Interfaith expert says peace process lacks ‘spiritual’ dimension

by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

The Middle East peace process is stalled not by a lack of political ideas but by spiritual vision, according to a Jewish lecturer in interfaith affairs who now teaches at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

Yehezkel Landau, who also co-founded and co-directed the Open House Center for Jewish-Arab Coexistence in Ramle, Israel, delivered a keynote speech, “Sharing the Holy Land,” on June 25 at the opening of the third annual summer program of the Jewish Culture Program at Monmouth University in West Long Branch.

“Everyone is being tested, including Americans, regarding how this tragedy can be redeemed,” he told NJJN in an interview before the lecture. “The spiritual aspect has been absent from prospects for peace, and that’s why so many peace initiatives and summits have failed. The result has been more animosity, and the sense of history and destiny felt by Jews, Christians, and Muslims has become interwoven with these feelings of animosity.”

The festival is sponsored by the university, the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County, the Aramark Charitable Trust, and Amboy National Bank. The program, now in its third year, presents a showcase of religious values, culture, artwork, and personal stories, said university president Paul G. Gaffney II.

“As an institution of higher learning, it’s our job to look outward beyond the campus gates in order to increase understanding of national and international issues,” Gaffney said. “An understanding of art, culture, and diversity among ourselves can eventually lead to increased understanding within the community. Reduction of prejudice and an acceptance of diversity through knowledge and dialogue can bring about an end to violence.”

Toby Shylit Mack of Marlboro, vice president and chair of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County, said the Monmouth University program presents opportunities that can help the community at large understand the Jewish community’s position on Israel.

“The federation council and the university’s program present ways to reach out to the community and interfaith groups,” she said. “The prospect of establishing dialogue serves to open lines of communication that can lead to understanding of all points of view. The value of this kind of exchange of information is beyond measure.”

For his part, Landau has been heavily involved in such interfaith efforts since making aliya in 1978. According to his seminary bio, Landau earned his master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School. He later directed Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom, a religious Zionist peace movement in Israel, during the 1980s.

The Open House Center offers interfaith dialogue, classes, and camping programs for the residents of Ramle, a mixed Jewish-Arab city outside of Tel Aviv.

“The peace process in the Middle East has been hampered because it hasn’t had the spiritual dimension that should have been included early on,” Landau told NJ Jewish News. “Extremists on both sides have exploited the lack of this dimension. You can’t impose a secular peace on a holy land.”

Because the peace process has long been identified with the secular left in Israel, Jewish and Arab religious extremists have felt threatened, which has caused the peace initiatives to fail, he added.

“They should be engaged through language and symbolic gestures that will resonate with them,” said Landau. “This can lead to ongoing peace and dialogue. Human life is holier than holy ground, and this kind of dialogue will spare us many funerals now and in the future.

“The focus of my reflections is something close to my heart and soul — the territory where I have made my home since 1978,” continued Landau. “When I moved to Jerusalem, I felt as if I had come home. My Zionist, Jewish, and existential components all fell into place.”

As a member of an Israeli military reserve unit for 13 years, Landau witnessed the impact of war and terrorism. However, the events of Sept. 11 brought U.S. citizens from Jewish and non-Jewish communities face to face with the devastating outcome of terrorist activity, Landau added.

“After 9/11, the whole pathological crisis of the Middle East went global,” he said. “It became even more clear that the United States is key to any chance for a peaceful resolution of the tragedy in the Middle East. It was also clearer than ever that a strictly secular approach could not be successfully imposed on a religiously fervent society. In the Middle East, we’ve ended up burying our sons and daughters instead of sharing the land and consecrating it.”

Landau’s spiritual approach to peace-making, however, has taken him to a position that many in Israel, on the right and left, consider a complete non-starter: the “right of return” of Palestinians to their former homes and neighborhoods in Israel proper.

“Daily prayers connect all of us to Jerusalem,” he said. “But the Palestinians’ right of return is not accepted by many Jews. We must acknowledge their right of return along with our own, although it will be a painful process to give up the claim of being the sovereign leaders there. But the result could be a flow of cultural interchange and vitality.”

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, like all previous Israeli prime ministers and negotiating teams, rejects a Palestinian “right of return,” saying it will alter Israeli demographics in a way that would obliterate the Jewish state.

Despite the spiritual and political barriers that still deter the Middle East peace process, Landau said he is “guardedly optimistic” that a positive outcome will eventually emerge. The sense of frustration that has long been a part of the negotiations, however, will not be easily overcome, he added.

“It’s wishful thinking for the United States to assume that a policy toward Palestinian democracy can consist of a liberal, secular model,” Landau said. “I’ve conversed with diplomats, government officials, and elected officials in the U.S. and the Middle East, and faith-based diplomacy doesn’t seem to fit the U.S. policy. But we’ve seen what happens when the spiritual element is omitted; the results are catastrophic. We have an obligation to open our hearts and minds in love and compassion and to see things as they really are; we owe it to future generations.”