation in Europe
Monsieur Doudou DIÈNE Special Reporter on contemporary forms of racism, xenophobia and intolerance
Son Excellence Monsieur Bernard DORIN Embassador of France
Rabbi Cllr Aba M DUNNER Executive Director of the Conference of European Rabbis
Mr Chief Rabbi Pinhas EDERY Chief Rabbi of Givataim
Rabbi Joseph H. EHRENKRANZ Executive Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart University
Professeur Mohamed EL AYADI Teacher of islamic problematics
Rabbi Messod ELHADAD Judge at the rabbinical court of Jerusalem
Dr. Avraham ELQAYAM Head of the Slomo Moussaieff Center for Kabbalah Research in Bar Ilan University
Sydney ENGELBERG
Rabbi Isaac FARHI Rabbi and Kashrut Supervisor
Monsieur Paul FENTON Professor at the Sorbonne University and at the Jerusalem University
Professor Reuven FIRESTONE Professor- Medieval Judaism and Islam- Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion
Madame Arlette FONTAN Professor in Philosophy and ISTR co-founder
Rabbin François GARAÏ Rabbi at Geneva
Monsieur Mamadou GASSAMA President of the AMISF of Sarcelles
Chief Rabbi Josef GLIKSBERG Chief Rabbi of Givataym
Monsieur Gadi GOLAN Israel Ambassador
Rabbi Doctor Alon GOSHEN-GOTTSTEIN Director of the Elijah Institute
Sayyed el Cheikh Abd al-Wadoud GOURAUD Imam of Milan Al-Wahid Mosque
Rabbi Irving Yitz GREENBERG President, Jewish life Network/ Steinhardt Foundation
Rabbin Marc Raphaël GUEDJ President of the interreligious Foundation Racines et sources " "
Monsieur Le Grand Rabbin Albert GUIGUI Chief Rabbi of Bruxelles
Samahet el Mufti Saleh HABIMANA Mufti of Rwanda
Rabbi Menachem HACOHEN Chief Rabbi of Romania
Mr Chief Rabbi Rabbi Yosefe HADANE Chief Rabbi of Ethiopian Jews in Israel
Mr Avner HARAMATI Facilitator
Madame Gita HAZANI Co-director of the Mosaica Center for Inter Religious Cooperation
Professor Abdelwahab HECHICHE Professor at Tempa University
Madame Tania HEIDSIECK Theologist, searcher in biblic and koranic hermeneutic
Sheikh Hamad HILMI Imam of Kfar Ilout
Professor Ephraim ISAAC Director of Semitic Studies Institute
Jamal ISSA OLP press Office
Mr Safder JAFFER Actuary and Chairman of the Islamic Education Board, World Federation Islamic Center
Sayyed el Sheikh Syed Agha JAFRI Shia Muslim Community Leader
Rabbi Shmuel JAKOBOVITS Director of the jakobovits Torah Institute Contemporary issues
Rabbi Howard JOSEPH Rabbi of Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal
Monsieur Hammadi KADDOURI vice-president of the Muslims Federation of Sarcelles
Mrs Patricia KAHANE
Rabbi Doctor Elie KAHN Head of the Ein Hanetziv Yeshiva
Sayyed Nadeem Abbas KAZMI Head of International Development
Professor Dr Mahmud Erol KILIC Professor of Sufism at Marmara University
Imam KONE IDRISS KOUDOUSS President of the Imams National Conseluor
Monsieur Ahmed KOSTAS Regional Delegate for Islamic Affairs in Rabat, Morocco
Doctor Esmail KOUSHANPOUR Emeritus Professor, Northwestern University- Executive Director of the Islamic Cultural Center, Northbrook.
Mr. Daniel KROPF Facilitator
Rabbin Rivon Richard KRYGIER Rabbi of the Massorti Community of Paris, Adath Shalom.
Mr Chief Rabbi David Baruch LAU Chief Rabbi of Modiin
Rabbi Binnyamin LEHMAN Rabbi of the Har Etzion Yeshiva
Chief Rabbi Joseph LEVI Rabbi of Florence
Professor Barry LEVY Dean, Faculty of Religious Studies- McGill University
Rabbi Ronen LUBITCH Rabbi of Nir-Etzion
Hojat al-Islam Muhammad MAHALLATI Yarshater Research FellowFormer Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran in U.N.
Sayyed el Cheikh Yacob MAHI Professor or islamics religious at Athénée Royal Léonardo da Vinci Brussel's
Sheikh Ghassan MANASRA Co- Director Mosaica center for Inter-religious Cooperation
Sayyed el Sheikh Saliou MBACKE Inter Faith Action for Peace in Africa
Mr. Eliyahu MCLEAN Pursuer of Peace, Interfaith advisor of the Sulha Peace Project
Mr Chief Rabbi Michael MELCHIOR Chief Rabbi of Norway
Mr Chief Rabbi Bent MELCHIOR Chief Rabbi of Denmark
Sayyed el Cheikh Dahou MESKINE General Secretary of the Council of French Imams
Sayyed el Cheikh Mohamed Slaheddinne MESTAOUI Tunisian Deputy, Member of the High Islamic Council
Mr Edward MILLER Chairman of the project Vision of Abraham
Monsieur Emile MOATI General delegate of Abraham brotherhood
Dr. Kamran MOFID Researcher/Consultant on Globalisation and Inter_ faith Dialogue
Sheikh Ali Bin Hj MOHAMED Member council of Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
Dr. Muhammad MUQODDAS Chairman of Muhammadiyah University
Sheikh Yussuf MURIGU Vice Chairman of Supreme Muslim Council of Kenya
Sheikh Abdishukur NARMATOV Imam of Mosque in 7th micro-region in Bishkek; President of "Altyn-Muun" foundation
Doctor Mitkal NATOUR Lawyer specialsed in Islamic Affairs
Mr. President Adamou NDAM NJOYA Plenipotentiary Minister / M.P. Amb Mayor of Foumbah
Sheikh Ahmed Khalifa NIASSE Vice President of National Assembly of Sénégal
Reverend Dr. Vladimir NIKIFOROV University Chaplain and Lecturer in Ethics
Doctor Evgueni NOVIKOV Researcher, Senior Fellow for the Islamist Project, Center for Security Policy
Sayyed el Sheikh Rakhmatilla OBIDOV Main Imam-khatib of Shaykhontahur district
H.R.H. Honorable Justice Abdulkadir ORIRE Executive Secretary General of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam
Dr Abdulaziz OTHMAN ALTWAIJRI General (ISESCO)
Monsieur Marc Alain OUAKNIN President of the association "Des Penseurs dans la Cite " Associate Professor at the Bar Ilan University(departement of comparative litterature)
Cheikh Tareq OUBROU Imam of Bordeaux
H.E. Mr Alvaro OZORES Special Spanish Ambassador to World Jewry
Sheikh Yahya Sergio Yahe PALLAVICINI Vice-president of the Islamic Religious Community of Italy (COREIS Italiens)
Sheikh Abdalwahid -Felice PALLAVICINI Sheikh and President of the Islamic Religious Community (CO.RE.IS)of Italy
Rabbi Salomo PAPPENHEIM Director of educational Institution
Madame Fariba PETERS-HACHTROUDRI President of the Moha Association
Boris PINCUS President of the American Association of Central Asian and Caucasian Countries
Mr. Alberto QUATTRUCCI Secr. Gen. for Interreligious Dialogue and Public Events- Sant'Egidio.
Mr Bashy QURAISHY Chairman of the European Network Against Racism
Mr Chief Rabbi Shmuel RABINOWITZ Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites in Israel
His Holiness Sri Sri RAVI SHANKAR Director of the International Association for Human Values
Mr Kamel RAYAN Head of the Aqsa association
Javier Herman Lopez ROJAS
Sheikh Abdu-samad ROMERO ROMAN Director of the Faculty of Andalusian Studies
Chief Rabbi David Shlomo ROSEN International Director of Interreligious Affaires at the Jewish Commitee. International President, World Conference, Religions for Peace
Rabbi Naftali ROTHENBERG Rabbi of Har Adar
Rabbi Chaim Zwi ROZWASKI Rabbi RD of the Jewish Community of Berlin
Imam Dr. Abduljalil SAJID Imam of Brigthon
Monsieur Le Grand Rabbin Abba SAMOUN Chief Rabbi of Troyes and Champagne-Ardennes
Directeur Kharis SAUBYANOV Adninstration of Rassia Mufties Council
Sheikh Talal SEDIR Palestinian authority representative for interreligious affairs
Monsieur Abraham SÉGAL
Rabbin Michel SERFATY Rabbi of Ris Orangis Delegate of the French Consistoire for Inter-religious Affairs
Mr Daniel SHEK Chairman of BIOCOM
Rabbi Abraham SHERMAN Member of Hight Rabinical Court of Jerusalem
Mr Sydney SHIPTON Co-ordinator of the three faiths forum
Mr Chief Rabbi Shlomo SHLUSH Chief Rabbi of Haifa and president of rabbinical Court of Haifa
Grand Rabbin René Samuel SIRAT Director of the Unesco Chair for Inter-religious dialogues
Professeur Faouzi SKALI LAMI anthropologiste,Doctor in Religious Sciences
Grand Rabbin Ari Abraham SMADJA Rabbi of Ramat Shlomo
Rabbi Awraham Shalom SOETENDORP President- European Region- world union of progressive Judaism
Rabbi Daniel SPERBER President of the Institute for Higher Torah Education at Bar Ilan University
Docteur Adolphe STEG Representant for the Rotschild Foundation
Rabbi Alvin M. SUGARMAN Rabbi
Rabbin Claude SULTAN Rabbi of Troyes, Director of the rabbinic Institute of Troyes, France
Monsieur David SUSSKIND Honor Chairman of the laïc jewish communitary center of Belgia
Docteur Ahmed TAOUFIQ Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs
Sir Aaron TAPPER Co-Executive Director Abraham's Vision
Monsieur Luc TAYART DE BORMS Director of the Baudoin Foundation
Hervé (Haroun) TEBOUL
Mr Omer Faruk TURAN
Monsieur Ahmed Abd al-Sabur TURRINI General Director of CO.RE.IS
Monsieur Bernard UGEUX Director of the I.S.T.R. of Toulouse
Doctor Muhammad Suheyl UMAR Director of the Iqbal Academy Pakistan
Rabbi Alan UNTERMAN Synagogue Minister and University Lecturer in Religious Studies
Jean VANIER
Dr. William F. VENDLEY Secretary General of world conference of religious for Peace
Professor Gian Piero Ahmad Abd-al Waliyy VINCENZO Director of cultural services for the CO.RE.IS
Catherine VON FLUE
Professor Akhtarul WASEY Hony. Director, Dr Zakir Husain Institute of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia
Madame la Directrce Karen WEISBLATT Directrice du "TransAtlantic Institute in Brussels
Rabbi Eliezer WEISZ Rabbi of Emer Hefer
Canon Andrew WHITE Head of the Coventry Cathedral Center for Peace and reconcilliation
Mr Oded WIENER Director General of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Ambassador Ali YAHYA Director project for Peace
Mr Chief Rabbi Hadad YESHOUA Chief Rabbi of the Sepharadic communauty of Milano
Monsieur Mohamed YOUSSEF General secretary of the High Counsel of Ulama in Morocco
Rabbi Efraïm ZELMANOVITCH Chief Rabbi of Mazkeret Batia
Sheikh Mouhamed ZIBDEH Islamic Judge in Jerusalem
Rabbi David ZILBERSHLAG President of social organization for needy people
Sheikh Kadi Dawoud ZINI Judge of Akko


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