PARIS,
November 22 (IslamOnline.net) – The Jewish-Muslim friendship day
concluded Sunday, November 22, in Paris with a call for establishing a
Jewish-Muslim friendship society.
Organized
under the theme: “For a Muslim-Jewish Friendship”, the event saw
the nomination of Rabbi Michel Serfaty, the creator of an initiative
called “Arabic and Hebrew: Both Are Written from Right to Left,”
to head the new society.
The
gathering brought together a host of leading French Muslim and Jewish
figures, chiefly Dalil Boubakeur, Head of Paris Grand Mosque, and
Roger Cukierman, President of the Representative Council of Jewish
Institutions in France.
“This
is a historic day as we stand a golden opportunity to heal the
Muslim-Jewish rift in France,” Boubakeur said.
“We,
Muslim and Jews, are the offspring of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), who
is the father of all prophets.”
Same
History
Cukierman
added that the long-anticipated Jewish-Muslim society would not start
from scratch as long as Jews and Muslims in France share the same
history.
“But
let’s look at the future, working in tandem to build bridges of
friendship between Muslims and Jews, who unfortunately don’t know
one another.”
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“But let’s look at the future, working in tandem to build bridges of friendship between current Muslims and Jews,” said Cukierman
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“Stereotypes
and ignorance are the main culprit,” Cukierman said. “Nowadays, we
see Muslim and Jewish neighbors who don’t speak to each other.”
He
said the new society will help combat what he termed as “rising” anti-Semitism.
Moise
Cohen, the head of the Paris Consistoire (France’s principal Jewish
group), noted that almost all Muslims and Jews in France hail from
North African descent.
“I
myself was born in the Moroccan city of Tangier, where I made intimate
friendship with many Muslims,” he said.
“We
also share the same culture and even the cuisine in France.”
Senator
Bariza
Khiari, of the Socialist Party, called for an end to
all forms of racism whether targeting Jews or Muslims.
Yahia
Buhiji, a Muslim activist, told IslamOnline.net that Muslims have no
problem reaching out to Jews, but Zionism and the Israeli occupation
of Arab lands stand as a sticking point.
Famed
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss had told IOL that there can be
no
true peace “as long as Zionism and the state of
Israel exist.”
