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Peace Islands Institute | Event Report
Issue 07 | May 17, 201
Peaceislands.org
Rabbi Schneier
Our first keynote speaker of the evening was Rabbi Marc
Schneier. The mainquestion asked by him was How do we deal with
those who differ from our beliefs?Citing chapters from The Torah,
Rabbi Schneier read a few verses that if readliterally, seemed very
violent. However, he urges the importance of not reading thetext in
a selective manner, and instead, compares them to other texts that
have to dowith the subject matter. Reading from a passage that
seemed to imply thejustification to eradicate descendants of an
ancient tribe, he cites the Talmud that imeans not to physically
destroy, but eradicate certain negative behaviors by this tribeHe
concludes with stressing that we cannot, and must not, read the
sacred text in aliteral fashion, and instead, turn to the oral
interpretation of the Talmud to help bringunderstanding and
sensitivity on how to deal with others.
Reverend N.J LHeureux, Jr.
Our second keynote speaker was Reverend N.J LHeureux, Jr. He
starts touchingbriefly on early Christian history, stating that
early Christians were pacifists andagainst war. However, he
attributes the misunderstanding of the texts and thejustification
of violence in the name of Christianity due to different cultural
factors anddifferent mindsets, as well as political and economical
reasons throughout history
Reverend LHeureux places emphasis on that The Bible stresses
kindness, and thakindness to other people is at the core of how we
will be judged by God and insteadthat judgment is the role of God
himself. Unfortunately, throughout historymisinterpretation has led
to the false impression that religion justifies violence.
Imam Shamsi Ali
Our last keynote speaker of the evening was Imam Shamsi Ali, who
represented theIslamic faith. As like the other two speakers, Imam
Ali also stressed that we cannottake specific passages without
reading the text that surrounds it. Language mustalso be taken into
context, and can be a big source of misunderstanding. Imam Alcites
a specific example of this when the Arabic word Awliyah is simply
translatedinto friend in a passage that would then read that
Muslims cannot be friends withJews and Christians. This of course
proved contradictory to other passages in TheQuran. Lastly, he
touched on the widely misinterpreted meaning of Jihad. In the
media, this word is presented as meaning Holy War, but instead,
Jihad means, tostruggle, to achieve goodness. Imam Ali gave certain
examples of Jihad in theQuran, and after reading the texts
surrounding the initial quote, explained how theycould be
misinterpreted.
BIOGRAPHIESRabbi Marc Schneieris the 18
thgeneration of a
rabbinic dynasty. Founder and President of TheFoundation for
Ethnic Understanding; VicePresident of the World Jewish Congress;
FoundingRabbi of The Hampton Synagogue in WesthamptonBeach, New
York; He has been named one ofAmericas Top 50 Rabbis by
NewsweekMagazineand one of the 50 most prominent Jewsin the United
States by the Forward. RabbiSchneier has been inducted into the
Martin LutherKing Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse Collegeand
has been appointed to the Steering Committeeof the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabias WorldConference on Dialogue and to the ExecutiveSteering
Committee of the Multi-ReligiousCampaign Against Anti-Muslim
Bigotry in theUnited States. He was honored by the UnitedStates
Congress and the State of Israel as anadvocate for human and civil
rights and religiousand ethnic tolerance.
Reverend N. J. LHeureux, Jr.,is the ExecutiveDirector of the
Queens Federation of Churches, theecumenical agency in the Borough
of Queens, Cityof New York, which relates to over 700
Christiancongregations in that Borough. Ordained by TheUnited
Methodist Church in 1969, PastorLHeureux served churches in
Northport, LongIsland, and in Maspeth, Queens, before being
calledby the Queens Federation of Churches in 1978 tobecome its
third executive director. He is an activereligious leader in New
York City. He is a pastchairman of the Committee of Religious
Leaders in
the City of New York and continues to chair theNew York State
Interfaith Commission onLandmarking of Religious Property. He is
chairmanof Tri-State Media Ministries, past chairman of
theInterfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing;He has
participated in many internationalconferences for religious freedom
in severalEuropean countries and an ecumenical delegationinquiring
into accusations of the persecution ofChristians in Arab Republic
of Egypt which wasofficially received by President Hosni Mubarak
in1997. He was invited by the World Council ofChurches in November
2011 as one of 25 experts
to participate in an Interfaith Study Consultat ion onReligious
Freedom and the Rights of ReligiousMinorities, held in Istanbul,
Turkey.
Imam Shamsi Aliis the current Imam& Director ofJamaica
Muslim Center, the largest MuslimCenter in the Queens area. He is
also Chairman ofMasjid Al-Hikmah in Astoria, Queens. Up
untilrecently Imam Ali was the Imam of the IslamicCultural Center
of New York. He serves as anAdvisory Board member to numerous
interfaithorganizations, including the Tanenbaum Centerand
Federation for Middle East Peace. He is also
the Assistant Director and a Board member of theMuslim
Foundation of America, Inc. Imam Aliparticipated in the
International Conference ofImams and Rabbis for Peace in Seville
Spain in
2006 and the first National Summit of Imams andRabbis of North
America in 2007. He represented
the Muslim community at an interfaith discussionon Religions and
Sustainable Development at theWhite House in 2007, and participated
in the2008 Transatlantic Interfaith Dialogue in Frankfurt,Germany.
Recently Imam Ali was one chosen to bea part of US Interfaith Peace
Mission trip to theMiddle East, where he met with both Israeli
andPalestinian leaders, including President ShimonPerez.
Furthermore, in 2009, 2010, and 2011Imam Ali was chosen as one of
the 500 mostinfluential Muslims in the world by the Royal
IslamicStrategic Studies Center in Jordan andGeorgetown
University.
