In the News

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier Last week, I had the privilege of leading a delegation of European imams and rabbis to meet with Council of Europe (COE) Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland at COE headquarters in Strasbourg, and to present to him a petition signed by more than 500 European Muslim and Jewish leaders calling for revocation of a recent resolution passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urging the nation states of Europe to consider banning the circumcision...

The Times of Israel By Rabbi Marc Schneier Last week, I had the privilege of leading a delegation of European imams and rabbis to meet with Council of Europe (COE) Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland at COE headquarters in Strasbourg, and to present to him a petition signed by more than 500 European Muslim and Jewish leaders calling for revocation of a recent resolution passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urging the nation states of Europe to consider banning the...

Ynet Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland tells delegation of Muslim, Jewish leaders that religious discrimination of minorities is ‘a very dangerous avenue to pursue’ VIDEO – Just days before the Council of Europe is scheduled to hold hearings on a controversial resolution supporting banning male circumcision across the continent, a 10-person delegation of Muslim and Jewish clerics met with the organization’s secretary-general, Thorbjorn Jagland. The meeting was...

The Jerusalem Post By Lahav Karov and Sam Sokol PACE secretary-general calls motion limiting minority rights dangerous; MK Shai plans to screen pro-circumcision short in PACE committee meeting. The Knesset is producing a short pro-circumcision documentary, to be filmed this week and shown in a committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe next week. On Monday, MK Nachman Shai (Labor) will represent Israel in the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development,...

20 Minutes LEGISLATION L’assemblée parlementaire de l’organisation paneuropéenne (APCE) a voté le 1er octobre une résolution classant la «circoncision des jeunes garçons pour des motifs religieux» parmi les «violations de l’intégrité physique des enfants» à combattre… Des responsables juifs et musulmans ont plaidé ce lundi auprès du secrétaire général du Conseil de l’Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, pour que l’assemblée parlementaire de l’organisation paneuropéenne...

The Times of Israel By Rabbi Marc Schneier In 2003, I traveled to South Africa with my dear friend, Martin Luther King III, at the invitation of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, where we spoke at their centenary celebration on the state of black-Jewish relations in the United States. During the civil rights struggle, no segment of American society provided as much and as consistent support to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to African-Americans, as did the Jewish community. Martin and...

The Jewish Week By Sandee Brawarsky A local rabbi and imam try to bridge a wide gulf. Rabbi Marc Schneier is the founder and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, an organization that works internationally to promote understanding and cooperation between Jews and other ethnic communities. He recently published with Imam Shamsi Ali “Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues That Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims” (Beacon Press), featuring a foreword by President Bill...

Jewish Telegraphic Agency A conference commemorating the effects of the Holocaust on Tunisian Jews was held in Tunis. Historians, scholars and authors spoke at Saturday’s conference, which remembered the 5,000 Jews subjected to forced labor in Tunisia during a six-month Nazi occupation of the country in 1942-43. Some were deported to Nazi death camps on the European mainland. It was among the first events focusing on the Holocaust to be held in an Arab country. The conference also memorialized Muslims...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier December 12, 2013 In 2003, I traveled to South Africa with my dear friend, Martin Luther King III, at the invitation of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, where we spoke at their centenary celebration on the state of black-Jewish relations in the United States. During the civil rights struggle, no segment of American society provided as much and as consistent support to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to African-Americans, as did the Jewish community. Martin...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier and Imam Shamsi Ali December 6, 2013 When we tell people that we have written a book together entitled Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation About the Issues that Divide and Unite Muslims and Jews, many respond with comments like: “There must be a million things that divide Jews and Muslims. But what could ever possibly unite them?” The short answer is: There are far more unites than divides between us. What does divide us is, first and foremost, the Israeli-Palestinian...