Facing the Elephant: Tough but worth it

From left to right: Rabbi Natan Levy, Imam Usama Hasan, OVE’s Education Director and General Manager Sharon Alsoodani, OVE summer programme attendee Ayesha Carmouche, and Canon Robert Reiss discuss UK interfaith relations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on May 28. Joseph Benedyk also joined the panel via Skype. This is part of a greater conversation that is needed in British communities, according to Alsoodani.

By Sharon Alsoodani*

On May 28, almost one week after the appalling killing of a British soldier in the streets of Woolwich, citizens of London gathered to face an issue that the killer described openly as being part of the motivation for his act of terror.

For the past four years, I have been working with OneVoice to run a programme that deals specifically with the fall-out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within UK communities, schools, and universities. I work with organisations such as the Three Faiths Forum and the National Union of Students, who find that interfaith projects intended to help promote good relations are thwarted by an elephant in the room - namely conflict in the Middle East, including Israel-Palestine.

One way to deal with this is to try to ignore or avoid the elephant by agreeing from the outset that interfaith discussions will proceed as if it doesn’t exist. It seems to be a desperate attempt to have dialogue at least at some level because no one really knows how to face it. However, when violence escalates back in the region, any fragile foundation that has been achieved for interfaith relations is quickly smashed again and the respective communities fall back onto their polarised and, in some cases, extreme narratives.

I have worked in schools with a largely Muslim population where a conspiracy theory is rife among the pupils that the Freemasons and various other groups such as the Illuminate are in league with Israel and ‘the Zionists’ in a bid to achieve global domination.

From students with Jewish backgrounds, I have sometimes heard arguments that there is no such thing as the Palestinian people or that on various grounds, Palestinians have forfeited their right to a state of their own.

And through my work with some Christian groups, I have come across some highly partisan positions based on liberation theology on the one hand, or beliefs about the ‘end times’ on the other.

Of course, such ideas are not only to be found among religious communities in the UK, but also exist in the secular, political sphere. I have witnessed Israel-Palestine being turned into a microcosm of our classic left vs. right dichotomies. Each side’s ‘cause’ has been symbolically adopted by certain political groups such as the English Defence League who carry Israeli flags at their rallies, and anti-capitalist protestors who wear Palestinian kafeeyehs during their demonstrations.

Those who promote radical narratives are only able to do so because we, the moderate majority of British people, allow them to get a foothold. We need to be meeting together deliberately to face and talk about this elephant and to do so with as much effort, energy and regularity as the extremists. This is what we did on May 28.

Whatever our differing points of view on Israel-Palestine, the vast majority of our civil society are actually able to unite around two pragmatic principles out of a genuine concern for the people of the Middle East:

1. Any solution must meet the core needs and national aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians.
2. The only feasible solution is one acceptable to a majority of the populations on both sides.

The 40 attendees at the event came from a variety of religious backgrounds and heard about the successes of OneVoice Europe’s Outreach and Education Programme to date. They then engaged in their own dialogue session with a panel that included Rabbi Natan Levy, Imam Usama Hasan, Canon Robert Reiss, and two student participants of OneVoice’s youth leadership summer programme in the UK.

One participant wrote after the event: “I was very moved - very moved - by last night and those who took part. For me there was a profound honesty, a refreshing and very powerful simplicity and modesty in talking to us through their choice of thoughts and ideas. Real courage.”

This event is a model that we will continue to apply in UK communities, and I would like to encourage all groups involved in interfaith dialogue to take courage and face the elephant. For facilitation and support in holding such an event, please contact me: sharon@onevoicemovement.org.uk

*Sharon Alsoodani is the Education Director and General Manager for OneVoice Europe.