Interfaith peace group strikes chord
Thebritishsupportgroupforgrassroots Israeli-palestinian peace movement One Voice is beginning to make headway in the Muslim community.
Since the launch of its outreach programmelastmay,ithasvisitedanumber of mosques, the Islamia Girls School London and organisations such as Muslim Voices UK and the City Circle.
“One Voice has worked with a lot of universities since 2008,” said Sharon Alsoodani, the Arabic-speaking outreach director who spent six years in the Middle East and worked for the British Embassy in Jordan.
“In schools, I run a workshop which involves direct grass-roots encounters with youth leaders from the region. I bring them over three to four times a year. I also use Skype, setting up live weblinks to the region,” Ms Alsoodani explained. “The workshops are focused on understanding the needs and interests of the people on the ground. “
One Voice has also helped foster interfaith contact, particularly when the Middle East has proved a stumbling block. “We are still in the fledgling stages but we are getting invitations,” said Ms Alsoodani.
“The Birmingham Central Mosque want to do a follow-up with us in conjunction with the Jewish and Methodist communities. I also have an invitation to a Muslim-jewish dialogue group in Nottingham.”
Ms Alsoodani was at the National Union of Teachers conference over the bank holiday weekend to promote the group’s activities. “There is going to be a big push for the next academic year.”
She also revealed that, “I have had a lot more success with Muslim schools than Jewish schools so far.”