On September 11th 2009, I was at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, waiting to fly back to Barcelona. The queues and the security checks were immense on that hot day, “hot” in so many ways, as Ramadan drew to a close, Rosh Hashanah dawned and the world remembered that terrible day in New York 8 years ago.
I saw Muslims, Jews, Christians, people of all faiths squashed into lines, all being asked the same questions and herded around in the same way. It took me 3 hours to get through security, and in the midst of my impatience and frustration, I remember thinking: “We’re all in the same boat here.”
I live in hope of peace between all the faiths in this world, endorsed by my visit to Haifa, a magical city in Israel where Muslims, Jews, Christians and Bahai’s all live peacefully together. Another city proving a beacon in the quest for inter-faith dialogue and peace is Buenos Aires, in Argentina.
Muslims and Jews Celebrate Together in Argentina
Argentina’s Muslim community is estimated around 600,000 and represents one of the largest Latin American minorities. Buenos Aires, The Argentine Capital is home to The King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center, the largest Mosque in South America.
The same time of year as I was waiting to fly home, two years earlier, in 2007, something quite remarkable happened. Argentina’s Muslim and Jewish communities simultaneously celebrated the start of Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The mutual ceremony was held in Buenos Aires’ San Martín Square, headquarters of the Argentinean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cultures.
Argentina’s Secretary of Religion, Guillermo Oliveri, used the coincidence of the two festivals (regulated by the different calendars) to emphasize inter-faith dialogue in the country. He said that such a positive atmosphere “needs care like a garden and this gathering is a small step forward for the difficult situations in the world where there is no peace”.
Two Leaders Speak Up For Peace
The Sheikh of the Islamic Centre of the Republic of Argentina, Ibrahim Moustafá Gabr, and the Great Rabbi Shlomo Ben Hamú also spoke at the event.
The Sheikh underlined that “this ceremony is a show of fraternity and union in the main goal of achieving love and peace in the world”, explaining that the Koran encourages to “maintain good relations with other nations” and prohibits instilling fear.
The Rabbi cited a verse of the psalms, “it is pleasant and good for brothers to dwell together”, he said, adding that in the orations of the Sabbaths, his community prays “for peace in the nation.” The director of the Latin American Jewish Congress, Claudio Epelman, added, “Jews and Muslims, both like heirs of Patriarch Abraham, are brothers in faith”.
Go Argentina! I’m really glad to know that events like this exist, and can only hope to see and hear of more to come.
“Those who these days say they do not believe in cohabitation of the Jewish-Christian west with the Islamic world must come over here to Argentina”. – Sergio Rubin, Argentine Journalist, August 2005.
