NCBI Newsletter

Page 2
NCBI Newsletter
Respect: Overcoming Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism together
“At our Muslim Jewish
events, we discover
again and again how
similar the two cultures
are ...The experience of
being targeted for oppression
in similar
ways.”
“We are convinced
that our work is
more important than
ever. With rising fear
comes a broadened
recognition that this
work is needed.”
NCBI Switzerland has been
conducting a program called
"Respect: overcoming islamophobia
and anti-Semitism together"
for more than 4 years. We conduct
encounter workshops, Respect-Seders
(Passover celebrations)
and Respect-Iftars (breaking
the fast at Ramadan) as well as
Feast of the Sacrifice (the stories
of Ishmael and Isaac), women's
dinners and special workshops on
thinking well about the Near East
and other topics. We have held
special events in connection with
museum exhibitions on the Albanians
who saved Jews during WW II
or on the Jewish emancipation in
Switzerland 150 years ago, when
Jews became citizens for the first
time.
The current news reminds me
that history comes back in many
ways: Switzerland first allowed
foreign Jews to travel freely in
Switzerland because of pressure
from France and the USA in support
of their Jewish citizens and
later allowed Swiss Jews to live
where they wanted to, and not
just in two villages (as had been
the case for centuries). Maybe
other countries can now press the
USA to treat equally their binational
citizens with roots in
Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the
other banned Muslim countries.
We have an NCBI chapter director
and an Advisory Board member,
both from Iraq. Our team of
Syrian "Bridge Builders” all have
family and friends affected by the
US Muslim immigration ban.
We recently led a training for
the coordination team of the Muslim
Jewish Conference in Berlin
and we have been actively involved
in this international event
each year.
At our Muslim Jewish events,
we discover again and again how
similar the two cultures are: the
shared immigrant experience
(offset by a generation or two),
the joint experience of being minorities,
the internal divisions
based on religiosity, as well as the
experience of being targeted for
oppression in similar ways. A few
years ago, there was a Swiss debate
about banning male ritual
circumcision; there is currently a
Swiss ban on both kosher and
hallal slaughter etc.) We also notice
the important differences for
example, in class, education, institutional
development and resources.
NCBI Switzerland has a dynamic,
mixed team of mostly
young adults organizing and leading
events throughout the year in
various areas of Switzerland and a
couple of times annually in neighboring
countries. We are very
excited that our grassroots work
led to the formation of a Committee
for Dialogue within the national
Jewish and Muslim umbrella
organizations, and the Respect
team is a member group.
Through this work, we are working
more and more together, Muslims
and Jews.
NCBI Switzerland also developed
a "Statement against Hate"
which has been signed by organizations,
individuals and most recently
also by members of Parliament.
The Statement calls for no
hate or violence against religious
minorities or in the name of a
r e l i g i o n . ( w w w . n c b i . c h /
statementgegenhass - in German
and French). In December, a
young non-Muslim man walked
into a mostly Somali mosque and
shot 3 people, wreaking terror on
the Muslim and especially the Somali
communities. The response
by the authorities has been disappointing
- there has not been public
outpouring of support.
The Jewish communities have
been requesting support for their
security in light of violent and
deadly attacks throughout Europe
on Jews and Jewish institutions.
The Swiss government recently
issued a report confirming the
danger and the need for enhanced
security - and suggesting that the
Jewish community create a foundation
to pay for this themselves.
This report feeds on stereotypes
about Jews and money and repeats
the history of WW II, where all
refugee assistance for fleeing Jews
in Switzerland was financed by the
Jewish community - not by the
government! The ensuing uproar
has had little effect to date - and
the cantonal government in Zurich,
where most of the 18,000
Jews in Switzerland live, has rejected
responsibility for security
costs.
We are convinced that our
work is more important than ever.
With rising fear comes a broadened
recognition that this work is
needed. You can follow the work
of NCBI Switzerland on our Facebook
page, which is mostly in
German and sometimes in English.
Ron Halbright,
NCBI Switzerland