DEARBORN — In a gesture during the Jewish Passover holiday, Brenda Naomi Rosenberg of the Pathways to Peace Foundation presented Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), on his birthday, with a Reuniting the Children of Abraham Peacemaker award Tuesday.

Brenda Rosenberg of the Pathways to Peace Foundation presents Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a Reuniting the Children of Abraham Peacemaker award on Tuesday. PHOTO: Khalil AlHajal/TAAN

During a press conference at ADC’s Dearborn office, Hamad and Rosenberg spoke about their efforts to engage in dialogue and attempt to bring together the Arab and Jewish American communities.
Rosenberg said the two began engaging each other shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

“It was important for us to reach out to each other,” she said.

She described Hamad as “someone who’s been there when anger was high and pressure was great.”

“Imad has done what others say is impossible. He has worked to create understanding and bridge divides during even the more volatile times of conflict between the Jewish and Arab communities.”

Hamad said relations between the two communities became particularly tense after wars in Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza this year, but that he and Rosenberg worked to move their respective communities past those challenges.

“We’re not naive. We know the hard feelings sometimes… but that’s not going to make us surrender,” he said.

The two released a draft of a “Declaration for Coexistence” at the news conference, including 13 points, including acknowledgment that “insensitivity to the importance of historical narratives of Israelis and Palestinians… has led to fear, prejudice, misunderstanding and bloodshed,” condemning “the teaching of hate, contempt, disrespect, incitement and violence” and affirming that “every person has a right not only to exist but to live in freedom, with dignity, equality and justice.”

Hamad described the document as an early draft and a “baby step to spark constructive discussion.”

He said the hope is that through continued discussions over time, a final declaration can be agreed upon. The two sides remain in disagreement on several points in the draft, including mutual affirmation of Israel as, specifically, a “Jewish state,” and the recognition and condemnation of “occupation” in the Palestinian territories.

Hamad said the document shows that the two sides are “accepting that we are disagreeing but agreeing on the need to engage.”

Rosenburg is organizing a May 18 meeting to further discuss the draft.

Contact her at 248.790.1455 or pathways2peace@comcast.net.