Izzeldin Bukhari and Eliyahu McLean

Eliyahu McLean talks about the Jerusalem Peacemakers’ mission.

On Nov. 19, more than 150 Portlanders gathered at the First United Methodist Church to hear McLean and Izzeldin Bukhari, the sheikh’s son. The evening—titled “Stories of Hope from the Holy Land” —left many resolved to help find a peaceful solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Part of a two month speaking tour around the United States, Congregation P’nai Or, the Interfaith Council of Greater Portland, St. Mark Presbyterian Church and other individuals and organizations sponsored the Portland appearance.

“While World News broadcasts terror and grief, Eliyahu lifts people into a place of conviction that peace is possible,” Rabbi Debra Kolodny of P’nai Or said before event. “Despair breeds lethargy. Inspiration breeds action. Eliyahu activates people to support on-the-ground activity.”

After a Havdalah service lead by Kolodny, Pastor Barbara Campbell of St. Mark Presbyterian Church and Harris Zafar, Outreach Coordinator for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s Portland chapter, McLean stood up to talk.

“Negotiators try to apply western concepts of how Arabs and Jews should come together,” he said. “The approach of Jerusalem Peacemakers is to tap into Middle Eastern peace wisdom. In the biblical tradition, there are teachings about how to forgive. In the month of Elul, Jews ask forgiveness for wrongs done to other people. In Arab culture, reconciliation meetings, or sulha, center around the cup of coffee. If even your worst enemy invites you for a coffee, you have to come. How do we take these traditional rituals and expand them?”

McClean gave examples of Jerusalem Peacemaker’s projects like the “Abrahamic Reunion.” Here, people of all faiths meet in Arab and Israeli towns to feast, pray and have discussions. “We secure permits for Palestinians to come into Israel,” McClean said. “Sometimes they just want to travel around like tourists. They want to go to the zoo.”

The “Jerusalem Hug” has become an annual Peacemaker project. “In Jerusalem we have a tyranny of certitudes,” McClean said. “Each thinks their love is the only love. So, we form a human chain around Jerusalem and pray for peace. It started with a few hippies and new agers. One by one, people walked by and saw something beautiful was happening. Palestinian shopkeepers, Christian nuns, even some Israeli soldiers joined our circle. Soon, a human chain from Jaffa Gate to Damascus Gate held hands and prayed for the healing of Jerusalem. Jerusalem Peacemakers is a family to bridge hearts and bring people together especially in that part of the world where you only hear about conflict.”

Izzeldin Bukhari, son of late Jerusalem Peacemaker founder Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari, divides time between his new home in Portland and Jerusalem. “I visited Portland and fell in love with the spirituality of the people,” he said. “There are a lot of people like us, and we are growing more and more. We are sick of the extreme right wing of both sides. Peace is not impossible.”

The Jerusalem Peacemakers also spoke at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, Nov. 30 and are scheduled to appear at Havurah Shir Hadash in Ashland on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit jerusalempeacemakers.org.

Published in
http://www.jewishreview.org/special/Jerusalem-Peacemakers-spread-message-of-hope

Marc Gopin

Gopin has lectured on conflict resolution in Switzerland, Ireland, India, Italy, and Israel, as well as at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and numerous other academic institutions. Gopin has trained thousands of people worldwide in peacemaking strategies for complex conflicts in which religion and culture play a role. He conducts research on values dilemmas as they apply to international problems of globalization, clash of cultures, development, social justice and conflict.

Gopin has engaged in back channel diplomacy with religious, political and military figures on both sides of conflicts, especially in the Arab/Israeli conflict. He has appeared on numerous media outlets, including CNN, CNN International, Court TV, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, Israel Radio, National Public Radio, The Connection, Voice of America, and the national public radios of Sweden, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. He has been published in the International Herald Tribune, the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, and his work has been featured in news stories of the Times of London, the Times of India, Associated Press, and Newhouse News Service, regarding issues of conflict resolution, religion and violence.

Gopin’s research is found in numerous book chapters and journal articles, and he is the author of Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence and Peacemaking (Oxford University Press, 2000), andHoly War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East(Oxford University Press, 2002), a study on what was missing from the Oslo Process, and what will be necessary culturally for a successful Arab/Israeli peace process. His latest book, Healing the Heart of Conflict was published in 2004 by Rodale Press. Dr. Gopin was ordained as a rabbi in 1983 and received a Ph.D. in religious ethics from Brandeis University in 1993. Gopin is now working in partnership with the Fetzer Foundation to create a web-based video series and book on enemies who become friends and close partners. Filming began in the summer of 2008. He is also the author of To Make the Earth Whole: Creating Global Community in an Age of Religious MIlitancy (Rowman Littlefield, 2009). Gopin is creator and principal author of www.marcgopin.com, a weblog dedicated to addressing the transformation of conflicts facing humanity.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari of Blessed Memory, Haj Ibrahim Abu El Hawa and Rodef Shalom Eliyahu McLean

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari was the head of the Naqshabandi Sufi order in Jerusalem. Sheikh Bukhari’s family came to Jerusalem from Bukhara 400 years ago, and their home has been a center for visiting Muslim pilgrims and visitors of all faiths since then. Sheikh Bukhari was a leading Muslim voice for peace and reconciliation in Jerusalem.

Haj Ibrahim Abu El Hawa is the head of a large peacemaker community in the Holy Land. He comes from a long line of community fathers who have lived on the Mount of Olives since the days of the Umayyad Caliphate, 1,300 years ago. He and his wife Naïma, a quiet and steady grandmother and hostess, welcome a continual stream of visitors to their open home – it has ten bedrooms. Sometimes they cook meals for up to a thousand people.

Eliyahu McLean is the director of the Jerusalem Peacemakers, a network of religious leaders and grassroots peacebuilders in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Eliyahu was initiated as a ‘Rodef Shalom’, ‘Peace Pursuer’ by Reb Zalman Schachter Shalomi.

United Religions Initiative (URI) Middle East & North Africa (MENA)

URI MENA is a not-for-profit organization aims at promoting enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to ending religiously motivated violence, and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings

URI MENA support and escort the work of 53 affiliate groups (Cooperation Circles) working on themes related to peace-building and interfaith dialogue in 12 MENA countries ,with more than 600 members, from 11 countries across MENA region including Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, UAE, Iraq and Iran.

URI groups are engaged in different activities on local, regional and global levels, including peace building, intercultural understanding, strengthening civil society, and environment protection. URI in MENA has succeeded in deepening understanding and cooperation among the historic faith communities in MENA as well as empowering youth initiatives to play a vital role in building their societies.

Each year, the URI Office in Amman organizes a regional assembly for all MENA CCs to enhance their interfaith knowledge and peace-building competencies. Additionally, the gathering enables CCs to exchange best practices and share resources.

For More Information
http://www.urimena.org

Rising Tide International

Rising Tide is a catalyst aiding in the birthing of a cooperative consciousness that will ultimately enable humanity to awaken to our true condition of unity, interconnectedness and interdependence.

Rising Tide follows the wisdom of the great teachers of humanity who represent the realization that behind all words, forms and paths is the understanding that there is only one ocean out of which all waves arise.

Universal Sufism, which is at the root of many of the offerings at Rising Tide, holds no religion above any other and upholds the conviction that illuminated souls offered inspired guidance to humanity both at the time they lived and as a message that is timeless. Rising Tide honors these teachings and teachers of the past, while also offering a living belief suited to this time. Membership in Rising Tide is enjoyed by people of many different faiths and religions.

The values and principles that contribute to the intention of Rising Tide are:

• A global consciousness of unity
• The recognition of non-material existence
• The support for spiritual freedom and peace work
• Communion based on inclusiveness and an openness to all ages
• The sanctity of community
• Harmony and beauty
• Healing and contribution to the well-being of others and self

Rising Tide has the following three objects, drawn from the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan:
1. To realize and spread the knowledge of unity, the religion of love and wisdom, so that the bias of faiths and beliefs may of itself fall away, the human heart may overflow with love, and all hatred caused by distinctions and differences may be rooted out.
2. To discover the light and power latent in man, the secret of all religion, the power of mysticism, and the essence of philosophy, without interfering with customs or belief.
3. To help to bring the world’s two opposite poles, East and West, closer together by the interchange of thought and ideals, that the Universal Family may form of itself and human may meet with human beyond the narrow national and racial boundaries.
Rising Tide International is a spiritual community based in Sarasota, FL, with head teacher Shahabuddin David Less.

For More Information
http://www.risingtideinternational.org/

Center for Religious Tolerance

The Center for Religious Tolerance works to overcome separation and difference by seeking what is common among different faiths and tradtions.

The Center for Religious Tolerance goal is to build a peaceful future by honoring and respecting our shared humanity.

The Center for Religious Tolerance believes that in order to do the work of peace, it is critical to be familiar with different religions and the way they shape people’s attitudes towards life. In many parts of the world, religion plays a major role in people’s lives. The work of peace should respect that reality.

The Center for Religious Tolerance believes that despite our diversity, there is an underlying unity in our humanity, in our longing for harmony, in our need for security, and in our gratitude for life. It is in this unity that connections of the heart are made. Through love, patience and persistence, we believe we can change the world.

The Center for Religious Tolerance believes that the work we do locally affects global consciouness, and the work we do globally affects us at home.

The Center for Religious Tolerance believes that the work of peace begins within ourselves.

In addition to providings spiritual and fiscal support for the work of the network of religious leaders that make up the Jerusalem Peacemakers, the The Center for Religious Tolerance works

• To bring people together across divides of religion, culture and nationality
• To support local and global peacemakers
• To develop, test and evaluate new models of spiritual peacebuilding, especially involving women
• To help people experience the connection between peacemaking efforts at home and abroad
• To provide news and information that balances coverage in the conventional news media

For More Information
http://www.c-r-t.org

Trust-Emun

TRUST – Emun is committed to building mutual trust and understanding through unique person-to-person programs and activities in the Middle East.

For more information
http://www.trust-emun.org/

Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution

The Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) engages in practice, education, and research concerning peacebuilding in conflicts where religion and culture play a significant role in both destructive conflict and peacebuilding. CRDC specializes in entrepreneurial engagement with partners, students, and supporters, who share the goal of promoting emerging networks of indigenous and global peacebuilders, mobilizing support for them, and creating linkages between peacebuilders, citizen diplomats, and policy makers.

GOAL
The goal of CRDC is to inspire and generate successful incremental steps of positive change in intractable conflict situations that can become the basis for new approaches to diplomacy and foreign policy. Paths to positive change include: civil society development through education in conflict resolution, peer mediation, innovative religious, spiritual, and cultural forms of conflict resolution, culturally effective methods of cooperation on development projects of benefit to all parties, and an integrated relationship between the world of such work and the world of policy makers and diplomats. An essential element of this is effective relationship-building across multiple sectors of enemy systems and global governance systems, with the help of extraordinary ‘connectors’. But it also entails linking these networks to the complex layers of decision makers in the more privileged sectors of global society. An essential emerging component of this work, therefore, is social network research and the practice of social network peacebuilding through social media, films, and cutting edge venues of global communications. The work of CRDC ranges from grassroots work to policymaking, and seeks to develop and support more effective collaboration between grassroots leaders and policymakers with regard to education, social change, and nonviolent resistance to unjust structures.

While CRDC welcomes grant opportunities for work in many regions, and CRDC has access to students with expertise in every region of the globe, CRDC’s major focus for the next three years will be the promotion of effective interventions in the Middle East, especially as it is linked to the United States.

ACTIVITIES

The major activities of CRDC’s staff include development of educational material, social media, and books. Secondly, CRDC will engage in seminars, trainings, and public gatherings both abroad and at the University. Thirdly, CRDC will engage the social network of positive change makers in the conflict regions and collaborate with them in a way that raises the profile of significant and cutting edge peacebuilding work in high conflict zones. Finally, it will act as a connector of the social network of positive change makers and the policy makers of the Washington region in order to generate more effective international support for and encouragement of cutting edge peacebuilding.

HISTORY

The CRDC began in 2003, through a major gift commitment from the Catalyst Fund, which endowed the the James H. Laue Chair in World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution, and created CRDC to be directed by the Chair. The Chair is named for James H. Laue, the inaugural Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Professor of Conflict Resolution at George Mason from 1987 until his death in 1993.

Dr. Marc Gopin, scholar and practitioner in religious peacebuilding, author of www.marcgopin.com and several of the foundational books of the field of religion and conflict resolution, was appointed as Chair and Director. Dr. Gopin brings years of experience and scholarship in the positive and negative roles that religion can play in conflict. His vision for the center includes education in positive resources for conflict resolution in the world’s religions, empowerment of religious leaders in the resolution of conflicts, and a transformation in the way policymakers approach religious conflicts.

CRDC and The Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University

CRDC provides unique opportunities for ICAR students, alumni, and faculty to interact with CRDC’s specialized network of peacebuilders. CRDC is fortunate to benefit from the proximity of over 400 students of conflict analysis and resolution at ICAR, the oldest and largest program of conflict resolution in the world, servicing students of the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D., as well as 22 faculty and dozens of adjunct faculty and researchers. Students with indigenous knowledge of conflicts in every region engage in internships for practice as well as research of cutting edge practices in the field. Recent examples of internships and different ways people are contributing include:

• Internship on public relations, social media
• Internship on grant writing
• Internship on the marcgopin.com and CRDC
• Internship for research on the Fetzer Institute project of pairs of enemy partners
• Internships with advisory board members

CRDC has also functioned as a unique cultural space in which ICAR community members and others have been welcomed in as social entrepreneurs engaged in new and creative self-supporting ventures that attune well to CRDC’s mission.

CRDC is an incubator for new relationships with training, civil society or educational institutions in parts of the world that may be volatile or situations that may be fluid and too early for engagement with ICAR’s high levels of scholarship and research. CRDC has already pioneered such relationships that could prove useful for more developed relationships with ICAR in the future.

Recent activities emerging from the mission include supporting the following:

• A five year experiment in citizen diplomacy in Syria that included dozens of television, radio appearances, as well as public conferences, debates, and seminars, Syria, Israel and the United States
• The establishment of a CRDC branch in Damascus, Syria, with trainings already underway
• Training in religion and conflict resolution as a channel of indirect communication between enemies (USIP-CRDC)
• Film series, in cooperation with the Fetzer Institute, Friendships Across the Divide, which highlights the work of Middle East peaceabuilders
• Weblog www.marcgopin.com
• Conferences in Washington, in collaboration with Alliance for Middle East Peace, leading to the evolution of recently introduced legislation to create a Palestine/Israel Fund to revolutionize support for people to people peacebuilding (HR 1065).
• Hosting of Middle Eastern diplomats, scholars and peacemakers, such as from Jerusalem Peacemakers.

The work of Jerusalem Peacemakers is prominently featured in Marc Gopin’s books about religion and peacebuilding in the Middle East:

To Make the Earth Whole: The Art of Citizen Diplomacy in an Age of Religious Militancy
http://www.amazon.com/Make-Earth-Whole-Diplomacy-Religious/dp/0742558630/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321358551&sr=8-1

Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East
http://www.amazon.com/Holy-War-Peace-Religion-Middle/dp/0195146506
Book Review here:
http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195146506.001.0001/acprof-9780195146509

For More Information
Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution
at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
3330 Washington Boulevard (Truland Building)
5th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
Tel 703-993-4473
Fax 703-993-1302
Email: crdc@gmu.edu
http://crdcgmu.wordpress.com