{"id":11308,"date":"2015-03-13T00:06:27","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T07:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=11308"},"modified":"2015-03-11T18:49:00","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T01:49:00","slug":"ajd-on-road-to-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/03\/13\/ajd-on-road-to-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"AJD on Road to Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Road to Peace: left to right, Josh Morry of the Arab Jewish Dialogue on Campus, and AJD\u2019s Howard Morry and Ab Freig. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Founded in 2006, the Arab Jewish Dialogue (AJD) is a national organization based in Winnipeg with the goal of improving relations and respect between Arabs and Jews through dialogue and education. On Feb. 23, AJD co-founder and co-chair Ab Freig, co-chair Howard Morry and AJD on Campus founder Josh Morry spoke at the University of Manitoba on The Road to Peace in the Arab Israeli Conflict \u2013 A Conversation with the Arab Jewish Dialogue.<\/p>\n

Of AJD on Campus compared to AJD, Josh Morry said, \u201cWe, too, discuss issues that are difficult and that often make us feel uncomfortable. The only difference is some policy statements that make our group more conducive to operating on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we added to our constitution, and I believe you can find it on the website, is that we abhor the use of name calling. Not only does this undermine policies, but it stops people from being able to engage in positive dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The core campus group consists of six Arab members and six Jewish members. Plans are in the works for the organization to host a Middle East feast at the U of M.<\/p>\n

Since AJD on Campus formed, Morry said, \u201cI\u2019ve seen firsthand a reduction in the hateful speech that undermines the policies. Jewish students feel much safer on campus now.\u201d<\/p>\n

About Arab and Jewish relations, Freig said, \u201cWe talk about what is the best case scenario: living in peace and harmony, prosperity, cooperation. We talk about that and understand it. Then we talk about the obstacles and how we can overcome them. We both need to identify what\u2019s best for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the basics of what we do. In order for us to do that, we needed to dig deeper. No one seems to dig deeper to understand. So, I\u2019ll meet with people and start with a discussion on how to take it from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freig has witnessed how what starts in the dialogue group passes onto children, cousins, and further.<\/p>\n

Howard Morry provided an example of how, simply by acting from a humanistic level, he was able to restore trust within the group after one of the times Israel sent its military into Gaza. He told those gathered that the Jewish members were sorry for any loss of life during the operation. \u201cOnce I said that, it was as if the oxygen was put back in the room,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe people that were sitting cross-armed changed their posture to a more open one. And then, continuing with this \u2026 we actually had a very productive talk \u2013 politically, strategically, and at every level. But, until that moment, we had lost all the trust in that room and we couldn\u2019t move any further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, AJD has been talking a lot about ISIS, working to understand who is supporting them, how they are getting the money and what is driving them. And, because of the violence that happened in France with Charlie Hebdo<\/em>, they also took some time to discuss the Prophet Mohammed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a Muslim Arab in the group who explained [the concerns] to the other members,\u201d said Freig. \u201cWe issued a statement. We condemn violence and we support freedom of expression and [the] press. We put together a press release, signed by the Jewish and Arab members.\u201d<\/p>\n

While AJD has been going strong for nine years, creating the same kind of openness and trust within a university setting will be a challenge. \u201cUnless you\u2019re a really bad student, you\u2019re not going to be part of this group for nine years, because you graduate,\u201d said Josh Morry. \u201cI think before we expand across Canada, we have to expand across Winnipeg. So, it would be nice to a get a student here to set up a group at the University of Winnipeg (U of W).\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that it may be easier for AJD on Campus to expand to schools on the East Coast. \u201cPeople are much more eager to join student groups and get involved there,\u201d he said. \u201cOur model is easy to replicate. The constitution is easy to duplicate, using very general terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freig stressed that, within both groups, members do not \u201cagree on everything, [but] we don\u2019t really need to, to have a dialogue. We discuss difficult topics and keep talking about it, and hash over the issues until we get to an understanding. That\u2019s what we try to achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily an agreement, but an understanding \u2013 understanding each other\u2019s narratives. There are some issues we are in too deep with, so we have one meeting after another, trying to get the other person to understand. If you don\u2019t understand where the other person\u2019s coming from, you won\u2019t ever get over being at odds with one another. We still have work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard Morry added, \u201cOne of the great gifts of this group is that it gives you a chance to explain things more than once. In this group, we approach issues in different ways. Over time, listening to each other, there\u2019s an understanding with some members, but not with others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll tell you that the happiest moment I think I\u2019ve had is when I\u2019ve said something the 16th time over a two-year period, and I had one of the members come up to me and say, \u2018Howard, you just changed my life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Both groups hope to inspire the broader Canadian population with how well people \u2013 not only Arabs and Jews \u2013 can get along by speaking to each other respectfully, not jumping the gun, and not just trying to be right. They see their groups as a learning tool for life, teaching how to get along with others and to build trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur intention is to extend throughout Canada and then maybe we will inspire people in the Middle East,\u201d said Freig.<\/p>\n

Co-chair Morry added, \u201cWhile we want there to be peace, our group is focused on Canadian Jews and Arabs.\u2026 We were concerned when we first started, not wanting to become like Europe. There was a lot more violence and disagreement and no dialogue at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is that when you get dialogue amongst the people who\u2019ve chosen to live in Canada, over time, it will hopefully influence the rest [of the world].\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa <\/strong>is a Winnipeg freelance writer<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Road to Peace: left to right, Josh Morry of the Arab Jewish Dialogue on Campus, and AJD\u2019s Howard Morry and Ab Freig. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa) Founded in 2006, the Arab Jewish Dialogue (AJD) is a national organization based in Winnipeg with the goal of improving relations and respect between Arabs and Jews through dialogue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3377,3378,3380,1808,3376,3379,3375,2721],"class_list":["post-11308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-ab-freig","tag-arab","tag-arab-israeli-conflct","tag-dialogue","tag-howard-morry","tag-jewish","tag-josh-morry","tag-peace"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}