The Long and Winding Road to Interfaith Dialogue

by Steven Philp While the media spent the morning of September 11 replaying footage of the terrorist attacks of that day in 2001, small groups of people gathered across the country to show that wounds can heal with faith and conviction, if not time. These gatherings on that day brought together Jews, Christians and Muslims to remember those who lost their lives in the attacks, and to show a renewed commitment to developing bonds between our different faith communities. According to Haaretz, approximately 15 interfaith memorial services were planned for New York City alone, with others taking place in major cities across the United States – including Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Washington, DC. The first official interfaith gathering occurred on Friday, September 9, when more than 2,000 individuals crowded into a mosque in uptown Manhattan;...

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Israel Expels Richard Falk

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Israel refused to allow senior UN rights official and Special Rapporteur in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk into the country earlier today, sending him back to the US after he landed at the Tel-Aviv airport. Falk planned the trip to investigate human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip but was expelled, according to Israeli sources in the foreign ministry, because of statements he made comparing Israeli policies in Gaza to Nazi policies during WWII. Falk was notified before his trip that he would not allowed into Israel, whose foreign ministry believes the Princeton professor emeritus has not viewed the circumstances fairly. The BBC has this quote: " does not try to advance human rights, but instead comes with his conclusions ready and those conclusions are of course extreme, methodic criticism of Israel and only of Israel,"...

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This Week's Links

Robert DeNiro is now Jewish. Or, maybe he just doesn't like Mel Gibson. Do Obama, McCain, and others violate the second commandment? Rabbi Irwin Kula is concerned about the use of God's name in politics. I just got $50,000. All I had to do was move to Dothan, Alabama, where the graying Jewish community is seeking implants—that is, younger Jews to refresh their community. Identical twins who were separated at birth were reunited by chance. What an opportunity to study nature vs. nurture. The Israeli soccer team played a World Cup qualifier yesterday in Chisinau, Moldova. The city used to be called Kishinev, and was the site of horrific pogroms in 1903. Israel won 2-1. A professor at Yeshiva University recently had a sex change. She is now on indefinite leave. Try making realistic Rosh...

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