Interfaith trip of a lifetime

WHILE conflict raged in the Middle East, 22-year-old Amie Liebowitz was breaking down stereotypes and finding common ground with Muslim students and young professionals from around the world.

Liebowitz, from Sydney, attended the fifth Muslim-Jewish Conference (MJC) in Vienna last month. More than 100 participants, primarily identifying with either Judaism or Islam, came from 38 different countries to take part in the week-long conference.

Liebowitz is understood to be the first Australian to undertake the program, though noted that an Australian living in the UK also attended this year.

She told The AJN she was initially concerned that the political climate in the Middle East would force her into constant discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but this didn’t turn out to be the case.

“What was so great about MJC was that there wasn’t as much of an emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as I thought there would be,” said Liebowitz, who has recently graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Asian studies and government international relations.

“We did have sessions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but it wasn’t the main focus. MJC tries to step away from that because it can get quite tense,” she said, adding that other conflicts around the world were discussed.

The program included visiting a synagogue, a mosque, and particularly poignant for Liebowitz, a trip to the site of Mauthausen concentration camp.

For the duration of the conference, participants were divided into different committees, such as Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism in the media, Historical Narratives and Identity, and Gender and Religion.

While Liebowitz has traditionally involved herself in interfaith activities, she said this experience transcended anything she had done previously. “Being part of a larger picture rather than just my Australian community gave me the bigger picture of what’s out there, and allowed me to reassess my values as an Australian Jew, as well as a Zionist,” she said.

She enthused that she made a number of friends, many of them Muslim. “Any sort of backdoor prejudices that I had, they kind of just disappeared.

“I think for a lot of Jewish participants it gave them a very clear idea of what we should be saying to others, and how we can continue dialogue within our respective communities and countries.”

For more information, visit www.mjconference.de.

PHOEBE ROTH

Amie Liebowitz being comforted by Zeeshan Salahuddin, from Pakistan, at the Mauthausen concentration camp. Photo: Daniel Shaked

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