Amid rising tensions on campuses across the country over the Israel-Hamas war, a prominent rabbi and imam have been meeting with Jewish and Muslim student leaders at New York City campuses on a mission to combat both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Rabbi Marc Schneier and Imam Shamsi Ali, whose friendship dates back nearly 20 years, have been working to promote tolerance among students at colleges and universities that are part of the City University of New York system. They said they were concerned about the rise in threats against Jewish and Muslim students at college campuses and universities, such as the Cornell University student who was arrested on Oct. 31 on federal charges for posting warnings to kill or injure Jewish students.
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Rabbi Schneier is the founder and senior rabbi at The Hampton Synagogue, an Orthodox congregation, in Westhampton Beach, New York. In 1989, the rabbi established the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. The group’s original mission was to rebuild the historic Black-Jewish alliance forged during the Civil Rights movement, but later expanded its work to building Muslim-Jewish relations globally. He is also the former chair of the U.S. branch of the World Jewish Congress.
Imam Ali, who was born in Indonesia, is the director of the Jamaican Muslim Center in Queens, New York, one of the largest mosques in New York City. A few days after the 9/11 attack, New York City chose Imam Ali to represent the Muslim community on President George W. Bush’s interfaith visit to Ground Zero. He has received numerous awards for his efforts to foster interfaith dialogue.
Their efforts to build Muslim-Jewish relations led to Rabbi Schneier being named honorary grand marshal of the 2017 Muslim Day Parade in New York City—the first time in the parade’s history that a Jewish leader was granted this honor.
That the two could work together is remarkable given their backgrounds, which were detailed in a 2013 book they co-authored titled “Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues that Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims.” Former President Bill Clinton wrote the foreword, saying that he was “inspired by their example.” A description on Amazon describes the authors’ unlikely beginnings due to distrust:
Rabbi Marc Schneier, the eighteenth generation of a distinguished rabbinical dynasty, grew up deeply suspicious of Muslims, believing them all to be anti-Semitic. Imam Shamsi Ali, who grew up in a small Indonesian village and studied in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, believed that all Jews wanted to destroy Muslims. Coming from positions of mutual mistrust, it seems unthinkable that these orthodox religious leaders would ever see eye to eye.
Yet in the aftermath of 9/11, amid increasing acrimony between Jews and Muslims, the two men overcame their prejudices and bonded over a shared belief in the importance of opening up a dialogue and finding mutual respect. In doing so, they became not only friends but also defenders of each other’s religion, denouncing the twin threats of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and promoting interfaith cooperation.
And the Israel-Hamas war has given the imam and rabbi a new mission to meet Muslim and Jewish students on college and university campuses, especially as tensions and safety concerns rise. On Nov. 2, the rabbi and the imam visited Lehman College in the Bronx to speak with Muslim student leaders, New York’s CBS 2 News reported. A few days earlier, the two had met with Jewish students from six CUNY colleges at a Kosher bakery owned by a Muslim in Westhampton Beach.
Ali told CBS, “We feel as religious leaders in our communities, both communities, Jewish and Muslims, we feel a sense of responsibility to bring together students.”
Schneier said, “In the midst of this raging war in Gaza, we cherish our freedoms to protest and demonstrate, but we cannot cross the line when it comes to violence, when it comes to intimidation, when it comes to harassment, when it comes to confrontation.”
The rabbi added, “Antisemitism is rising, Islamophobia is also on the rise. And that’s the reason why we feel that we must come together because this is our common enemy.”
Rabbi Schneier and Imam Ali also were interviewed on Nov. 10 by Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC’s “The11th Hour.” The rabbi said their initial visits to speak with a few students have resulted in the pair being invited to go to more CUNY campuses in the upcoming weeks.
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Add you name here to combat Islamophobia and here to combat antisemitism.
Rabbi Schneier said he first met Imam Ali when they both appeared on a news network segment following the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005. The discussion was about the pope’s relationship with the other Abrahamic religions’ traditions.
“Shamsi represented the Muslim religion. I represented the Jewish community at the time … And from that moment on we planted the seeds and we became great friends and collaborators leading the charge of building Muslim-Jewish relations not only here in New York but globally.”
Imam Ali said both he and Rabbi Schneier had seen the “promised land” that is peace—and the question is how to get there.
“One of the ways to come together is realizing that we Jews and Muslims do not only have a common faith but in fact we have a common fate, destiny. And whether you like it or not, the two most identical religions in the world are Judaism and Islam. And more importantly for me as an imam and I think for the rabbi as well, Islamophobia and antisemitism is just the two sides of the same coin.“
Rabbi Schneier and Imam Ali each said their message to college students was one that they had learned from their relationship: “We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.”
The rabbi said he was encouraged by the response of the Muslim students when he mentioned Hamas.
“They would say, rabbi we are not supporters of Hamas. They broke out Hamas from the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict because Hamas does not represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
Rabbi Schneier recalled former President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose a Muslim travel ban shortly after taking office In January 2017.
“Who were the great champions for the Muslim community, it was the Jewish community. ...Today we need American Muslim leaders to protect and defend … Jewish students on college campuses.”
And Imam Ali responded, “That is our commitment. For me, antisemitism is my fight. As he (Rabbi Schneier) has taken Islamophobia as his fight. We advance our common humanity. That in spite of the existing differences we have, we have even more in common.”
And he added, “At the end of the day, we are all human beings. We deserve dignity. We deserve respect. We deserve peace — reconciliation. … We need just to live peacefully and that’s our aspiration. That’s our dream as human beings.”
RELATED STORY: Prosecutors say man fatally stabbed 6-year-old Muslim boy after listening to conservative talk radio