King Charles meets with faith leaders to discuss how the Israel-Hamas conflict was affecting communities - Pool/Getty Images Europe
Muslim Leaders Praise King Charles for Easing Religious Tensions amid Israel-Hamas Conflict
By Victoria Ward
The King has been praised by Muslim leaders for easing religious tensions amid the Gaza conflict.
His Majesty brought together faith leaders from across the UK on Wednesday with the aim of promoting harmony in their communities in the face of the Israeli conflict with Hamas.
He gave them time and space to discuss the issues they face in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, before joining them after an hour to hear their conclusions.
Among those taking part was Akeela Ahmed MBE from the Muslim community in London. She sat with the King and told him there was a “need for women to have programs of leadership and mentoring” in interfaith issues.
Speaking afterwards, she said: “The King is here to act as a convenor and facilitator and it is clear he cares a lot about the communities.
“With the King convening and facilitating, it encourages us to step out and come together to ease the impact on tensions.”
‘Some bits of hope’
Canon Dr Andrew Smith, director of interfaith relations for the Bishop of Birmingham, who said afterwards that faith and community groups had worked well together during the pandemic.
Since then, the violence in Israel and Gaza has reverberated in some Jewish and Muslim communities in the UK, with faith leaders finding themselves working to maintain dialogue between faith groups.
Dr Smith said: “Geopolitics affects things, and it has done so for years and obviously at the moment it’s straining relationships. We talked about the fact people are really feeling hurt, feeling angry and really struggling to have the right kind of conversations.
“The fact that in schools people are not quite sure, teachers are nervous about how to create space, but some pupils feel ‘why can’t we talk about this?’
“So we talked about the fact it is a painful time, there are some bits of hope, some relationships are being sustained through this, some are very fragile but are being sustained.”
He added: “Having the King [here] means this is being taken seriously. His questions were genuinely engaged questions and it gives enormous encouragement.
“We’ve got to keep things going.”
Alongside the meeting, 18 community leaders will have the chance early next year to take part in a forum at Windsor Castle, exploring “faith, trust and friendship”, run by Windsor Leadership, a charity providing high-level management training. – The Telegraph
