The Jewish Voice
More than 100 Muslim and Jewish leaders and interfaith activists came together to celebrate the Republic of Azerbaijan, on March 16th, 2016 in Washington DC. The group was welcomed to Washington by the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elin Suleymanov.
Among those at the event praising Azerbaijan for its contribution to enhanced Muslim-Jewish relations and for modeling how an overwhelmingly Muslim country can protect the right to freedom of religion for citizens of all faith backgrounds were Rabbi Marc Schneier, President of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director of the Islamic Society of North America, Mohammed Elsanousi, Director of External Relations, Network of Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, and Washington Representative of Finn Church Aid, and Dr. Marshall Breger, Professor of Law at Catholic University of America, and Liaison to the Jewish community during the Reagan Administration.
Rabbi Schneier, who met with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in a one-on-one meeting in the Azeri capital of Baku in April 2015, spoke of Azerbaijan “as the paradigm of Muslim-Jewish coexistence in the Islamic world” and expressed his personal gratitude to the Government of Azerbaijan for its warm relationship with Israel and sustained support of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dr. Syeed, recalled visiting Soviet Azerbaijan during the 1980’s when it was part of the Soviet Union, and being horrified to see many beautiful mosques that had been allowed to fall into disrepair or had been turned into offices of the Communist Party. According to Syeed, “Today it is wonderful to see an ambassador from a former Soviet, now independent, state like Azerbaijan who can say with pride that he is a Muslim and that Islam is one of the main features of that country.” Dr. Syeed praised Azerbaijan for upholding the religious freedom of all its citizens and working to strengthen relations between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Following the luncheon, the delegation visited with members of United States House of Representatives to express their heartfelt support and gratitude to Azerbaijan for its efforts to strengthen Muslim-Jewish relations in the Middle East region and worldwide; and for its close cooperation with the United States on counter-terrorism efforts. The visit was the first-ever joint American Muslim-Jewish mission to Capitol Hill focused on expressing support for a foreign country because of its commitment to promoting interfaith dialogue and religious diversity.
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