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In late March I traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories for two and half weeks to explore the goals, motives, and methods of interfaith dialogue. I visited one of the more unique interfaith encounter groups in the region. While most encounters occur among individuals with Israeli citizenship, I visited one in Ma’aleh Adumim, the largest Israeli settlement located outside Jerusalem.  At dusk, I met the three Palestinians outside the entrance to the fenced in and Army guarded settlement. Running late and armed with my American passport and them with their Palestinian ID cards and Israeli-issued permits granting them entrance for the evening, we made our way through the guarded entrance and on to the apartment where the monthly encounter was to occur. After brief introductions and apologies for our tardiness we gathered in the living room. Each religious group had a spokesperson who, from internet gathered material, spoke for 3-5 minutes regarding the different sects within their religion. It appeared to me that presenters were interrupted more by members of their own religious community with questions, disagreements over or clarifications of points than others. English being the only common language, conversation often stopped as participants maneuvered misunderstandings due to language barriers. The presentations were concluded with a brief open discussion of similarities, differences, and connections between the sects in each religion
This encounter is part of a larger network of interfaith encounters in the Interfaith Encounter Association, led by Dr. Yehuda Stolov. The organization’s overall goal is peace in the region, yet according to Dr. Stolov, peace through political peace agreements can only occur when people are living together in trust and understanding. Thus, the organization’s mission is to foster positive relationships through meaningful conversation. Talking about politics is avoided because unlike politics religion provides the platform on which divided people can meet. It is only after these relationships are built that a constructive political conversation can occur. Is it possible to achieve the goal of creating political peace by building positive relationships among divided people on the basis of religion, without discussing politics? I decided to put this theory to the test. As we gathered over light snacks after the dialogue, I asked a few of the participants why they attend and what they hope to achieve. Esther, a settler from America, comes to “put faces to the news and to learn about the people that surround my country.” Michelle, a South African  settler, hopes that these encounters will help others break their stereotypes of Jews: “they have never met a Jew… they just know the stereotypes of the black hats- there’s a lot more than that.” While religion and politics is often jumbled in their motives, Majdi, a Palestinian Muslim on the other hand, is very clear to distinguish his religious identity from his national Palestinian identity: “I come because I am Muslim,” to strengthen knowledge of his own faith, to learn about other religions, and to expose the “right Islam’ to others. He is clear that as a Palestinian he is “against the settlements” and thus finds it very difficult to meet settlers, especially in a settlement he deems illegal. Majdi justifies this putting his Palestinian identity on the backburner saying “we have no choice- we have to send a message to the others.” Thus, while politics is avoided in conversation, it plays a major role in the participants’ motives and goals. It seems that for these participants, using religion as the ground for meeting is successful. I questioned Dr. Stolov about the success of these dialogues- are they really creating the good relations and peace they hope to achieve? His response was to reference the over 600 encounters and 8,000 individuals that have been involved over the years. Yet his is patient and realistic, saying “it takes time…you cannot expect a group of 50 people within 100,000 people to be able to change the relations in that place.” His goal, and the challenge facing the organization, is to accelerate the growth in the number of participants who are transformed upon meeting the other in these encounters. Only time will tell if the Interfaith Encounter Association model is a way to peace in the region between religious groups and Palestinians and Israelis. In the mean time, it is important that we here in Cleveland, Ohio ask ourselves similar questions. What is the real issue(s) we are addressing here, in our own community, through interfaith dialogue? What do we hope to achieve? Who is and isn’t involved in conversation? And are we successful? I invite you to join me in asking these questions as we continue to engage with each other and work for a better Greater Cleveland. (Information on InterAct Cleveland’s next interfaith dialogue)
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