Opponents Not Enemies

Last updated on: August 29, 2014 at 8:42 am by Rabbi Rami

Opponents Not Enemies 2014-08-29T08:42:52-06:00 Rabbi Rami

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Having my heart broken over the latest in what I suspect is an on-going string of wars between Israelis and Palestinians, and watching as this struggle claims the rational minds of my neighbors in Middle Tennessee, I wrote the following petition and invited Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clergy to sign it. The result was printed in the Tennessean, our largest newspaper. You’ll notice that only Imams and Rabbis signed this. I’m not sure why this happened this way, but I don’t believe it is representative of the Christian clergy of Middle Tennessee. In any case, I offer it here and invite you to copy it, share it with clergy in your neighborhood and have it printed in your local newspapers.

We, the undersigned, do not share a common vision for the Middle East.

We do not agree politically, religiously, theologically or philosophically. We are on different sides of a many-sided conflict that threatens the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of all of us. What we do share, however, is a deep concern that our differences not alienate us one from the other.

When dealing with the complexities and competing narratives surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is all too easy for us to demonize “the other,” whether that “other” be Muslim, Christian or Jew. When that happens, a Middle Eastern conflict between Israelis and Palestinians becomes a global struggle between competing civilizations, dividing us into an endless and fear-fueled war between “us” and “them” that yields to neither truth, compromise nor reason.

We are not writing to propose a solution to our differences, but to stand together against the demonization of those who propose solutions to which we are opposed. Passion for one view is no excuse for lack of compassion for those who hold very different views.

We may never agree, but we can disagree without dehumanizing one another. We can stand in solidarity with our respective peoples and their cause, and not hate those who stand against us. We can decry the rhetoric and actions of one side or the other without demonizing all Jews, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Israelis or Palestinians.

We may never find common ground, but we can stand together against the tendency within ourselves and our respective communities to deny the humanity of the other, and in so doing, to lose our own humanity as well.

Imam Ossama Bahloul, Imam Salah Osman, Imam Yusuf Abdullah, Imam Ahmedulhadi Sharif, and Imam Abdu Alrahman

Rabbi Mark Schiftan, Rabbi Shana Goldstein Mackler, Rabbi Michael Shulman, Cantor Tracy Fishbein, Rabbi Laurie Rice, Rabbi Phillip Rice, Rabbi Joshua Kullock and Rabbi Rami Shapiro

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August 29, 2014

Judaism or Truth?