26 August 2009
Three members of the Inter-religious Coordinating Council of Israel (ICCI) recently visited Australia to spread their message of grassroots interfaith peace-building. Through the commonalities of their Abrahamic faiths, they seek to find solutions for people of different faiths to work together for the common good.
The three speakers included Dr Debbie Weissman, the President of the International Council of Christian and Jews and Co-Chair of the ICCI, an Israeli Jew; Issa Jaber, Co-Chair of the ICCI, a Muslim- Arab Israeli; and Rula Shubeita, a Christian-Arab Palestinian.
The ICCI seeks to utilise the common values and bases of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as a means of engaging people through religious understanding to embrace reconciliation, mutual coexistence and to promote understanding of each other's faith. Going beyond dialogue alone, the members of ICCI have a commitment to problem solving in practical contexts and have developed valuable tools for use in negotiating difficult interfaith conflicts. ICCI works with people to promote Jewish-Arab coexistence and peace building and is affiliated with the International Council of Christians and Jews.
The group’s visit to Australia included a speaking engagement sponsored by the UCA National Assembly Relations with Other Faiths Working Group, the Council of Christians and Jews NSW, and the Uniting Church NSW/ACT Synod.
Ms Pearl Wymarra acknowledged the land of the Gadigal people with a short prayer and a warm welcome to the overseas guests and the other visitors was given by Rev Elenie Poulos, National Director of UnitingJustice Australia and Mr William Szekely, the President of the Council of Christians and Jews NSW, Inc. The event was well-attended and there was opportunity for questions and discussion.