Sometimes, Interfaith is Not Quite "Inter"

The 23rd Israeli-Palestinian retreat of interfaith encounter took place on the 4th and 5th of December in the tranquil Everest Hotel in a remote area in the outskirts of Beit Jalla and very near Har Gilo, a location which made it easily accessible for both Israelis and Palestinians.

The retreat focused on "The Binding of Abraham's Son" and was jointly organized by the Interfaith Encounter Association and the Hope Flowers School, with the generous support of the program Networking for Peace of the Canadian Government.

Excerpt from the retreat report:

The next session was dedicated to the Muslim perspective, first presented by Ms. Fadila Eswed. Abraham faced many tests and difficult ones. Abraham
saw a vision in his dream that he should sacrifice his son. He told Ishmael and consulted with him – without ordering him to accept. But his son the believer replied: you do what you were told to do and I will be obedient. Abraham went with Ishmael and prepared everything for the sacrifice but when he put the knife he brought to Ishmael's neck – the knife didn't work. Then God spoke to Abraham through the angel Gabriel: you proved to be a true believer and withstood the test. God sent to Abraham a sheep to be sacrificed instead of Ishmael – a big white sheep from Heaven. This was the day before the Feast of the Sacrifice (Eid el-Adha) and therefore it became part of the Suna to sacrifice a sheep before the Feast. As a reward for his withstanding the test – God gave to Abraham another son: Isaac, who was born later according to the Muslim tradition.

More here:

The Interfaith Encounter Association
P.O.Box 3814, Jerusalem 91037, Israel

Board:
Mr. Adnan Trabsha (Chair)
Ms. Evelyne Savir
Dr. Shlomo Alon
Ms. Nadia Tutunji-Nuseibeh
Ms. Saheer Siam
Mr. Rizk Azam
Sr. Karmela Farrugia, Observer

Dr. Yehuda Stolov, Executive Director