Rabbi attends historic meeting in Riyadh
Leader sees conference as first step to combat religious extremism
“Saudi Arabia, which has seen itself as a kind of Muslim Vatican and until recently viewed presence of other religions to be undesirable; (this) is truly a sign of new times. Motives included positive image projection, the value of soft power, a desire to be the leader … to use interfaith relations as a creative back channel (for international relations/diplomacy).”
Rabbi David Rosen lives in Jerusalem and his globe-trotting path has included being chief rabbi of Ireland and senior rabbi of South Africa’s biggest Orthodox Jewish congregation. He was honored by the pope for his bridge-building between religions and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
But he is also well-known here in the local interfaith community for his role as the American Jewish Committee’s international interreligious relations director. The AJC is a not-for-profit organization, a global advocate for the Jewish community in forums that range from Congress to the United Nations.
Last week, Rosen got to be a pioneer, attending the first interfaith conference hosted in Saudi Arabia. It was organized by the Muslim World League, which invited Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish believers including 12 rabbis. Rosen was the sole Israeli rabbi at the eight-hour conference in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel. The Human Rights Watch recently reported “with few exceptions, Saudi Arabia does not tolerate public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam and systematically discriminates against Muslim religious minorities.”
Rosen knows the accusations against the Saudi royals for complicity in Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder and dismemberment,
— Rabbi David Rosen
a crime that occurred inside a Saudi consulate. He explains why he sees this conference as a crucial first step in conquering religious extremism. He shares reasons he’s optimistic that “we are witnessing a transformation of Muslim-jewish relations across the globe.”
“Saudi Arabia, which has seen itself as a kind of Muslim Vatican and until recently viewed presence of other religions to be undesirable; (this) is truly a sign of new times,” Rosen said. “Motives included positive image projection, the value of soft power, a desire to be the leader … to use interfaith relations as a creative back channel (for international relations/diplomacy).”
Q: Did you or any of your friends or colleagues have misgivings or hesitation about attending, given Saudi Arabia’s human rights records or the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khasoggi? If so, how did you analyze the
concerns versus the positive impact of attending?
Rosen: I heard about the planning of the conference about a month ago. I do not know of any invitee who had hesitations — some only because of the host/inviter, others because they clearly saw the historic significance of this not only for Saudi Arabia, but for the Muslim world, and indeed globally. I have been accused of being a fig leaf for an authoritarian and oppressive regime. My answer always is that if we Jews had refused the overtures of the Catholic church 55 years ago and insisted that we want repentance and an apology for Christian antisemitism first, then we would not have seen the wondrous transformation in Catholic-jewish relations we enjoy today.
The Talmud teaches us that we should encourage people to do the right thing even if their motives are not the best.
If an initiative for positive change is taken, we should respond positively and help to move that change even further … If the pope, the ecumenical patriarch, and the archbishop of Canterbury all agreed to be partners in this initiative, am I holier than them to refuse?
(Rosen said that the Muslim World League has changed dramatically under Mohammed Al Issa’s leadership.)
The league was the traditional tool for exporting exclusive extremist Wahabbi ideology. Al Issa condemned antisemitism and Holocaust denial forcefully, visited synagogues, et cetera. AJC signed a memorandum of cooperation, which included taking him and a delegation of Muslim leaders to Auschwitz on the 75th anniversary of its liberation.
Q: At the conference, did you sense movement toward diplomatic relations between the Saudi kingdom and Israel? Rosen: All my Saudi interlocutors have told me that if there is no positive movement on Israel’s part in relation to the Palestinians, resumption of negotiations, there is no chance that Saudi Arabia will move ahead in any official way. Q: What are hopeful highlights you took away from the conference?
Rosen: The fact that it took place where it did, that such a large Jewish delegation was invited from Europe and the U.S. And that the league had gone out of its way to cater to our religious dietary needs.
Q: The league’s news release noted that it had invited Catholics and evangelical Christians. I was curious why evangelicals were specified. Were there also mainstream Protestant denominations?
Rosen: The Muslim world generally is not familiar with international Christian denomination distinctions. Generally, they think of Catholics and the rest they lump together as Protestants. Interest in the latter has increased since the Trump administration. (Some) see elements in the evangelical community as their most dependable religious allies.
Q: What about the conference gave you the most hope? Rosen: The Final Declaration from the conference. Until recently, such a text would have been unimaginable coming from Saudi Arabia. A call from the Muslim world that advocates tolerance, respect, appreciation of diversity, pluralism is a stunning development of much consequence. We can see a significant change of direction in Saudi Arabia. Such calls and conferences will not stop extremist violence but will profoundly strengthen and empower enlightened moderate voices and enable them to more effectively combat radicalism.