International Interfaith Organisations Network

2008 ICCJ Conference was held in Jerusalem from June 22-25,.

The theme “The Contribution of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue to Peace-Building in the Middle East.”   

Over 180 people attended the conference from Australia, North and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The conference included site-visits to local institutions that promote interreligious and intercultural relations between Israelis and Palestinians as well as text study, workshops, and panel discussions relating to contemporary issues in the fields of coexistence, peace-building, and Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations.

 Highlights from the conference included:

·          Opening Plenum on the topic “The Contribution of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue to Peace-Building in the Middle East” with speakers Rabbi David Rosen, H.B. Michel Sabbah, and Qadi Muhammad Zibdi

·          Second Plenum on the topic “Reflections on the Alexandria Process” with M.K. Rabbi Michael Melchior

·          Third Plenum on the topic “My community and the Land” with Ms. Hanan Abu-Dalu, Dr. Deborah Weissman, and Rabbi Ehud Bandel

·          Welcome reception at Notre Dame, hosted by the Papal Nuncio

·          Welcome reception at the Jerusalem Municipality, hosted by the Mayor’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

·          During the AGM of the ICCJ following the conference, one of ICCI’s co-chairpersons, Dr. Deborah Weissman, was elected President of the ICCJ for a 3 year term.

·          Concluding event at the Biblical Zoo

 

Rabbi Dr Ron Kronish, who is Director of the Interreligious Co-ordinating Council in Israel commented:

 I write these reflections in the light of the completion last month of our implementation of a conference in Jerusalem on the theme of The Contribution of Jewish-Muslim-Christian Dialogue on Peace-building in Israel and the Middle East, which ICCI organized for the International Council of Christians and Jews.  About 180 people gathered from 30 countries from around the world– including a significant participation of local Jews, Christians and Muslims– for four days of intensive learning about the situation in Israel from June 22-25, via interesting plenums, interactive workshops, intellectually stimulating study tours, and a wonderful closing event, which combined text study and fellowship over dinner in a beautiful pastoral setting, at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem.

 After the conference was over, someone asked me: what were the conclusions of the conference? I responded by saying that while there were no official “closing statements”, nevertheless, one can say that the main conclusion of the conference was that everyone involved needs to do more to bring people together—from different religious traditions and from different national groups—to learn to live in peace in Israel and Palestine. This is not a simple or quick process; rather, it is a long-term one, which will require the creative thinking and energy of many people and institutions here on the ground, with the help of many like-minded people and groups—like the International Council of Christians and Jews– from abroad.

 We used the term “peace-building” quite consciously in the title of our conference. “Peace-making” is the work of the lawyers, politicians and diplomats. It focuses on making peace between governments. According to one of my friends, it produces “pieces of paper”, i.e. treaties or agreements between governments. And then both sides either live up to their agreements, or blame the other side for not fulfilling their share of the bargain. 

“Peace-building”, on the other hand, is the work of the rabbis, imams, sheikhs, reverends, ministers, women, youth, young adults, educators, social works and many more sectors of “civic society”. It involves changing the hearts and minds of the people towards the possibilities and benefits of peaceful coexistence over a long time. This work is inherently religious, spiritual, psycho-social, educational and dialogical and it takes a great deal of patience, persistence and perseverance to make it happen, especially in the midst of an ongoing conflict.  This is the work that we in ICCI are committed to, now and in the years ahead. 

 

 

 

 

Web: www.icci.org.il

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on July 9, 2008 at 2:33 pm and is filed under News from our member organisations, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.