Voices from the world’s most populous Muslim country call for coexistence with Jews
When it comes to news related to Muslim/Jewish relations, one usually expects news that is less than hopeful. And yet today I was pleasantly surprised to read two articles from the Jakarta Post of Indonesia dealing with interfaith dialog that didn’t involve nuclear attacks, erasing Israel from the map or world domination being directed by a small but powerful cabal of elderly Jews.
Said Syafiq Hasyim, Deputy chairman of the International Center for Islam and Pluralism had this to say:
“If Muslims here denounce Israel and Jews in general for their colonialism toward the Palestinian people and occupation of their land, they should also take into account that a number of Muslim dynasties in the past occupied land that belonged to Jews in present-day Israel,”
In another cool story, also by the Jakarta Post, a Muslim Indonesian woman recounts meeting her first Jew:
I was on the same flight as some Rabbis — an Indonesian traveling alone. When I saw the Rabbis on the plane, I suddenly felt hesitant. I’m going to meet the enemy, I said to myself. Will the Imams and the Rabbis make peace? Are we going to be OK during the congress? Before we landed in Seville, I asked God to fill the hearts of the Imams and Rabbis with love, so they could share it with each other.
Yup, I know… cheesy right? But so earnest! Some things are so sincere you just can’t make fun of them …
