By Yvonne Feiger who participated in and chaired a committee at the MJC thanks to an ROI Micro Grant.

 

Muslim Jewish Conference 2011

The annual MJC 2011 took place in Kiev, Ukraine from 3rd to 8th of July where we spent almost a full week discussing and learning about each other’s lives, everyday practices and religious traditions.

To start with I would like to share the undoubtedly strongest emotional experience for our Jewish participants:

On our city tour to Kiev we visited a synagogue and a mosque with the intention to show our friends some traditions and religious practices. During the trip we found ourselves at the holocaust memorial Babi Yar. Growing up as an Austrian Jew I was raised with full awareness about our Jewish history and experience in Europe and have visited many sights of commemoration. European Jewry is confronted with these stories and facts almost everyday of our lives. The second we arrived I started to feel uncomfortable. I didn’t want to allow my feelings to overtake. I decided to stick to the emotional wall I had built over the years but soon had to realize that this moment was not about my own past. It was about our shared future. My eyes filled with tears when our Muslim participants came together to pray for the dead.

Two major changes were made in this second year of the MJC. The first one was to focus on project development and implementation at the conference and within our general direction. We will intensify this intention by establishing a separate department and guaranteeing a long-lasting impact of our personal interactions and learning processes. The second was to deepen the sense of community at the conference by establishing a committee, which concentrates on the group as a whole and is interested in collecting a broader picture of interests, opinions and future visions.

PLEASE visit and join our groups and projects and help us to spread the word about these incredibly positive and mind-blowing activities started by the participants!

JAM Group Therapy
http://www.youtube.com/user/JamGroupTherapy,
http://jamgrouptherapy.wordpress.com/2011/07/,
https://www.facebook.com/pages/JaM-Group-Therapy/171485219583388
JaM Group Therapy is a grassroots initiative that strives to break down anti-Semitic and Islamophobic stereotypes through the use of written and video testimonials.


Global Muslim Jewish Friendship Forum (on Facebook)
http://www.facebook.com/groups/179800982079692?ap=1
The Global Muslim Jewish Friendship Forum offers an opportunity to Jews, Muslims, and those of other faiths to participate in an ongoing dialogue to create sustainable ties with each other.


MJC BLOG
http://mjconference.wordpress.com/
With the help of our friend Eric Johnson we established a blog for participants functioning as a live blog from the conference with pieces written by attendees during and after the MJC 2011.

We want to thank Yoni Gordis (Center for Leadership Initiatives) who offered a consultation session for the winner of our idea scale competition. This will enable us to assure the realization of more complex projects such as a testimonial series on the topic of Jews and Muslims supporting each other in times of war and conflict.

We are already planning the MJC 2012 and I am hoping to see many of you there.