How Muslim and Jewish faith groups are coming together during Israel-Hamas war

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• Lisa Desjardins:

  The conflict in the Middle East has been a broad subject for decades, including in American, Jewish and Muslim communities. But for almost as long interfaith groups have sought to bring their communities together to find common ground. That doesn't make watching the current war any easier, but some groups have found a blueprint for how to keep discourse civil and focused on humanity. Ali Rogin has more.

• Ali Rogin:

  Almost two decades ago, religious leaders in the Los Angeles area founded NewGround a Muslim-Jewish partnership for change. Their goal was to strengthen ties between those two communities and work together on issues important to both like poverty and climate change.

  Central to that was building tools to talk about the conflict in the Middle East in a way that deepens each group's understanding of the other.

  Two leaders from NewGround join me now, Andrea Hodos is the associate director, and Tasneem Noor, is the program's director, thank you so much to the both of you for joining me for this important conversation.

  I'd like to start by asking, how are you both feeling? It's been a tremendously difficult time since the events of October 7. Can we start with you, Andrea?

• Andrea Hodos, NewGround:

  I'm a Jewish Angeleno. I work with Muslims and Jews, with Palestinians and Israelis. I have family in Israel. I have friends were people on the ground in Gaza, and on the ground outside of Gaza and in Jerusalem.

  I'm nauseous, I'm grieving. I'm angry over the grotesque murders, and kidnappings of Israelis. I'm just shaken by the horrific retaliation on millions of Gazans who have nowhere to flee. We're also really inspired by the ways that our community is holding together in in really important ways, even in this difficult moment, even when not everyone can come back to the table.

• Ali Rogin:

  Tasneem, how about you?

• Tasneem Noor, NewGround:

  I'm taking a lot of deep breaths, intentionally. And I'm encouraging everyone that I talked to, to take a lot of deep breaths. And to be very honest, all the time when I feel it the most is when I'm lying down or not doing anything, and my body just feels a key like when you would if you have fever or something. I'm toggling between showing up being true to myself being true to my friends, my community, while also taking time to breathe and sleep when I can.

• Ali Rogin:

  I'd love to ask about Andrea, what you mentioned is inspiring you these days, the conversations, the interactions that are taking place among members of your community.

• Andrea Hodos:

  Well, there have been a number of times one was Sunday evening, the folks who have the capacity right now to come together in interfaith settings came together in a park Pan-Pacific park. There is real deep generational trauma that has been triggered all around. And it's happening in real time.

  And just in the circle at the end, as people were sharing what they wanted to let go of in this moment and what they wanted to hold on to in this moment. You know, I realized I could feel the neurons kind of knitting back toward one another, and people really reaching out and we need to grab the people who have the capacity to do this in this moment. Because the health of our city really depends on it right now.

• Tasneem Noor:

  I think, even myself, when I enter a conversation, there's an anticipation of like, oh, this is going to be so hard. This is going to be hard. And then I go into it. And there is actually love. And underneath the anger, underneath the grief, underneath the pain, I can see people's hearts. I'm hearing people reach out to their friends. I'm hearing people say I'm thinking about that person.

  And this is not me, or, you know, like the social media is not representing the people that I'm talking to. And so that inspires me that there is so much more than what we see on social media posts that are just angry and so vicious. I see people's hearts and that inspires me.

• Ali Rogin:

  And what would your advice be for people who want to have these conversations who want to come back together, but are feeling like they can't? Because obviously this is such a fraught issue for so many.

• Tasneem Noor:

  So where do we start? We have to start with ourselves. I think we have to be true to our values. And I know in my tradition there is a value and in the Jewish tradition as well there is a value of reaching out to people when we are grieving.

  There is a value of looking for the goodness, even in the hardest of times looking for ease, even in the deepest of difficulties. And I hope that once we do the word vomit in a safe space, we can then come back and be true to ourselves and say, Okay, what am I really holding? What am I really standing for, and just show up with a lot of authenticity and compassion.

  And also, I think they're really want to invite people to be open to radical listening, when and as you become able, but to never lose sight that just being heard just being held, is a powerful way of disarming so much of the angst and the anger that we hold.

• Andrea Hodos:

  We know that once people feel like they've been seen and heard, it gives them an opening to hear and see other people, even through pain, even through deep differences. And so if there's someone you really care about, and you've been reticent to reach out, remember that they want to know that you care enough about them to know where their pain is and what their pain is about.

  And you need to be ready to actually receive that and hear it even if it's hard for you to hear. And let them know that say, I've been thinking about you've been on my mind, I want to know what's hurting you right now. And if now isn't a time for you to talk, that's okay. Not everyone is going to be ready right now. People need their own time.

  But if you want to reach out, you should not hold back from doing that. Just remember, you want to hold compassion for people the way that you would want them to hold compassion for you. Even if you are feeling betrayed or abandoned by your friend a bit or you've been feeling in isolation. It's actually more important that you reach out in those moments.

• Ali Rogin:

  Andrea Hodos, Tasneem Noor with NewGround, a Muslim Jewish partnership for change. Thank you both so much for your time.

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