“For us as religious leaders it is sad for us to see the situation — I am ashamed that in the name of God so many are doing so much evil in our holy land,” said Rabbi Ariel Picard, an educator from the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
Picard was one of three educators — Jewish, Christian and Muslim — to speak during the program, “Abrahamic Voices of Peace from the Holy Land: Promoting Greater Understanding Among Faiths,” at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Golda Meir Library on Sunday, June 27.
The event featured Picard, a teacher from the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem; Maurice Younan, dean of Talitha Kumi college in Beit Jala; and Imam Khalid Abu Ras, a figure in the Israeli-Arab educational system.
The three have toured the United States, making stops in New York, Atlanta, and Chicago over the past week. In Milwaukee, they spoke to a group of about 75.
The clerics discussed how “religion can be used as a resource rather than an obstacle to peace in the Middle East,” according to The American Jewish Committee, who sponsored the event.
Each of the speakers have used interfaith dialogues within their organizations in hopes that learning and sharing together will lead to greater understanding and respect among faiths.
Younan said that is important in these dialogues for each person to be able to say, “You are a Jew,” or “You are a Muslim,” but to be able to respect that and say, “Stay as you are.”
Abu Ras, an Israeli Arab teacher at Beit Safafa Municipal high school, agreed, saying that peace can be attained through education, as long as we “open our mind and heart to each other.”
As an outgrowth of their dialogues within their communities, the three are working to create educational materials for children, and they hope other participants of their local programs will do the same. This in turn will “teach children to learn from each other and to respect each other,” said Picard.
Harriet McKinney, executive director of the AJC-Milwaukee Chapter, said “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to get to know these men who courageously pursue the path of interfaith understanding.”
“Their work is a model for all of us and a great contradiction to the hopelessness we have felt about religion being a force for conciliation instead of conflict,” she added.
“In the Middle East we have learned to solve our problems with war and bloodshed,” said Younan. But through education and dialogues, Picard added, “we are planting the seeds of peace. We are all guests in this world. God owns this land…. If we find a way to understand this deep concept, we will learn to share this land.”
The event was co-sponsored by the UWM Center for Jewish Studies, Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee, Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, Milwaukee Ethnic Council and the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations.
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