NY Rabbi & Head of Muslim World League share Global Interreligious Award

NEW YORK – The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding’s (FFEU) Rabbi Marc Schneier and the Muslim World League’s Secretary General Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa were awarded the “Children of Abraham” award by the Florence School of Advanced Studies for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue today at the 40th annual Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples.

The award was created for spiritual leaders who dedicate their lives to the promotion of understanding and collaboration between religious groups and citizens of different faiths and to the construction of human solidarity.

“We’re proud to honor Rabbi Schneier for his work pioneering Muslim-Jewish relations globally and specifically the work he has spearheaded in Europe for more than a decade,” said Florence School of Advanced Studies for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue President Rabbi Dr. Joseph Levi. “Since he brought an historic mission of European Muslim and Jewish leaders to New York and Washington D.C. a decade ago with the goal of planting the seeds of a meaningful Muslim-Jewish alliance, Rabbi Schneier has held many conferences with Imams and Rabbis to bring the two faiths together. His Foundation’s Muslim-Jewish Season of Twinning in Europe and a litany of events involving grassroots activists and high-level representatives of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe have made a tremendous impact in Europe.”

“With anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on the rise in Europe, it is more important than ever before that Muslims and Jews come together,” said FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier. “It’s an honor to be acknowledged here in Rimini at the 40th annual Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples with my colleague from the Muslim World League, Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa. Because of our partners in the Islamic world, we’ve been able to make such a tremendous impact in Europe and globally.”

Founded in 1989, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding is the global address for Muslim-Jewish relations and the national address for African American-Jewish relations. The organization is committed to the belief that direct dialogue between ethnic communities is the most effective path towards reconciliation. For more information, visit https://www.ffeu.org/.