Hope for peace

Chief Rabbi Cohen of Haifa and Prof. Qleibo of Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. Dialogue is reasonably possible. “The only solution for peace is to see the divine and the human in others”

BY RICCARDO PIOL

The name “Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples” is in open conflict with the situation of the Holy Land, where Jews and Palestinians seem willing to do any sort of violence rather than talk about friendship or set up a dialogue. And yet, right in Rimini, people spoke about the future of this land, holy to Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike. They did this without canceling out a human, reasonable invitation to hope of seeing the accomplishment of the miracle of victory over enmity. This invitation was already evident in the title of the meeting, “Palestine: a Possible Peace,” without a question mark after it to place in doubt a solution that would put an end to today’s tragedy, and it was accepted and confirmed in the words of Shean-Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa, and Ali H. Qleibo, a Muslim and a professor at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem.

Conditions for dialogue
To those who asked if peace in the Holy Land is possible, Rabbi Cohen gave an answer that he himself called, “clear, univocal, and absolute. Despite the current situation of massacres, horrifying hatred, and violence that characterizes our country, peace is possible.” But there are two basic conditions that must be met: “The first and most important is that both sides involved in the current conflict really want peace. The second, perhaps even more important, is that both sides understand and realize what are the profound reasons and historical and religious roots of their counterparts in the Holy Land. It is necessary to understand the reasons and feelings of the counterpart in front of us–we have to understand their love for the Holy Land and admiration for the holy city of Jerusalem.” A dialogue is necessary, which it is not reasonable to call impossible because “the fact that Jerusalem is the holy city for all of us and that this land is the holy land also for Christians and Muslims is not in any way a reason that justifies a terrible massacre.” History, often impugned by some Muslim and Jewish leaders to justify the elimination of their so-called counterparts as the only way out, teaches us that not only is dialogue possible, but so is coexistence. “After the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem–this is a proven historical fact,” says Rabbi Cohen, “a Jewish synagogue stood on the Temple Mount where Jewish prayers were recited. And at the same time, every effort was made not to take even an inch away from the territory of the holy mosque of Al Aqsa. This lasted for 400 years.” Why are there those today who want to persuade the world that coexistence is not possible?

Humanizing God
“What we all hope is to be able to develop a model starting from the Catholic-Christian experience.” Prof. Qleibo astounded everyone with this affirmation, but after throwing the stone he did not hide his hand, so to speak. He went on, “I’m referring to the Renaissance, when man was able to humanize God: God, His beauty, an idea borrowed from the ancient Greeks. Our tradition still lacks the idea of form. We have a religion that has become a kind of jurisprudence, a moralizing religion that preaches, a syntax of rites. Christianity has offered us a form of humanism that applies precisely to the Christian world.” This form of humanism can mark out the road to reconciliation, but at the same time–the professor would like to say–it could force both the Islamic and the Jewish world to a revolution. Yet, “The only solution for peace is seeing the divine and the human in others, so that by accepting God and others we may lay the foundation for a political solution. Without faith or trust in others we cannot achieve peace.”