Muslim-Jewish Partnership
for Change
Los Angeles, CA: Moving beyond
the ongoing crisis in the Middle East which often puts Muslim
and Jewish Americans at odds, the Muslim Public Affairs
Council (MPAC) and the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA)
are launching "NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership
for Change" -- an innovative new program designed to
bridge differences, promote mutual understanding and build
community.
NewGround will engage diverse groups of Muslims and Jews
in an innovative community-building process of intra- and
inter- faith education and reflection, leadership training,
and civic engagement. Scheduled to be launched in January
2007, this program utilizes a creative and dynamic new approach
to Muslim-Jewish community-building, and is the result of
extensive research of previous Muslim-Jewish dialogue efforts
conducted in Los Angeles and throughout the country.
"The purpose of NewGround is to create an effective
model for Muslim-Jewish interaction that neither ignores
nor becomes hostage to the ever-shifting realities in the
Middle East," said Salam Al-Marayati, MPAC's Executive
Director. "The goal is to provide a forum for Muslims
and Jews to engage in open and frank dialogue on these issues
with the goal of mutual understanding and joint civic engagement,
not political conversion."
"We've learned from past dialogue efforts that simply
talking about similarities and differences doesn't move
hearts or change minds," said PJA Executive Director
Daniel Sokatch. "We're taking the next step by bringing
committed people from both communities together to learn
about and reflect with 'the other' - and then we're putting
them to work on fixing the problems that impact their families
and their neighborhoods here in Los Angeles."
NewGround aims to create a sweeping change of attitude within
the Muslim and Jewish communities, rather than solely among
leadership. Through intensive learning, skills-training,
and reflection, NewGround will build small groups of committed
and trained individuals who will bring their new skills
to their larger communities. NewGround will generate new
Muslim-Jewish community-building leaders, with the expectation
that alumni will act as trainers/facilitators for groups
in coming years. Each organization has hired a full-time
staff person to run the project in a dynamic and collaborative
process.
Applications for involvement in NewGround's first cadre
-- for young professionals between 25-39 years old -- are
available now at www.newgroundproject.org and are due on
January 10, 2007. After an interview process, the first
class will be announced at a ceremony in City Hall in late
January, and the program will begin formally in mid-February
2007.
For more information about NewGround, contact MPAC's Interfaith
Program Coordinator Aziza Hasan at 213-383-3443 or aziza@mpac.org.
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