New York City-based Sheikh Musa Drammeh and Shireena Drammeh have been threatened for their Muslim-Israel Dialogue project and other bridge-building initiatives, but they related at an interfaith dinner at Aish’s World Center in Jerusalem that they felt they had no choice but to speak the truth even in the face of fatwas.
The Drammehs have been to Israel several times before, but at the end of October, they worked with Sharaka and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany to bring Muslim leaders from the US and Germany to meet with Israeli politicians, visit Yad Vashem, and witness the October 7 massacre sites.
At a dinner with the Muslim leaders, Aish leadership, and World Zionist Congress Aish Ha’am slate delegates, the sheikh explained how he believed that Israel had a right to exist. Across from the Temple Mount and al-Aqsa Mosque, Drammeh said that the Quran clearly detailed the Jewish connection to the land of Israel.
“Being pro-Palestinian is not mutually exclusive to supporting Israel,” said Drammeh, who wished for a Palestinian state but also for Israelis to be secure in their homeland.
Anti-Zionism and antisemitism in Muslim communities are grounded not in the Quran but in ignorance, explained Drammeh. He contended that education was the key to confronting those hostile beliefs. If other Muslim leaders came to Israel, such as through future trips planned by Drammeh, he believed they would have their eyes opened to the truth about the Jewish state.
Hoping to 'expand ties between Jews and Muslims'
In a panel with Drammeh, future Aish U project president Rabbi Daniel Rowe said that they had to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia in their respective communities and “ask ourselves, are we being a blessing to the world?”
Rowe, who has engaged in interfaith dialogue in the UK, said it was necessary to find deeper commonalities than just the rejection of violence. Both Jews and Muslims pray to God, and that shared love for the creator should serve as a basis for greater understanding.
Aish CEO Rabbi Steven Burg pointed to the shared heritage through the biblical forefather of Abraham as another point of commonality, emphasizing that he was the first biblical figure to take responsibility for others. He believed that the interfaith dinner demonstrated “Abraham’s descendants coming together to make the world a better place through wisdom, love, and responsibility,” which are the values that Aish seeks to exemplify.
Sharaka managing director Noam Meirov noted that the name of his organization means partnership, and it was his organization’s hope to expand ties between Jews, Israelis, Muslims, and Arabs in the Middle East and around the world.