Why and When We Officially Began Israel/Palestine Dialogue
When we met over 10 years ago, Sheryl and I were confident that we –two women
from different backgrounds–who committed to learn about each other’s lives and
faiths and engage in good works could change the world. We centered the
Sisterhood as an organization that created spaces where Muslim and Jewish
women can get to know one another and build bridges of peace and hopefully
friendships. Our premise is that Muslim and Jewish communities share an over
1400-year relationship and our religious communities face similar challenges as
minorities in America. Our research showed that groups who were founded and
focused on debating Israel-Palestine collapsed. We were determined to try
something different.
We intentionally set this foundation of faith but we were not naïve to recognize
when Jews and Muslims are in the same room they may want to venture into
contemporary geo-politics and debate about Palestine-Israel. Discussion on this
tough, sensitive and painful situation, we knew, could not constructively take place
until foundations of trust and understanding were established and even until a
facilitated guided program could be created. So, we focused on the 1400+ year
history between Jews and Muslims and we parked Palestine-Israel until we were
ready.
When were we ready? Well, it started off slow. We have had 9 or 10 annual
conferences and every conference included an Israel-Palestine workshop. We
realized however that we needed to engage this issue head on as a board – as
leadership – to hopefully set an example for our organization. During our board
meeting in November 2019 we embarked on a deeper exploration into the crisis.
Why 2019? It was our Building Bridge trips that informed that timing.
Our first trip in 2016 to Bosnia/Albania, we met with the Mothers of Srebrenica,
Muslim women whose husbands and children were victims of genocide. We met
with the Jewish leaders in Sarajevo. We met with Muslim families in Albania
whose parents had given safe haven to Jews fleeing from the Holocaust. In 2017
we traveled to Muslim majority Azerbaijan and experienced a country that was
formerly part of the Persian empire and the Soviet Union and had Jewish
communities that lived side by side with Muslims for hundreds of years.
Due to the shifting politically charged environment in 2018, we embarked on a
domestic civil rights trip. Hate was rising in America and our objective of fighting
hate was becoming the natural next step after building bridges of understanding.
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During this trip we began reflecting on issues of justice, fairness and institutional
oppression. The issue of Palestine-Israel started creeping in hard.
Hate in Europe was also rising including resentment of migrants and refugees. In
2019 we traveled to Europe. First, to Germany and we met with Muslim refugees
and migrants and then to Poland where we visited Auschwitz where witnessed the
hideous effects of hate and we prayed together.
In January 2020, we set off to Arizona it was our trip to the Mexican border to
learn and understand treatment of refugees and migrants – people who have been
vilified in the political arena. We went through checkpoints in Arizona and we
stood in front of a massive wall on the US-Mexican border. We learned about a
young Mexican boy who was shot to death by a US border guard as he tried to
scale the wall into America. We were affected. It became clear we could no longer
not talk about Palestine-Israel and those check points and that wall.
We quickly organized a multi-day Sisterhood board retreat with facilitators from
Combatants for Peace and we issued a revolutionary statement on Palestine-Israel
on February 14, 2020. That Statement read in part:
“Inspired by our faith traditions, we believe any response to the conflict must be
based on human rights, security, and self-determinations for Palestinians and
Israelis alike. We commit to working with individuals and organizations,
especially those in the region, devoted to non-violent means of achieving peace
and justice. We are compelled to engage with those working to transform the
conflict, empower those most affected by the occupation, and foster the
relationships necessary to build a just and peaceful future.”
Again that was February 2020 — then the world shut down. Our organization
based on in-person relationships and dialogue suffered just when we wanted to
embark on this sensitive path. It was difficult. And then violence in Gaza and
Jerusalem erupted and we scrambled. We reacted and in January 2022, we hosted
a virtual Palestine-Israel trip via Zoom.
Each Ramadan began with violence in Palestine and then October 7 , 2023.
-Atiya Aftab
November 2023