Press on Sevilla gathering Imams and Rabbis

[Diane Brandon]

Hi -- I'm enjoying reading these, but keep wanting to see some photos  
-- were any published anywhere?
Diane

On Mar 28, 2006, at 5:45 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:

> Dear list,
> Dominik Ringler, one of the Berlin Team in Sevilla, collected the  
> press releases below...there is loads more and I will try to place it  
> somewhere in my www today so that it can all be seen..enjoy
> greetings from Berlin
> mmp
>
> PRESS-OBSERVATIONS ON THE SECOND WORLD CONGRESS OF IMAMS AND RABBIS FOR
> PEACE, SEVILLE 2006 (SHORT)
>
> *********************************************************************** 
> ****
>
> ?(?) Faced with difficult questions from journalists, the rabbis and  
> imams
> often would respond with bromides about believing in the same god and  
> how
> peace begins with dialogue.
> To break down barriers, the organizers brought in a Philadelphia
> communications specialist. Wearing a cowboy hat and barking orders  
> into his
> microphone, he encouraged the religious leaders to write down their  
> ?issues?
> on pieces of paper, then line up to announce them to the audience.
> These ?open sessions? became the focus of the conference. Rabbis and  
> imams
> lined up to announce issues ranging from anti-Semitism in Iran to
> Islamophobia, from gender equality to Holocaust denial. The list was
> endless. (?)?
>
> BEHIND THE HEADLINES Meeting in Spain, imams and rabbis pledge to  
> defuse
> religious tensions By Danny Wood from http://www.jta.org/ March 21,  
> 2006
>
> *********************************************************************** 
> ****
>
> ?(?) Most of the third day of the four-day meeting in Seville was  
> dedicated
> to small workshops on issues like helping Jews and Muslims understand  
> each
> other better. But in a prior, plenary session Muslim delegates said  
> peace
> was impossible unless Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian lands.
> "Unless we get to the core of the issue, we are pussyfooting around,"  
> said
> Nazlin Umar Rajput, chairwoman of the National Muslim Council of  
> Kenya. "It
> is a fight over ownership of land." (?)?
>
> ?(?) Organizers abruptly changed the schedule of the meeting Monday  
> when a
> session that was to deal with family issues also turned political and
> heated, and they again rushed to calm tempers at Tuesday's plenary.  
> (?)?
>
> ? (?)The workshop themes were decided Monday in a brainstorming  
> session in
> which delegates spontaneously jotted down issues they thought critical  
> to
> ending antagonism between Muslims and Jews, and posted them on a  
> bulletin
> board. Attendance was open to anyone. (?)?
>
> Mideast politics intrude on congress of imams and rabbis in Spain By
> Associated Press  March 22, 2006   Middle East politics intruded  
> loudly and
> repeatedly Tuesday at an international congress in southern Spain  
> aimed at
> getting imams and rabbis to talk about peace.
> (http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Diplomacy/8080.htm)
>
> *********************************************************************** 
> ****
>
> ?(?) In an offbeat approach to problem-solving, imams in flowing robes  
> and
> rabbis in black suits squatted on the floor, grabbed magic markers and
> jotted down issues they see as critical for bringing about peace  
> between
> their faithful. The brainstorming session led by an American  
> communications
> consultant came at a four-day international congress of Muslim and  
> Jewish
> leaders that opened Monday in this southern city known for religious  
> harmony
> when the Moors ruled Spain. The idea was for the 250 delegates from  
> more
> than 30 countries to identify key themes of discord spontaneously. They
> wrote down about 50 of them, including Palestinian suicide bombings,  
> Israeli
> settlements on Palestinian land, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. They  
> then
> posted the notes in English, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Spanish on a
> bulletin board and pledged to attend workshops on those themes. The  
> results
> of the discussions will be published after the Second World Congress of
> Imams and Rabbis for Peace ends Wednesday. Earlier in the day,  
> tensions over
> the Israeli-Palestinian conflict flared at the meeting. (?)?
>
> ?(?) Later the religious leaders tried out a negotiating approach that  
> is
> the brainchild of Harrison Owen, a US-born Anglican priest who used to  
> work
> in the Peace Corps and has spent the last 20 years applying the  
> technique to
> solving political and business problems around the world. "It works  
> because
> self-organising systems work," said Owen, who is a spry 70. The setting
> looked like this: delegates sat in concentric circles. At Owen's  
> signal,
> first shyly but then in droves, they moved to the center of the room,
> squatted on small orange cushions and wrote down issues they want to  
> debate.
> Eliezer Weisz, a rabbi in Israel, said he had never seen such a thing  
> but
> that maybe writing down problem areas as opposed to saying them aloud  
> in a
> formal setting would help people to communicate more from the heart.
> "Perhaps it is a way to get people to interact," he said.
> When it was all over, the bulletin board was plastered with dozens of  
> themes
> for debate such as how to guarantee respect for holy sites, how to  
> instil
> tolerance among young people, and whether tolerance should extend to  
> the
> intolerant. The forum, organized by a Paris-based peace foundation  
> Hommes de
> Parole, was first held last year in Brussels, Belgium. Organizers  
> abruptly
> changed the schedule and held the brainstorming session earlier than  
> usual
> because a morning meeting that was supposed to focus on family issues
> strayed from that agenda and quickly became heated.  Several imams  
> said it
> was pointless to try to talk about peace without addressing political  
> issues
> such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "This morning things got a  
> little
> exciting and that is good," Owen said, insisting that situations of
> confusion, conflict and even chaos provide an energy that fuels
> resolution.---AP?
>
> Imams, rabbis brainstorm over 'peace'
> http://www.kuwaittimes.net/regional.asp? 
> dismode=article&artid=1223433584
>
> *********************************************************************** 
> ****
>
> ?(?) After abruptly changing Monday's schedule when a session dealing  
> with
> family issues turned heated, organizers again rushed to calm tempers
> Tuesday.(?)?
>
> Imams, Rabbis clash over Israel
> (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3230790,00.html) Conference
> designed to bring Jewish, Muslim leaders together, promote tolerance,  
> but
> turns into verbal brawl over Middle East issue Associated Press
>
> *********************************************************************** 
> ****
>
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