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September 28, 2001/Tishri 11, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 3
U.S. Jewish-Muslim relations strained in wake of attack
TOM TUGEND
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
LOS ANGELES - Relations between southern California's large Jewish and Muslim communities, marked by ups and downs over the years, have hit near bottom in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
However, in other cities with large Arab, Muslim and Jewish populations, relations between the two communities seem to have remained on an even keel - at least on the official level.
In metropolitan New York, there is no single umbrella organization dealing with Jewish-Muslim relations, but rather several neighborhood coalitions, usually including Christians, that focus on such local concerns as health care and other quality of life issues.
These coalitions have functioned successfully over the last year, said Michael Miller, executive vice president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
The council has joined with other organizations and public officials in denouncing individual harassment of Muslims.
In the Detroit area, where an estimated 250,000 Arab-Americans coexist with 100,000 Jews, "relations have remained on course," said David Gad-Harf, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit.
"It's hard to find a silver lining in this cloud, but since Sept. 11, Jewish spokesmen have taken the lead in denouncing harassment of Muslims from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Pakistan," he said.
However, Gad-Harf noted that good relations between the Arab and Jewish organizational leadership have not filtered down to the grass roots in either community.
He warned that if the "Israel factor" and the close ties between Washington and Jerusalem move to the forefront of public attention, the interethnic ties in Detroit could be severely strained.
Somewhat the same picture was drawn on the national level by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
"In general, our communities are participating, or taking the lead, in dialogues and interfaith services attended by Jews, Muslims and Christians," said Hannah Rosenthal, JCPA's executive director.
The New York-based umbrella organization encompasses 123 Jewish community councils across the country and 13 national agencies.
In Los Angeles, the most recent attempt at building bridges between leaders of the two communities, named the Jewish-Muslim Dialogue, was already on hold before Sept. 11 due to the bitterness engendered by the intifada.
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