Paris: Jews, Muslims build bridges via social networking

Paris: Jews, Muslims build bridges via social networking

Paris: Jews, Muslims build bridges via social networking

via JTA:

At a glance, the Muslim-Jewish picnic at the peace fountain in Yitzhak Rabin Garden, in this city's Bercy Park, looks like a reunion of old friends.

Middle-aged men and women sit on blankets and laugh together, snacking on carrots and Middle Eastern pastries. A circle of women dances wildly to the tunes of a guitarist and tambourine player.

But many of the 100 or so people there have never met -- at least not face to face.

They are part of a groundbreaking group that is trying to build bridges between Muslims and Jews in France by fostering a community on Facebook where members can interact directly online about the issues that divide them, and then meet at occasional social gatherings like the recent picnic in Paris.

The group is called Shalom | Paix | Salam -- the Hebrew, French and Arabic words for peace.

“It’s revolutionary,” says Mohamed Kamli, a Muslim law student at the Sorbonne and one of the group’s assistant directors. “You don’t have to go up to a random person on the street and say, ‘You have a kipah, let’s talk about some issues.’ ”
(source)

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