Muslim American Sabeeha Rehman and Jewish American Walter Ruby will discuss a new book they co-authored called “We Refuse to be Enemies – How Muslims and Jews Can Make Peace One Friendship at a Time” during Pebble Hill Church’s virtual celebration at 10:30 a.m. March 14, on Zoom.
“We Refuse to Be Enemies” is a manifesto concerned with the rise of intolerance and bigotry in the United States.
Together Rehman and Ruby have spent decades doing interfaith work and nurturing cooperation among communities. They have learned that, through face-to-face encounters, people of all backgrounds can come to know the Other as a fellow human being and turn her or him into a trusted friend. In this book, they share their experience and guidance.
Tapping their own life stories and entering into dialogue within the book, they explain how they have found commonalities between their respective faiths and discuss shared principles and lessons, how their perceptions of the Other have evolved, and the pushback they faced.
They wrestle with the two elephants in the room: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and polarizing material in the histories and holy texts of Judaism and Islam. And they share their vision for reconciliation, offering concrete principles for building an alliance in support of religious freedom and human rights.
Sabeeha also authored the memoir, “Threading My Prayer Rug. One Woman’s Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim,” published in July 2016 by Arcade Publishing. The book was short-listed for the 2018 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and named to the Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction Books 2017, by Booklist.
She is an op-ed contributor to the Houses of Worship column of the Wall Street Journal.
Ruby had a life-changing experience as a reporter covering the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace in Seville, Spain, in 2006, and decided to dedicate himself going forward to the mission of nurturing ties of communication, reconciliation and cooperation between Jews and Muslims.
Ruby worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He is a co-author, together with his brother Dan Ruby, of the recently published memoir of Holocaust survivor Michael Edelstein titled “Live Another Day: How I Survived the Holocaust and Realized the American Dream.”
Ruby presently writes a blog focused primarily on politics titled Walter Ruby: Keeping Hope Alive. Visit bywalterruby.blogspot.com/.
The Zoom link is: us02web.zoom.us/j/87422989585?pwd=S092TmZUQnJSUkE1Y05sZHArOTNwdz09.
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