INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS

E-Bulletin # 17

International conference, Istanbul, 20-23 June, 2010
“SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW ONE ANOTHER” (Sure 49,13)

A Christian-Jewish-Muslim Encounter

On March 1 the registration for the 2010 ICCJ international conference opened online at www.iccj.org. Please, find in this E-Bulletin a program outline of this exciting event.

Attention: The Kalyon Hotel only guarantees room availability until May 20 at the latest. 70 rooms will be allocated on first come, first serve basis.

Introduction by ICCJ President, Dr Deborah Weissman.

Welcome to Istanbul.

While ICCJ's focus has been on Christian-Jewish relations, we have on occasion made our annual conference trilateral. A number of our member organizations involve Muslims in dialogue. Our 2010 annual conference in Istanbul will be the first time for us to meet in a predominantly Muslim country. We have chosen as our theme a well-known verse from the Qur’an (Sura 49,13): “So that you may know one another.” We will explore the potential but also the pitfalls of inter-religious dialogue, both bilateral and trilateral. On each of the three days, a keynote speaker from one of the three religions will address this question from the perspective of his or her own tradition, and there will be two respondents, each from one of the others. What does each of our traditions have to contribute to this topic? The workshops will deal with a variety of related topics, such as anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, Muslim minorities in Europe, exploring our common heritage through text study, women’s issues, social justice, and the nexus between religion, politics and society. There will also be structured opportunities for getting to know the beautiful and fascinating city of Istanbul and the rich diversity of its religious and ethnic communities. I hope to see you in Istanbul!
Dr. Debbie Weissman

Program outline

On Sunday June 20 the conference participants meet at the Kalyon Hotel, the conference venue, for registration and the opening dinner. The official opening ceremony will be attended by many distinguished guests from Istanbul. Among them will be His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who will greet the participants. ICCJ President Dr. Deborah Weissman will give the opening address, lining out the parameters of the conference. The session will be chaired by Rabbi Ehud Bandel, ICCJ Vice President and conference chair.

Monday June 21, will be the first full conference day. After the usual denominational morning prayers there will be a joint meditative moment, before entering into conference business. The Jewish key note speaker will be Prof. Susannah Heschel, Professor of Religion, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA. A Muslim response will be given by Prof. Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic Studies and Public Understanding at the University of Glasgow and a Christian response by Prof. John T. Pawlikowski, O.S.M., Professor of Social Ethics at the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. After a plenary discussion and a coffee break, four workshops will be held. At 14.00 hrs busses leave for a visit of the Topkapi museum.

On Tuesday June 22 the Christian key note lecture will be given by His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, President of the Conference of European Churches. Prof. Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic Studies and Public Understanding at the University of Glasgow, and Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill, Cooperman/Ross Professor, in honor of Sister Rose Thering, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey will respond. Again a series of four workshops completes the morning program.
In the afternoon we will pay attention to the Christian and Jewish communities in Istanbul. A visit is being prepared to a Christian Church where the conference participants will be informed about the situation of the Christian minorities in Turkey. The evening will be spent most probably at the synagogue in the pitoresque area of Ortaköy where a kosher dinner will be served and a specimen of Turkish Jewish culture will be presented.

The third and last full conference day, Wednesday June 23, will open with the Muslim key note lecture by Imam Dr. Abdul Malik Mujahid, Chicago, USA. Dr. Mujahid is the first ever Muslim President of the Council of the Parliament of World Religions. His address will be followed by a Jewish response, given by Dr. Deborah Weissman, ICCJ President, Jerusalem, and a Christian response by Dr. Shanta Premawardhana, Director, Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, World Council of Churches, Geneva. The last four of a total of twelve workshops conclude this morning.

A closing session, overlooking the conference as a whole, will be the last plenary session before all participants enjoy a dinner during a boat ride on the Bosporus in the evening. When busses bring back the conference participants to the Kalyon Hotel at approx. 21.30 hrs, we no doubt will look back at a successful Istanbul event and a conference which makes us look forward to the next annual ICCJ conference to be held in Cracow, Poland, at the end of June, early July 2011.

Registration

Registrations are welcome online at www.iccj.org. At our website you find all the necessary information. The conference fee is € 250,00. Registration is only valid after the conference fee has been received.

Main difference with preceding conferences will be the direct booking of the rooms by the conference participants. This will give each participant the opportunity to book the hotel room e.g. for a pre- or post conference stay in Istanbul. The Kalyon Hotel will block 70 rooms on a first come first serve basis until May 20 the latest. You can make your reservation for the Kalyon Hotel with the reservation form you will find at www.iccj.org. Be on time!

ICCJ, the International Council of Christians and Jews:

a global network that

• builds Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Christian-Muslim understanding;
• brings the religious and moral principles of these traditions to bear upon the problems of interfaith, inter-racial and international relations;
• strives to eradicate prejudice, discrimination and their consequences;
• promotes attitudes of tolerance and mutual respect.

Upcoming events

June 20-23, 2010 ICCJ conference Istanbul.
June 24, 2010 Annual General Meeting Istanbul.
July 27-August 1 YLC conference Dublin.
October, 6 and 7 Regional conference Stockholm, Sweden