TORONTO, Canada: When do Jews pray? Do they have a prayer book? Which direction do they face when they pray? These questions were directed to a Canadian Jew by his new Syrian-born Muslim friend. They met at the annual Society for Scriptural Reasoning conference held at Huron University College in London, Ontario in Canada at [...]

JAKARTA: The beginning of 2010 saw much violence directed towards Indonesia’s religious minorities. On 3 January, a group called the People Communication Forum burnt down the Filadelfia Church, a house of worship for the Protestant Batak Christians in Bekasi, West Java. In a separate instance, extremist groups, such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and [...]

ASTANA, Kazakhstan: Tolerance and education. Remember these two words. And remember you saw them here first because you will be hearing about them much more in the coming years. Tolerance of others – particularly of people of different religions and ethnicities – and education of the public in tolerance will become the primary tools to [...]

KUWAIT CITY: The recent controversy over the Freedom Flotilla heading to Gaza with humanitarian aid has sparked heated debates in every venue where people exchange their opinions, online and off. However, it isn’t only the violence that occurred on the flotilla that deserves our attention, but also the attitude with which people throughout the world [...]

Sixteen members of Combatants for Peace – a bi-national movement of Israelis and Palestinians who have put down their guns to engage in dialogue, reconciliation and joint non-violent struggle – will be visiting the UK during 21-30 July to promote a message of non-violence as a means of ending the occupation and helping to end [...]

JERUSALEM: “What now?” asks the final line of Lea Goldberg’s poem on the heavenly and earthly Jerusalems. Those of us in the earthly metropolis know that the dualistic divide isn’t representative, and that there are many more than two Jerusalems between heaven and earth and within the east and west of the contemporary capital. My [...]

OTTAWA: Over the past few months, the issue of Jerusalem has once again risen as a matter of dangerous contention between Israel and Palestine. Claims to the city and, above all, the question of control continue to make the holy city a battleground. Today, the issue is primarily over Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. The [...]

GENEVA: “We need a cultural revolution between Arabs and Jews,” proclaims Said Abu Shakra, founder of the first Arab contemporary art gallery in Israel. “I believe art is a catalyst for social change. It empowers communities and contributes to progress. Wherever there is culture, pride and a sense of belonging, things proceed in the right [...]