By CHARLES ELMORE

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH — In the wake of a U.S. election that broke new racial ground, Jewish and Muslim leaders met Wednesday night to discuss ways to overcome "a darkness of the heart" hurting their own communities.

A Jewish-Muslim dialogue on "confronting Islamophobia and anti-Semitism" helped kick off what are scheduled to be 50 "twinnings" of mosques and synagogues in North America through the weekend. More than 350 people, including about 100 Muslims, gathered at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

New York Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the speakers, said discussions are already under way for similar efforts in Europe.

"Perhaps in some small way we can offer a model, an example, to the Middle East," said Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and chairman of the World Jewish Congress in the United States.

Schneier cited a commercial running on CNN in which rabbis and imams denounce religiously based attacks and discrimination.

Imam Muhammed Shamsi Ali, spiritual leader of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, said he hopes the cooperation of Muslim and Jewish groups in events like this, and in joint projects such as homeless shelters and soup kitchens, can turn into something bigger.

"We don't believe it will solve all of the problems, but it might be a good beginning," he said.

Questions from the audience included the problem of militants who quote from religious texts to justify killing.

Both men called this a "hijacking" of what they regard as the proper interpretation of religious tradition.

"There are not clashes among religions," Ali said. "There are clashes among human egos."

Others said they hoped such efforts could help set a new tone, but many problems must be overcome.

"We consider Islamophobia to be on the rise," said Altaf Ali, South Florida executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "I think it's important the Jewish community is willing to discuss these kinds of issues. It's only through dialogues like this that you can educate people."

Rabbi Nason Goldstein of the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County said extremists can make the resolution of problems difficult.

That should not become a reason not to try, he said.

"There are parts of both communities that look upon these efforts as futile, but not me," Goldstein said.