From The Birmingham Jewish FederationFIVE COUNTRIES, MANY QUESTIONSINTERNATIONAL GROUP VISITS JEWISH COMMUNITY CAMPUSIt was a fascinating discussion: Questions about Israel, grassroots democracy, Jewish power, our Montclair Road Jewish community campus, relations between Jews and Moslems and other topicswere being asked by representatives of five foreign countries who had come to our Levite JewishCommunity Center to learn more about the Birmingham Jewish community.Visiting Birmingham as part of a multi-city tour last week were government officials fromCameroon, Indonesia, Philippines, Tanzania and Uganda. The group came through a programdeveloped by the Huntsville-based International Services Council in partnership with the US StateDepartment. The purpose was to allow the international visitors to explore how Americandemocracy continues to answer the needs of citizens who increasingly have diverse racial, ethnicand cultural backgrounds. Visitors had the chance to see how citizens on the grassroots level canaffect real change and how people are involved with their respective communities.The meetings with representatives of the Birmingham Jewish community were arranged by theBJF’s Jewish Community Relations Committee. At the conclusion, the visitors gathered in theLJCC board room to ask questions.JEWISH-MOSLEM RELATIONSShofwan Bin Abdul Karim, of heavily-Moslem Indonesia, who is Chairman of the West SumatraProvincial Office of Muhammadiyah, asked if the relationship here between the Jewish andMoslem communities is good. The relationship between the two communities is not bad per se,nor is it good, he was told. It’s essentially non existent. Discussion followed about how bothBirminghamians and Americans perceive Moslems. The group had been told by representatives of the Islamic community they met during their US travels that Islam’s image in the US, in the wakeof 9/11, is not good.How can the LJCC fulfill its mission of being a Jewish institution and still be open to people of other faiths? That was asked by Abdulatiif Ssebaggala, a Member of Uganda’s Parliament. It wasexplained that America has a tradition of medical and social service institutions, even thoseaffiliated with a particular faith, being open to people of all religions. Two local hospitals – St.Vincent’s and Baptist Montclair – were mentioned as examples.The representative from Cameroon, Theophile Nzeki, Senior Civil Administrator, SecretaryGeneral of the East Province, said he had recently seen a national Jewish gathering on televisionat which former President Clinton and other leaders spoke and he remarked about how powerfulthe American Jewish community seemed to be. Jews are influential because America has been agreat country for Jews; America provides religious freedom, a free enterprise system in whichingenuity and hard work are highly valued and opportunities for people to get an education --three things which have benefited Jews enormously, he was told.He also asked if national Jewish institutions fund local Jewish communities, such asBirmingham’s. No, it is actually the opposite; that much of the money that funds these nationaland international Jewish organizations is raised locally, often through Jewish Federations.
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