OCTOBER 10 • 2024 | 23
J
N
‘Twinning’
in Detroit
Several Muslim-Jewish
events were part of
“Weekend (later: Season) of
Twinning” that Walter Ruby
organized, with local lead-
ers, in the latter years of
his career with Foundation
for Ethnic Understanding
(FFEU). The events took
place in U.S. cities, includ-
ing Detroit, and Canada.
“It was exciting to help
coordinate ties between
leaders of the Jewish com-
munity and the Michigan
Muslim Community
Council,” said Ruby, men-
tioning consultations with
Muslims Victor Begg, now
of Florida, and Siham
Awada Jafaar, founder/pro-
ducer of the annual Images
and Perceptions diversity
conferences.
On the Jewish side, he
worked with Rabbi Dorit
Edut, founding director of
Detroit Interfaith Outreach
Network, and Jeremy
Salinger, Ph.D., an engineer
and leader with the pro-
gressive Ameinu Detroit
organization, among many
others.
Ruby worked with the
latter three and “other
folks on the ground” to
create the Muslim-Jewish
Solidarity Council (current-
ly on hiatus). A highlight
for the group in 2015
was sponsoring Detroit’s
Muslim-Jewish Event for
the “Season of Twinning” at
Wayne State University in
Detroit. The social evening
with ethnic food specialties
included the presentation
of creative writing and art
awards to teens from both
communities.
A
Jewish man and a Muslim
woman living in the Northeast
United States would like nothing
more than for members of their respective
faith communities to experience the balm
of friendship — as they do.
It’s a relationship the friends are man-
aging against the backdrop of the bloody
Israel-Gaza war.
Sabeeha Rehman, a Muslim American
writer, and Walter Ruby, a Jewish jour-
nalist, are the activist friends
who don’t believe in giving
up when times are tough. We
Refuse to Be Enemies, the title
of the podcast they launched
on June 14, is a vehicle for
their continuing advocacy
of building Muslim-Jewish
relations.
Both were affected by
having refugee mothers who
narrowly escaped with their
lives, fleeing from India to
Pakistan (Rehman’s) and
Nazi Germany to the U.S.
(Ruby’s). “Our mothers infused us with
the commitment to justice, peace and
shared humanity that animates us today,
”
Rehman said.
She and Ruby have participated for
decades in interfaith dialogue meant to
nurture cooperation between their respec-
tive communities. Rehman was director of
Interfaith Relations at American Society
for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), while
Ruby is the former Muslim-Jewish pro-
gram director at the Foundation for Ethnic
Understanding (FFEU).
In his position, Ruby organized annual
“Twinning” events, intended to bring
Muslims and Jews together in mutually
enjoyable ways and to engage in construc-
tive dialogue. (See sidebar about
his Detroit connections.) It was in
relation to the Twinning project
that Ruby reached out in 2010 to
Daisy Khan, executive director
of ASMA, and got Rehman on
the phone. From that point on, he and
Rehman started encountering each other
in interfaith spaces.
In 2016, Rehman contacted Ruby
to obtain a rabbi’s “blurb” (advance
recommendation) for her upcoming
memoir, Threading My Prayer Rug: One
Woman’s Journey from Pakistani Muslim
to American Muslim.
After reading Rehman’s
manuscript, Ruby sug-
gested they team up
to write a book about
Muslim-Jewish relation-
ship-building.
Their underlying con-
viction resulted in the
book, We Refuse to Be
Enemies: How Muslims
and Jews Can Make
Peace One Friendship at a
Time (Arcade Publishing,
312 pages, released April
20, 2021).
LAUNCHING
A PODCAST
A podcast seemed a logi-
cal next step for them. In addition to Ruby
and Rehman’s conversations and personal
commentaries, their podcast features
interviews with positive-thinking opin-
ion leaders from the Jewish, Muslim and
Christian religions. The twice-a-month
podcast keeps its focus on issues of con-
cern to Muslims and Jews, the two largest
religious minorities living in the U. S.
Rehman and Ruby regret that the Israel-
Gaza War ended many of the long-term
relationships Jews and Muslims developed
after 9-11. They feel strongly, however,
that each side must not let the conflict
decimate their communities’ longstanding
alliance.
The co-hosts are aware that Jews and
Muslims hold sharply different viewpoints
about Israel and Palestine. Ruby said: “
An
imam with whom I worked closely over
the years would not condemn the mass
murder of Jews on Oct. 7, considering the
huge civilian death toll in Gaza. According
to a close associate, many in the imam’s
own mosque would have rebelled if he had
done so.
”
Rehman said: “
American Muslims are
resentful at being pressured to speak out
against Hamas’ actions when they feel that
there has been rela-
tive silence by many
Jews over the oppres-
sion Palestinians have
endured for decades
under Israel occupa-
tion.
”
On campus, where
Jews are experienc-
ing a new high in
antisemitic incidents,
“students report
feeling canceled by
friends and faculty
for wanting to remain
Zionist,
” Ruby said.
On the other side
of the coin, Rehman
said, “Muslim stu-
dents report feel-
ing like they’re being targeted for their
pro-Palestinian views.
”
While the current situation can cause
tension and depression in many individuals,
Rehman and Ruby introduced their pod-
cast series by noting “we have had enough
of Muslims and Jews feeling alone.
”
Ruby said on behalf of himself and
Rehman: “Let’s agree to disagree respect-
fully and with abiding affection for each
other on certain issues in Israel-Palestine,
even as we rebuild our relationship here
at home and stand together against
Islamophobia, antisemitism and all forms
of bigotry, and in defense of democracy,
pluralism and humanity.
”
He continued: “We speak of how to
navigate this difficult terrain with compas-
sion for both communities; preserving our
relationships even while holding true to
our beliefs.
”
A Muslim and a Jew develop podcast to bridge
the differences between their communities.
‘We Refuse to Be Enemies’
ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sabeeha
Rehman
Walter
Ruby
Walter Ruby and Sabeeha Rehman’s
We Refuse to Be Enemies podcast
can be found on YouTube and Spotify.