Last Friday, former Lauder Fellow Lika Torikashvili hosted leaders from the Jewish and Muslim community to discuss ways to bridge gaps between the two peoples and build mutual understanding and respect.
The discussion, which took place through her nonprofit Network of Former Youth Delegates to the United Nations, emphasized the significant role young people play in Jewish-Muslim dialogue, the destructive nature of social media as a tool to fuel tensions amongst the youths and examined the role of religion in combating antisemitism.
The panel featured former Youth Delegate of Afghanistan to the United Nations Ramiz Bakhtiar, Duke University Professor Imam Abdullah Antepli, Bennington College Professor Rabbi Michael Cohen and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Jewish communal professional Randall Fried.
Torikashvili, who moderated the discussion, was inspired to undertake the innitiative after seeing tensions between Jewish and Muslim students, especially after outbreak of violence between Hamas and Israel. Explaining the initiative, Torikashvili said “I wanted to do something about it, send a message of peace. Because that is what religions teach us, peace and love... my response to this war [conflict in the Middle East] is to bring religious leaders together and discuss the Jewish-Muslim peace through interfaith dialogue.”
The conversation started around antisemitism and combating hate. Imam Abdullah, a leader of cross-religious and cross-cultural dialogue and in the nonprofit world, shared his journey from being an outspoken antisemite to d taking “poison out of his system.”
“I am really grateful that I recovered,” said Imam Abdullah. “I am grateful that the love of God did not allow me to live with that rage and with that poison and put me on a journey that enabled me to take that poison out of my system.”
Rabbi Michael Cohen then discussed the importance of controlling the misuse of religion and “bad faith messages,” which can become extremely dangerous when young people are a part of the conversation.
Following Rabbi Cohen, Randall Fried, a WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps member who was part of a delegation to the United Arab Emirates, joined the conversation in his capacity as a Jewish communal professional and educator. Fried noted the importance of Jewish-Muslim dialogue, noting that “the first step is to try to find those people that are willing to stand up or at least engage in a conversation.”
