Jews and Muslims — Coexistence Is Possible, in America and in Israel

By Ron Kronish

as published in The Huffington Post on October 21, 2013

“For many years, I have been promoting the idea that Muslim-Jewish coexistence in Israel is possible. Indeed, I have argued that if we want to know our Muslim neighbors in Israel better, then we must not only engage them vis a vis their ethnic/national identity but that we must take their religious identity into account.

During my recent speaking tour to seven cities in the U.S., with the kadi (judge) of the Sharia Court of Jerusalem of the state of Israel , Kadi Iyad Zahalka, who is a Muslim citizen of Israel, I discovered over and over again that Muslims and Jews can and do coexist in America as well!

• At the University of South Florida in Tampa , Florida, an equal group of Jewish and Muslim students came to hear us speak over lunch at the local Hillel foundation.

• In St Paul , Minnesota, where we spoke at a Catholic University, a law school, a church and a synagogue — in a city where 19 organizations co-sponsored our visit — all of the audiences were comprised of Muslims, as well as Jews and Christians.

• In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Muslims, Jews and Christians came to here us speak at the headquarters of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

I could go on and on, but I want to come to one of the highlights of our recent two-week lecture tour in the U.S. which took place on the last day of the tour. On October 11, we were warmly hosted by a major American mosque and cultural center, called the ADAMS CENTER, which is one of the five largest mosques in the U.S. This was my second visit to this mosque during prayer, and in both cases, I was welcomed warmly and with great respect.”

 

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