Launch of IEA's 27th Group: ADAMA Interfaith Encounter - 28th February 2008:

The  first meeting of the new IEA group - ADAMA (Abu Dis and Maaleh Adumim) took place on February 28th at the home of Leah Lublin of Maaleh Adumim. This is the first time that an interfaith group has met in Maaleh Adumim, so it was quite a special occasion. Trying to recruit new members from Maaleh Adumim was also quite a challenge, however about 11 people voiced an interest in the group, but were not able to make it for this meeting. They said they would try to make it to the next meeting in March.

We had a total of 8 people show up – 3 Jews, 3 Moslems and 2 Christians - and the enthusiasm was quite apparent as the meeting began. The theme of the meeting was Peace in Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Two of the participants traveled from as far away as Nablus and Jenin (which was about a 3-hour trip one way).

Being that it was our first meeting, people were inclined to talk more about their feelings about peace than about what our religious sources say about Peace. For many it was the first time they had met the "other" and some spoke about how little they knew about each other, and that so many people have misconceptions about one another - but the goal here is to break these misconceptions. Some voiced how happy they were to leave politics out of these discussions, and that it was the first time for them to be in a nonpolitical interfaith setting.

A Christian participant said that if someone comes to hurt you, Jesus taught to turn the other cheek.

A Moslem participant, a teacher in Jenin, remarked that he tries to convey the message of peace to his students by telling them there are good people in every religion. Another Moslem remarked that we all pray to one God and therefore we are the same. We also heard that the name "Islam" means a "religion of peace" – since it is derived from the word "salaam" or "shalom".

The Jewish participants mentioned that peace is mentioned 250 times in the Jewish bible and that King David was not allowed to build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem because he had fought in wars. His son, Solomon (whose name also means "peace") was given the holy task and privilege of building the temple because he was more pure, as he had never shed the blood of others.

It was tough to leave these lively discussions for a break, which brought us together for one-on-one conversations and we resumed the meeting to plan the next meeting and theme. One of the participants was glad to hear that this will be an ongoing meeting and not a temporary one that only goes on for a few months. We decided to open up a Google group for our participants for easier communication with each other, and look forward to our next meeting in March.

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