Muslims and Jews in America are natural allies. Both are minority communities (2% each of the population)that have been at the receiving end of prejudice and persecution, and have come to each other’s support in the aftermath of attacks against the other community. Both Muslims and Jews belong to the Abrahamic tradition and share a multitude of theological beliefs. And yet, Jewish-Muslim relations in the U.S. are often challenged when confronted with developments in the Middle East, or accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism within each community. How do our respective connections to the Israel/Palestine issue shape our views of one another? How do our approaches to the presence/statements/positions of two Muslim congresswomen affect intercommunal relations? Does being on opposite sides of the issue mean we hold fundamentally different values and therefore cannot maintain strong relations?

Goals of the project:

i) Provide a safe space for Jewish and Muslim leaders to navigate these differences and improve mutual understanding around contentious issues

ii) Identify sources of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia within the Muslim and Jewish communitiesrespectively, as well as within the larger community, and find ways to address them

iii) Create opportunities for collaborative work between Jewish and Muslim participants on issues of common concern