Religious and political leaders hold peacemaking dialogue
MCC
26-Sep-2008 (one comment)

Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, a leader in the Jewish Renewal movement, spoke about Jewish traditions of peacemaking and nonviolence and drew upon her work for reconciliation between Muslims and Jews and Palestinians and Israelis. She also spoke about the significance of mourning the deaths of all victims of war, including the millions of people killed in the Holocaust, World War II and wars in Iran and Iraq.

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Ahmadinejad meeting with peace groups/female Rabbi

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"Because of the Holocaust, I learned from the rabbis who ordained and guide me, to be active in preventing further suffering of all human beings as a primary religious call to action," Gottlieb said. Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spoke about Islamic principles for alleviating poverty, caring for the environment and working for peace and justice. He encouraged his interreligious audience to cooperate more closely toward these goals. "Has not God created us?" Awad said. "Yes — and he wants us to work together." Dr. John Brademas, a former U.S. congressman and president emeritus of New York University, served as the event moderator. Along with several of the evening's speakers, Brademas called for direct negotiations between Iran and the United States. "We believe that war is not the solution to the differences that divide peoples," Brademas said. "Dialogue can make a real difference." Although Klassen, the Rev. Bondevik and others raised concerns about religious freedoms and human rights in Iran, President Ahmadinejad did not address these issues directly.


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