Some interesting developments here. It will be interesting to follow both stories and see what happens. Maybe we, the U.S., could not say much, just offer support where needed and see if thing move forward on their own.
Home > New Jersey Real-Time News > Bergen County
N.J. rabbi leads Jews, Muslims on interfaith trip to Nazi concentration camps
Published: Sunday, August 15, 2010, 9:00 AM
Jeff Diamant/The Star-Ledger
A.J. Goldmann/The ForwardProminent American imams pray last week before the main monument at Dachau, during an emotional visit to Nazi concentration camps.
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CARLSTADT — The scenario might seem unlikely: prominent Muslims and Jews from the United States, trekking across the Atlantic in mournful, spiritual solidarity to visit two Nazi concentration camps. Together.
The trip to Dachau and Auschwitz, organized by a New Jersey rabbi, was meant to combat the rise in Holocaust denial that has popped up in various Muslim and non-Muslim circles around the world — and online — in recent years.
"The best way to convince someone about the truth of something is to let them see it for themselves and experience it for themselves," said Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in Carlstadt. "I feel that it was important to take Muslim leaders who have a really significant following in the American-Muslim community."
Some of the eight imams on the week-long trip, which ended Thursday, had previously worked with Jewish groups in inter-religious dialogue. Only one of the eight, Shaikh Yasir Qadhi of New Haven, Conn., academic dean for the AlMaghrib Institute, had been quoted doubting the extent of the Holocaust in 2001, but he recanted long before the trip, saying his past views were based on misinformation.
CONDEMNING DOUBTS
On Friday, a day after their return, the eight imams released a statement citing the six million Jewish deaths in the Holocaust, among 12 million Holocaust deaths overall. It added, "We condemn any attempts to deny this historical reality and declare such denials or any justification of this tragedy as against the Islamic code of ethics."
In interviews, the imams said the trip affected them deeply.
Auschwitz-Birkenau State MuseumProminent American Muslim leaders and others walk through the gate of Auschwitz on their emotional visit.
"The experience was overwhelming," Qadhi said. "It was a very moving experience for all of us imams, in particular myself. I had never seen anything like this. I was just overwhelmed throughout the entire trip. I was just overwhelmed at the sheer inhumanity of it. I could not comprehend how such evil could be unleashed."
Like other imams interviewed, he said the historical truth of the Holocaust should not be distorted by the Mideast tensions of the last 60 years.
"Politics should not play a role in historical facts," Qadhi said. "Whatever happened post-Holocaust should not diminish the evil that was the Holocaust. … The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very complicated. Let’s leave anti-Semitism out of it."
FACING REALITY
Some said the trip’s most emotional part was seeing gathered collections of victims’ hair, suitcases, and belongings.
"Almost everybody was in tears," said Imam Muzammil Siddiqi, of the Islamic Society of Orange County, Calif.
"I laid a wreath of flowers there at the wall and recited the words from the Quran which says killing one person is like killing all of humanity and saving one life is like saving all of humanity. I said, ‘Here it feels part of us were killed. It’s part of our human brothers and sisters.’"
RELATED COVERAGE:
• Holocaust survivors talk of the horrors of genocide
• Holocaust survivor shares story at Newark remembrance
• Holocaust museum will occupy stretch of Atlantic City boardwalk
• Holocaust survivor shares story of heroism, endurance with younger generation
The imams said they also were moved by meetings with Holocaust survivors, and from seeing their tattooed numbers.
Also during the trip, which was sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Center for Interreligious Understanding, the imams met with the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Krakow and the chief rabbi of Poland, who hosted them for dinner Wednesday, the first night of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Some participants, including Hannah Rosenthal, the U.S. State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, said they felt the trip itself was of historical importance.
"I know of no other time that a group of imams experienced the camps, and prayed at the camps, and came out with a strong statement that condemns Holocaust denial, Holocaust justification, Holocaust comparison and anti-Semitism," Rosenthal said. "I know of no other time that’s happened in history."
'POIGNANT' EXPERIENCE
The sight of Muslims praying at Dachau stopped other passers-by in their tracks, she said.
History aside, the trip — like all pilgrimages to concentration camps — was emotionally devastating, said Bemporad, the rabbi.
"It was painful," he said. "One of the most painful things was to see these imams, all pretty intelligent and sophisticated, absolutely bawling like children. They couldn’t get over it, especially when they saw these children’s clothes and children’s shoes by the tonful. It was really poignant."
By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Karin Laub, Associated Press Writer – 36 mins ago
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli army cranes on Sunday began removing a concrete barrier that shielded a Jewish neighborhood bordering the West Bank from gunfire — a sign that calm is taking hold in the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli military erected the 600-yard (meter) concrete barrier nine years ago on the outskirts of the Gilo neighborhood in southern Jerusalem because of repeated Palestinian shootings from the West Bank town of Beit Jalla.
The barrier is being taken down over the next two weeks because of a reduced security threat and improved coordination between Israeli and West Bank security forces, the Israeli military said.
"Since the barrier is no longer needed for security, it can be dismantled," Jerusalem city hall said, adding it made the decision in consultation with the military.
The removal of the barrier highlights the different trajectories of the Israeli-controlled West Bank, where pragmatic Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has limited authority over 40 percent of the land, and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Poverty has deepened in Gaza since the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory from Abbas' forces in 2007 and Israel and Egypt imposed a border blockade. In the West Bank, the economy has made a modest recovery after years of downturn, in part because Israel eased some restrictions on Palestinian movement. Some areas have seen a building boom, new businesses have opened and car imports are up.
Gilo, a neighborhood of about 40,000, was a convenient target of gunmen during the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, which erupted in 2000. Palestinian militants frequently fired at Israelis, including West Bank motorists and soldiers. Gilo was hit because it was close to a West Bank town.
Gilo sits on land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed to Jerusalem, a step not recognized by the international community. The Palestinians want to set up a state in the lands occupied in 1967 — the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
The uprising gradually ended after Abbas became Palestinian president in January 2005. Israel remains in control of the West Bank, while Abbas has restored order in once chaotic areas there.
In another sign that Abbas is trying to cement control over the West Bank and seeking to counter rival Hamas, his religious affairs minister told a news conference Sunday that the government has taken control of all the territory's mosques, including content of the main weekly sermon, to make sure houses of worship are not used for political recruitment.
Mosques were once a Hamas stronghold. Since 2007, Abbas has been cracking down on the militants to make sure they don't attempt a West Bank takeover.
Religious Affairs Minister Ibrahim Habash said only government-sanctioned preachers are allowed to deliver sermons or teach religion in mosques.
Habash also defended the government's recent decision to stop broadcasting readings from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, over mosque loudspeakers before the call to prayer.
Rival Hamas has accused him of "fighting Islam," but Habash said he was simply correcting an erroneous practice.
"The Quran should be listened to when recited, and we know that people are busy with their daily lives and won't pay attention when it comes from loudspeakers in the mosques," he said.
Also Sunday, Abbas was to meet with a U.S. envoy, David Hale, to try to find a way to resume direct peace talks with Israel, which broke down in December 2008.
Although the Obama administration has renewed pressure on the Palestinians to resume direct negotiations, Abbas is demanding a framework, agenda and timeline before they begin, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there should be no preconditions to the talks.
- New Jersey Local News - NJ.com
In sign of calm, Israel removes gunfire barrier - Yahoo! News
Home > New Jersey Real-Time News > Bergen County
N.J. rabbi leads Jews, Muslims on interfaith trip to Nazi concentration camps
Published: Sunday, August 15, 2010, 9:00 AM
Jeff Diamant/The Star-Ledger
http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?...p to Nazi concentration camps | NJ.com&src=sp
CARLSTADT — The scenario might seem unlikely: prominent Muslims and Jews from the United States, trekking across the Atlantic in mournful, spiritual solidarity to visit two Nazi concentration camps. Together.
The trip to Dachau and Auschwitz, organized by a New Jersey rabbi, was meant to combat the rise in Holocaust denial that has popped up in various Muslim and non-Muslim circles around the world — and online — in recent years.
"The best way to convince someone about the truth of something is to let them see it for themselves and experience it for themselves," said Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in Carlstadt. "I feel that it was important to take Muslim leaders who have a really significant following in the American-Muslim community."
Some of the eight imams on the week-long trip, which ended Thursday, had previously worked with Jewish groups in inter-religious dialogue. Only one of the eight, Shaikh Yasir Qadhi of New Haven, Conn., academic dean for the AlMaghrib Institute, had been quoted doubting the extent of the Holocaust in 2001, but he recanted long before the trip, saying his past views were based on misinformation.
CONDEMNING DOUBTS
On Friday, a day after their return, the eight imams released a statement citing the six million Jewish deaths in the Holocaust, among 12 million Holocaust deaths overall. It added, "We condemn any attempts to deny this historical reality and declare such denials or any justification of this tragedy as against the Islamic code of ethics."
In interviews, the imams said the trip affected them deeply.
"The experience was overwhelming," Qadhi said. "It was a very moving experience for all of us imams, in particular myself. I had never seen anything like this. I was just overwhelmed throughout the entire trip. I was just overwhelmed at the sheer inhumanity of it. I could not comprehend how such evil could be unleashed."
Like other imams interviewed, he said the historical truth of the Holocaust should not be distorted by the Mideast tensions of the last 60 years.
"Politics should not play a role in historical facts," Qadhi said. "Whatever happened post-Holocaust should not diminish the evil that was the Holocaust. … The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very complicated. Let’s leave anti-Semitism out of it."
FACING REALITY
Some said the trip’s most emotional part was seeing gathered collections of victims’ hair, suitcases, and belongings.
"Almost everybody was in tears," said Imam Muzammil Siddiqi, of the Islamic Society of Orange County, Calif.
"I laid a wreath of flowers there at the wall and recited the words from the Quran which says killing one person is like killing all of humanity and saving one life is like saving all of humanity. I said, ‘Here it feels part of us were killed. It’s part of our human brothers and sisters.’"
RELATED COVERAGE:
• Holocaust survivors talk of the horrors of genocide
• Holocaust survivor shares story at Newark remembrance
• Holocaust museum will occupy stretch of Atlantic City boardwalk
• Holocaust survivor shares story of heroism, endurance with younger generation
The imams said they also were moved by meetings with Holocaust survivors, and from seeing their tattooed numbers.
Also during the trip, which was sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Center for Interreligious Understanding, the imams met with the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Krakow and the chief rabbi of Poland, who hosted them for dinner Wednesday, the first night of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Some participants, including Hannah Rosenthal, the U.S. State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, said they felt the trip itself was of historical importance.
"I know of no other time that a group of imams experienced the camps, and prayed at the camps, and came out with a strong statement that condemns Holocaust denial, Holocaust justification, Holocaust comparison and anti-Semitism," Rosenthal said. "I know of no other time that’s happened in history."
'POIGNANT' EXPERIENCE
The sight of Muslims praying at Dachau stopped other passers-by in their tracks, she said.
History aside, the trip — like all pilgrimages to concentration camps — was emotionally devastating, said Bemporad, the rabbi.
"It was painful," he said. "One of the most painful things was to see these imams, all pretty intelligent and sophisticated, absolutely bawling like children. They couldn’t get over it, especially when they saw these children’s clothes and children’s shoes by the tonful. It was really poignant."
By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Karin Laub, Associated Press Writer – 36 mins ago
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli army cranes on Sunday began removing a concrete barrier that shielded a Jewish neighborhood bordering the West Bank from gunfire — a sign that calm is taking hold in the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli military erected the 600-yard (meter) concrete barrier nine years ago on the outskirts of the Gilo neighborhood in southern Jerusalem because of repeated Palestinian shootings from the West Bank town of Beit Jalla.
The barrier is being taken down over the next two weeks because of a reduced security threat and improved coordination between Israeli and West Bank security forces, the Israeli military said.
"Since the barrier is no longer needed for security, it can be dismantled," Jerusalem city hall said, adding it made the decision in consultation with the military.
The removal of the barrier highlights the different trajectories of the Israeli-controlled West Bank, where pragmatic Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has limited authority over 40 percent of the land, and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Poverty has deepened in Gaza since the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory from Abbas' forces in 2007 and Israel and Egypt imposed a border blockade. In the West Bank, the economy has made a modest recovery after years of downturn, in part because Israel eased some restrictions on Palestinian movement. Some areas have seen a building boom, new businesses have opened and car imports are up.
Gilo, a neighborhood of about 40,000, was a convenient target of gunmen during the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, which erupted in 2000. Palestinian militants frequently fired at Israelis, including West Bank motorists and soldiers. Gilo was hit because it was close to a West Bank town.
Gilo sits on land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed to Jerusalem, a step not recognized by the international community. The Palestinians want to set up a state in the lands occupied in 1967 — the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
The uprising gradually ended after Abbas became Palestinian president in January 2005. Israel remains in control of the West Bank, while Abbas has restored order in once chaotic areas there.
In another sign that Abbas is trying to cement control over the West Bank and seeking to counter rival Hamas, his religious affairs minister told a news conference Sunday that the government has taken control of all the territory's mosques, including content of the main weekly sermon, to make sure houses of worship are not used for political recruitment.
Mosques were once a Hamas stronghold. Since 2007, Abbas has been cracking down on the militants to make sure they don't attempt a West Bank takeover.
Religious Affairs Minister Ibrahim Habash said only government-sanctioned preachers are allowed to deliver sermons or teach religion in mosques.
Habash also defended the government's recent decision to stop broadcasting readings from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, over mosque loudspeakers before the call to prayer.
Rival Hamas has accused him of "fighting Islam," but Habash said he was simply correcting an erroneous practice.
"The Quran should be listened to when recited, and we know that people are busy with their daily lives and won't pay attention when it comes from loudspeakers in the mosques," he said.
Also Sunday, Abbas was to meet with a U.S. envoy, David Hale, to try to find a way to resume direct peace talks with Israel, which broke down in December 2008.
Although the Obama administration has renewed pressure on the Palestinians to resume direct negotiations, Abbas is demanding a framework, agenda and timeline before they begin, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there should be no preconditions to the talks.
- New Jersey Local News - NJ.com
In sign of calm, Israel removes gunfire barrier - Yahoo! News
