Yehuda StolovInterfaith Encounter Association |
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Personal Story and Religion:
“ For a long period I was involved with this type of activity because I was interested in meeting with different people. I found interfaith dialogue novel and surprising, because prior to that, when I found myself interested in other religions, I would simply take a course at a university or read a book. I had never considered the possibility of actually meeting with other people. That in itself was interesting for a certain period. Later, I began to understand the force of interfaith dialogue and its ability to be a facilitative mechanism between communities. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ In regular interfaith dialogue the initial objective is to teach people about the other's religion. When that is the objective, the stress during the activity falls on the lecture… If we want to employ interfaith discussion as a mechanism for constructing mutual respect and friendship among communities, then we need to stress interaction... Most of the time is dedicated to discussions in small groups where people can talk to each other. This method obviously undermines the goal of talking about the other's religion, because often people will say things that are inaccurate about their own religion. Our goal includes learning about the other's religion, but that's the secondary objective and not the main one. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ We organized a joint prayer session with the organization from Ramallah in Nebi Samuel [tomb of the Prophet Samuel]. It's a special place. It's one of the only places that has both a prayer hall for Jews and a prayer hall for Muslims in the same building. They're actually right above one another and both have a tombstone for the Prophet Samuel. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ There are disagreements during the discussions, so there are disagreements within the Jewish group and within the Muslim group. The Christian groups are usually much smaller. There are fewer Christians here, but even they disagree occasionally. Disagreeing is fine. We're not scared of disagreeing; it's fine. Our challenge, I think, is not agreement but rather to learn to disagree amicably. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Vision and Political Peace Processes/Political Leadership and Perceptions of the Other:
“ We address relationships between communities through discussions that purposefully set aside the political issues that are disputed. We attempt to establish relations as an interaction that is both positive and profound, and which assists people in overcoming prejudices or even hate. It constructs mutuality, recognition, and respectful and friendly relations. When this process is sufficiently advanced and we'll be able to establish that hundreds of thousands of people underwent this, then we will be able to hold talks regarding issues that are disputed politically, with the ability to solve them in a manner that will be sustainable. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Personal Transformation and Religion and Perceptions of the Other:
“ When I first encountered a Muslim prayer session I discovered a prejudice I never even knew about: that I associate Muslim prayers with violence. This is because I never encountered a Muslim prayer in reality. I'd only seen it as portrayed on television, where it's always footage from the Ashura in Iran with close-ups of the blood, or people leaving Friday prayers at the Temple Mount and starting uproars. That's what I knew about Muslim prayers prior to actually seeing it. I never encountered the gentle or spiritual aspects of this prayer and I wasn't even conscious of it, and this is something I only realized in retrospect. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Israeli/Palestinian Power Dynamics:
“ We make time for people to sit down together for two and a half days in order to talk to one another. Perhaps the most important issue is that we set aside politics. Elsewhere people head straight for politics, which stems from the naïve urge to convince the other side to change, and pretty soon leads to fights that go nowhere. Potentially that could have happened quite often at our meetings, because we bring people from all over the political range. Instead they discuss issues that are linked to every person's existential experiences. It works very easily, it becomes profound and powerful. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ First of all, there was a period when it wasn't possible to work with the Palestinians. I think that within Israel the work has become easier in some ways, because it is clear to people that something like this needs to be done. The events of October 2000 deeply shocked the Arab population in Israel and the Jewish one too; it became clear to everyone that the collective "together" needs deeper foundations. In that aspect it became easier. On the other hand, there was a period at the beginning when people didn't really want to take part in the meetings. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Political Peace Processes/Political Leadership and Conceptions of Peace and Civil Society:
“ Peace means harmonious relations between all the residents of the region. I don't think it is associated with any specific political model. I think that peace makes many political models possible, some of which seem like complete fantasies given the reality. Without constructing the human infrastructure, even the most conventional model - such as that of two states - seems pretty bizarre, too. An agreement can't hold up if it lacks human infrastructure. The Oslo Accords didn't fall apart because it was a bad agreement but because there was no trust between the two communities. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Violence and Perceptions of the Other:
“ I think the Jews believe that the Arabs can't be trusted, and that they only understand the language of force, that dialogue conveys weakness. That's obviously not true. I think the Arabs have the same prejudices. They also believe the Jews can't be trusted, that they'll cheat them if given the opportunity, that force can change their approach. The matter of force is pretty amazing. Both sides are wrong big time because force only causes the other side to become entrenched in its prejudices. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Personal Story and Religion:
“ I think that the roots of my activity are in the writings of Rabbi Kook, which are very inclusive in spirit towards opinions and people. He says we must take care of the rest of the universe, including nature; it goes beyond humanity. That's what influenced me. I learned all that there. I don't think that I'm the only one who did. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ People from outside can contribute positive things, but their contribution should be encouraging the sides to meet and solve the problems together. That can be a lot of work. People from outside can contribute to that, and that is what they should be doing. When people come to show solidarity with a side it’s very nice for that side in the immediate sense of encouragement and support. It might even help that side, but it doesn’t contribute to advancing peace in the region. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
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