FODIP was proud to announce the acquisition of four outstanding Patrons in May. These are Professor Lord Harries of Pentregarth, Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, Sheykh Abdal Hakim Murad and Dr Usama Hasan. All are well known for their workin inter faith relations and are committed to principles of dialogue and cooperation.
Professor
Lord Harries
of Pentregarth
Rabbi
Dr Tony Bayfield
Sheykh
Abdal Hakim Murad
Dr Usama Hasan
Kazakhstan was the venue for the III World Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions at the beginning of July. Fodip’s Director, Dr Jane Clements was part of a 3-person delegation led by Bishop Nick Baines representing the Church of England. While little of the 3-day event was groundbreaking, it was remarkable for managing to get a wide range of people around the table, including delegations from Israel and Iran.
The Israeli Palestinian conflict was one of the few current situations of world concern to be aired, especially within the context of a surprise personal invitation by the Kazakh President to Israeli President Shimon Peres; the Iranian delegation walked out during his address but returned to hear other delegates including both Chief Rabbis of Israel. Discussions in the coffee rooms and corridors were often especially useful, as was the opportunity to visit the remarkable city of Astana.
FODIP’s Chair-elect, Steven Longden, returned to the UK at the end of July after completing an Arianne de Rothschild (AdR), ‘Dialogue and Social Entrepreneurship’ Fellowship. Steven now joins 27, mainly Muslim and Jewish, Fellows from France, the UK and USA in promoting dialogue focused social entrepreneurship in their home countries. Steven said: “Some Muslim friends and contacts are suspicious of the Rothschild family based on its historic role in the creation of the State of Israel and questioned why I would want to become an AdR Fellow. I reply by saying that whilst we should never ignore history
it shouldn’t be allowed to dictate to us, Jews or Muslims. I am more interested in how a just peace for both Palestinians and Israelis can be achieved in the future and how good relations can be fostered in Europe and America amongst Jews and Muslims. Many of the AdR Fellows are working hard for this same goal. It is my interest in a ‘just’ peace that has led me to support the work of FODIP. God willing, the skills, understanding and contacts I have developed at Columbia will further help me to make an effective contribution as
the Chair of FODIP.”
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Questions without Borders Details of FODIP's tour to Israel and the West Bank December 2009 details are here >
'This year's annual conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews was held in Berlin.'
Muslim contributors joined representatives of dialogue groups from many different countries to discuss issues of current concern. High on the agenda was the Israeli Palestinian situation and FODIP presented at a session specifically on this topic.
The main focus of the conference was the signing of a new agreement: the Twelve Points of Berlin. Although there are some concerns about some of the wording of the document, it was generally felt to be a huge breakthrough in terms of assessing the needs and current situation of Jewish/Christian dialogue (the text is available on http://www.iccj.org/en/index.php).
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a special commemoration with delegates to mark 60 years of the Coordinating Council of the German Christian Jewish cooperation programme.
