Omar Sacirbey’s insightful article on efforts by Jews and Muslims to keep relations open despite the war in the Middle East was featured in The Washington Post:

An unprecedented swell of interfaith activities followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and American Muslims and Jews have found common ground as religious minorities with shared theological and social values.

Agreement on Middle East politics has remained elusive. Muslim-Jewish relations in the United States have been challenged by Israel’s bombing and ground operations in Lebanon after Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers and later launched hundreds of missiles over the border. Members of both groups are deeply connected to the region through family and religious bonds.

“It always makes it more difficult. And given our attachment to that part of the world, it puts a strain on things,” said Malik Khan, president of the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland, Mass. Khan’s center has carried on an interfaith partnership with Temple Shir Tikva, a congregation a few mailboxes down the road. “But our effort is to build bridges and strengthen those bonds.”

Rachel Havrelock, a Jewish studies professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he worries that the Jewish and Muslim student group she helped start in November might not be able to survive the turmoil in Lebanon and Israel.