Jews, Muslims and the Meaning of Religious Freedom
Paul Moses
December 5, 2016 - 11:46pm
Efforts to bring Muslims and Jews together in the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the presidential race seem to be gaining some traction.
Lauren Markoe of Religion News Service reported shortly after the election that two major groups, the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America, had formed an alliance "to combat bigotry against Muslims and Jews in the U.S., to highlight each group’s contributions to American society and to protect the rights of other religious minorities."
Now Laurie Goodstein reports in The New York Times that "Jolted into action by a wave of hate crimes that followed the election victory of Donald J. Trump, American Muslims and Jews are banding together in a surprising new alliance." She noted work being done by the Anti-Defamation League, among others:
Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a recent interview: “Jews know what it means to be identified and tagged, to be registered and pulled aside. It evokes very deep emotions in the Jewish community.”
Mr. Greenblatt received a standing ovation when he declared at his organization’s conference in Manhattan last month that if Muslims were ever forced to register, “that is the day that this proud Jew will register as a Muslim.”
Such efforts need support because, as is often the case when barriers are crossed, extremists on both sides are trying to undo the alliance by harshly criticizing those who participate, as the Boston Globe notes. It takes courage to attempt what these Jewish and Muslim organizations are doing. And as Goodstein writes, there are still plenty of obstacles to this Jewish-Muslim alliance.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/jews-muslims-and-meaning-religious-freedom
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