Mideast Strife Puts Strain on Budding Interfaith Ties in L.A.

The latest crisis in the Middle East that has flared into bloody confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians is putting already troubled efforts in Southern California to promote dialogue between Muslims and Jews to a severe test.

The Muslim-Jewish Dialogue group, set in place in July 1999, and its newly formed crisis management committee were designed to give the two communities a forum for talking over differences on issues before issuing public statements. But as deaths and injuries mounted for a week, neither group met.

Instead, some members of the dialogue group, including the Progressive Jewish Alliance, a liberal organization, and several well-known Muslim leaders called a news conference at which they denounced hard-line Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon for triggering the violence by visiting Jerusalem’s Temple Mount--known to Arabs as Haram al Sharif, the noble sanctuary.

The groups said they acted after it became clear that the dialogue group was not speaking out against the violence or could not endorse their specific proposals.

In addition, Maher Hathout, senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, called for an end to U.S. financial aid to Israel and Egypt--a position not endorsed by the Progressive Jewish Alliance.

With the signing of a code of ethics in December, members of the dialogue group said they hoped that during times of crisis they would close ranks in repudiating violence and incivility.

If they could demonstrate such cooperation among Jews and Muslims in Southern California, they said, they could become a model for similar approaches elsewhere, including the Middle East.

Now, leaders say the fast-paced developments and the lack of a common Muslim-Jewish statement of concern may require a reexamination of how religious leaders in such a religiously diverse region respond to a crisis that involves both communities.

“All this was nice. The thing was signed. But I hate to say that it was just on paper,” said Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark of Temple Beth Ohr, a Reform congregation in La Mirada, and a signer of the original call for dialogue. “I have not heard a word of any actions being taken in the general community.”

But for Salam Al-Marayati, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which co-sponsored the news conference, the urgency of the unfolding developments in Israel had to be addressed immediately. People were dying, he said, and Palestinians in disproportionate numbers.

Daniel Sokatch, the new executive director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, agreed. “We felt we had to come out and say something. We hadn’t heard from people we had asked to consider doing so.”

Separate Statements Issued

Some Jewish organizations have issued separate statements about the fighting. At its headquarters in New York, for example, the American Jewish Committee deplored the bloodshed but blamed Palestinians for unleashing the latest round of violence. The group’s Southern California chapter was among several organizations that had declined to join the original call for interfaith dialogue.

Two days after the Los Angeles news conference, the Board of Rabbis of Southern California also made a statement. It called on all parties to bring a speedy end to the violence and offered prayers for the families of all those killed.

Al-Marayati said that, beginning late last week, he sent out e-mails to some members of the dialogue group suggesting a joint statement. When it became apparent that there was “apprehension,” he and the Progressive Jewish Alliance decided to call a news conference on their own.

“Polite stepping back is still a sign of civility,” Al-Marayati said. “But we should expect from each other at least some statement on principle. They don’t have to attend the press conference, but we should expect these organizations to come out on the side of justice and the truth, even if it’s against your own group.”

In the statement, both sides proposed an interfaith fact-finding delegation from Los Angeles to Israel, either as part of a U.S. government inquiry or, if that was not possible, on its own.

The difficulties that the dialogue group faced underscored the fact that in Southern California, as elsewhere, Jews and Muslims tend to see causes of the latest violence differently.

The situation here has been further complicated by the fact that some Jewish leaders have declined to work with Al-Marayati, saying some of his past statements amounted to “rationalizing” terrorism. Al-Marayati has staunchly denied that charge.

Rabbi Gary Greenebaum of the American Jewish Committee said last December that he would have liked to sign the code of ethics, but “[I] simply believe the partners in creating it are the wrong people.” He did not return a call this week seeking comment.

Referring to Greenebaum, among others, Rabbi Allen I. Freehling of University Synagogue in Los Angeles, the official facilitator of the dialogue group, said, “The sadness is that certain people you’d expect to be on that roster . . . continue to be beyond dialogue.”

Despite his concerns over the response to the latest developments in Israel, Al-Marayati said there has been progress.

“We have to start from somewhere,” he said. “The signing of the code was more than words. It was an action in itself.”

Others agreed that the dialogue effort has made some progress. Elaine Albert, director of the Israel and World Jewry Commission of the Jewish Community Relations Committee, said several meetings have covered the issue of Holocaust denial. “I felt that somehow the Muslims didn’t quite understand why this is such a disturbing issue for us, where I think now they do,” she said.

Ten to 15 members of the dialogue group have been meeting monthly. A five-person crisis management committee was created several months ago.

“We’ve all benefited from an increased understanding of each other’s religions and culture, and by doing that I think we’ve increased each other’s understanding of the things that kind of push our buttons,” she said.

At the news conference, held at the Islamic Center of Southern California, Sokatch of the Progressive Jewish Alliance said that despite differences, contacts between Jews and Muslims will continue in Southern California.

“We will keep talking no matter what happens,” he said. “We will not allow violence in the Middle East to derail our dialogue.”

But Albert, who is a member of the dialogue group as well as the crisis management committee, said the group will probably examine its process in light of this week’s events.

“This is a very painful situation for everyone in this dialogue group,” Albert said. “We could have responded to this in a more effective way.”