From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Faith leaders in Haifa pledge to promote coexistence despite ‘current challenges’
Canaan Lidor is a former Jewish World reporter at The Times of Israel
Faith leaders from Muslim, Christian, Druze and Jewish communities in the Haifa area sign a letter declaring their commitment to peaceful coexistence and respect.
“Our dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect are rooted in the tradition and sacred scriptures of each and every one of us,” states the letter, published following a joint drafting effort by 16 cosignatories.
Born out of the initiative of the University of Haifa’s Laboratory for Religious Studies and the Interior Ministry, the letter features quotes from Rabbinic Jewish tradition, Muslim scripture and the Hebrew Bible. The effort, facilitated by the nonprofit Search for Common Ground, is to “promote an active leadership that will work together to safeguard a shared civic society and prevent violence,” states the letter. It notes “the current challenges,” referencing Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The signatories include Rashad Abu al-Hijaa, the imam of al-Jarina Mosque in Haifa; William Abu Shkara, a priest of the Catholic Church and head of the Archbishop’s bureau in Haifa; and Sheikh Tawfik Halabi, an imam and member of the Druze religious committee in Daliyat al-Karmel.
The Jewish cosignatories include Rabbi Ben-Zion Gagula of the Chabad House in Haifa’s German Colony neighborhood and Rabbi Ne’ama Dafni-Keln of the Or Hadash Reform congregation.
Haifa, where approximately 285,000 people live, has an Arab minority of about 35,000 Arabs, who are split roughly evenly between the Muslim and Christian faiths. The city is widely considered a model of interfaith coexistence.
