Tangental dialogue and other endeavors

Dialogue on campus is not limited to the New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP).In 2003, Hillel and the Muslim Student Association [MSA] won the Synergy Award for the Muslim-Jewish Program Series. The Office of Student Activities recognized the discussion series that the two religious groups held together, according to Rabbi Summit. "We're really in the process of expanding this dialogue," Rabbi Summit said. "We have a significant grant pending where we would be able to expand and deepen the nature of the dialogue we're doing between the Jewish-Muslim community, and adding the Christian community to the dialogue." Funding for this larger project would also fund programs at Brandeis, Wellesley and MIT. According to Rabbi Summit, however, the goal is not to bring people together from other schools, but to develop individual models on separate campuses. "Although, we would probably have a conference at some point," he said. Jewish and Muslim communities at Tufts lead joint programming. "We've taken an active interest in each other's holiday programming, like the Ramadan Iftars," said senior Mara Judd, president of the student executive board at Hillel. "We support one another in educational and holiday events as well as things like the vigil for victims of the earthquake in Pakistan, which the MSA invited us to participate in," Judd said. "It was great to all come together for a cause like that." Other smaller discussions, such as "Fasting Cross-Culturally," have been very helpful in showing the similarities between Jewish, Arab and Muslim cultures and religions, according to Judd. "I believe that the large amounts of interfaith programming have given the participating students mutual respect," she said. Many other programs and initiatives have started paralleling in conjunction with dialogue, according to Alex Zerden, co-chair of NIMEP. "The Middle East leadership programs and dinners are meant just to sit on campus, discuss politics and bring student leaders together who hadn't met formally," he said. The Middle East Club Night - otherwise known as Party for Peace - was one example that was successful in some respects, Zerden said. In attendance was a speaker from Seeds of Peace, a non-profit, non-political organization that helps teenagers from regions of conflict learn the skills of making peace (seedsofpeace.org). "We sold peace bracelets for Seeds of Peace and raised several thousand dollars," said senior Aline Sara, vice president of the Arab Students Association. The scope of on-campus dialogue encompasses other Middle Eastern questions and peoples through NIMEP. "There is now a Turkish-Armenian dialogue in cooperation with some students from Brandeis University," Zerden said. "That's another side project."