New York, 09.11.2007 – The World Jewish Congress (WJC) has hosted a dinner for the participants of the first American Summit of Imams and Rabbis in New York City, an event jointly organized by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) and the Islamic Cultural Center of New York.
Left to Right: Russell Simmons, Rabbi Marc Schneier, Imam Abu-Namous, World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder; photo by David Karp.
The meeting was the first of its kind in the United States and aimed at fostering a better understanding between clerics of the Muslim and Jewish faiths. Workshop sessions focused on sharing religious and cultural commonalities and on possible joint actions by the two communities. Rabbi Marc Schneier, FFEU founder and president, said the summit presented a unique window of opportunity to bring clergy together and project a voice of moderation and tolerance to the world. “At the end of the day, clergy would like to engage other clergy,” declared Schneier - who is also chair of the World Jewish Congress American Section. The religious leaders agreed to establish the third weekend in November as a national weekend of reconciliation, calling for the twinning of synagogues and mosques and the promotion of cooperation in various ways.
The WJC dinner concluded the summit and was addressed by a number of Muslim and Jewish leaders, including Rabbi Schneier; FFEU chairman and hip-hop star Russell Simmons; the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, Sheik Omar Abu-Namous; the permanent observer of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdul Wahab; the director of the Islamic Society of North America, Sayyid Mohamed Syeed; and the president of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald S. Lauder.
In his dinner speech, Lauder applauded the efforts of those who tried to build bridges between the two great Abrahamic faiths. “Religious leaders have a special role to play to help us reach out to one another and to explore our religious and cultural commonalities,” the WJC president told dinner guests. He said meetings between Muslim and Jewish leaders should take root and could perhaps set an example for other countries, too. Lauder added: “In your synagogues and mosques country-wide you have the capacity to reinforce the positive and to help create a better understanding between Jews and Muslims among local communities.”
