Ruth Gledhill of The Times blogs here about an international conference on antisemitism that is being sponsored by the FCO and attended by parliamentarians from around the world:
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2009/02/antisemitism-silence-is-not-an-option.html
One way to counter antisemitism is to invite people from different backgrounds to sit around the table and discuss controversial issues.
Tonight our theological dialogue group will be discussing justice and poverty. There will be views from Catholics, Protestants and Jews, all sitting around the table together over coffee and biscuits.
The Jewish view of poverty and how to eradicate it is somewhat different from that of most Christians. This is possibly to do with the experience of Jews throughout the millenia. Mostly they have been guests of host countries who have tolerated them for a bit and then got rid of them. Jews do not think that poverty is a good thing, because mostly their grandparents were excessively poor, pulled themselves up by their boot-strings and started again as 'strangers in a strange land'.
Israel, where most Jews live, is an aspirational country seeking for excellence. Older countries, such as Great Britain, are different.
Our Bible exhorts us to help the poor and dispossessed. Maimonides said that the best way to do this is to give people a job.
My experience of Christianty is different. Many Christians I meet are poor and dispossessed, and this includes here in Britain.
No doubt we shall al learn from one another. In the meantime antisemitism is on the rise and in the present financial climate we should all learn from history and internalize the words: 'Never again'.
And I have just heard from Lambeth Palace that the closing session will take place there with representatives of all the Faith Communities. The Bishop of Manchester - and a President of the Council of Christians of Jews - will be standing in for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
This certainly augurs well for the conference.
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