Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and Abdul Rauf Campos Marquetti
Lead Peace Events in Canada
On May 7th and 8th, FOR's Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and
Abdul Rauf Campos Marquetti brought their program of dedicated commitment
to restoring the long-standing connections between Jews and Muslims
to the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The Kootenay
Chapter of the Fellowship Of Reconciliation and the Kootenay Jewish
Peace Fellowship organized their tour, taking Rabbi Gottlieb and
Abdul Rauf Campos-Marquetti to a number of cities in British Columbia.
The event on Friday, May 7th was attended by 300 enthusiastic
participants at the Brilliant Cultural Centre, a community hall
of the Pacifist Russian Christian group known as the Doukhabors,
residing in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. This event
was entitled, "Journey to the Heart of Sorrow and Hope."
Sponsored by the Union of Spiritual Communities of
Christ (the Doukhabors), Kootenay Region United Nations Association,
the Kootenay Jewish Peace Fellowship, the Kootenay Fellowship of
Reconciliation and the Kootenay Buddhist Peace Fellowship, the event
included Muslim and Jewish music and storytelling performances.
The following morning 150 people attended a beautiful,
moving interfaith service which began at Nelson United Church. The
service, entitled "Under the Tent of Abraham: Jewish and Muslim
Texts and Peace Building," was led by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb,
Abdul Rauf Campos-Marquetti and Nelson United Church Minister and
co-founder of the Kootenay FOR, David Boyd. These three leaders
shared compassionate words that eloquently embodied the beauty and
peace related views of their faiths. Magnificently shared!
Following the service, people gathered for a 2-hour
Peace walk through Nelson, BC, entitled "Jewish-Muslim Peace
Walk for Interfaith Solidarity." People were moved to song
and sharing blessings from the many faith-based traditions that
participated in the Peace walk. Kootenay FOR made 60 painted Hamsas
20" tall, saying Peace, Salaam, Shalom. Peace walk participants
carried the Hamsas and wrote special blessings on the back. These
Hamsas were then given to Rabbi Gottieb and Abdul Rauf for use at
future Jewish-Muslim Peace Walks.
Following the events in Nelson, British Columbia,
Rabbi Gottlieb and Abdul Rauf Campos- Marquetti, stirred the hearts
and minds of Canadian citizens in the largely Doukhabor community
of Grand Forks, BC. Here the discussions turned to an interest in
having a future Interfaith Peace Builder Delegation to the Middle
East to include members of the Doukhabor Community, meeting with
Refusers from the Israeli Defence Forces. The Doukhabors burned
their weapons while in Russia in the late 1800's, declaring their
pacifism, which continues to this day.
At the US border crossing at Osoyoos, British Columbia,
Rabbi Lynn and Abdul Rauf were the guest speakers and Peace walk
leaders at the 21st annual Mother's Day Peace event, bringing Americans
and Canadians together in song and moving speeches, followed by
a dinner put on by the Doukhabors. Kootenay FOR activist, Grant
Clubine, who recently returned from an Interfaith Peace Builder
Delegation trip to the Middle East, spoke about his trip to the
Osoyoos border gathering.
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and Abdul Rauf Campos- Marquetti
ended their successful Canadian tour with two major events in Vancouver,
B.C., bringing together for the first time two Vancouver Jewish
congregations, Beth Israel and Ahavat Olam, and leaders from Vancouver's
Masjid-ul-Haqq Mosque.
The lunchtime event, "Jewish and Muslim Teachings
of Non-Violence," brought 200 participants to Congregation
Beth Israel. This was followed by an evening event, "An Invitation
and Introduction to Muslim-Jewish Dialogue" offering a forward
moving sharing by all participants, facilitated by Rabbi Lynn and
Abdul Rauf.
These two Vancouver, BC events led by Rabbi Gottlieb
and Abdul Rauf Campos- Marquetti were enormously successful in establishing
a strong foundation to nurture mutual understanding and appreciation
between Muslims and Jews in Vancouver, British Columbia, cultivating
a common ground for peace action based on shared principles of faith,
compassion and justice. Rabbi Gottlieb and Abdul Rauf provided the
"anchor" necessary to root the events toward forward moving
peace actions between these two communities in Vancouver, BC.
As Rabbi David Mivasair of Ahavat Olam Synagogue in
Vancouver so eloquently stated prior to the Vancouver, BC events,
"...we will live out the rabbis' teaching of 'seek peace and
pursue it' by getting up out of our place of comfort and creating
opportunities to change the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
We all feel God's presence moving us toward this search." Rabbi
Mivasair has found an equal partner for peace building in Fode Drome,
the Imam of Masjid-ul-Haqq Mosque.
Isaac Romano
Rosemary Carter
Grant Clubine
See the Vancouver Sun
article for May 15th in PDF format
(PDF
Reader available here)
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