Adnane Mokrani & Russell Pearce: ‘Breaking Ground on Muslim-Jewish Solidarity: A Dialogue on Justice, Resistance, and Nonviolence’ (studiedag Pacifisme april 2025)
Breaking Ground on Muslim-Jewish Solidarity:
A Dialogue on Justice, Resistance, and Nonviolence
Adnane Mokrani & Russell G. Pearce[1]
Introduction
Muslims and Jews are not and should not be enemies. On the contrary, they can be supportive friends, and some Jews and Muslims already are today and have been historically. This is a friendship rooted in the spiritual values that unite these two Abrahamic religions. A friendship that does not exclude other faiths nor stands against any other group. A friendship that the world desperately needs today.
But too often Jews and Muslims see each other’s religion through the lens of conflict, without appreciating how both religions share commitments to valuing the sanctity of each human life and to ensuring that each human being is treated justly. Through our project, we hope to promote dialogue both between and among Jews and Muslims regarding their shared religious values and shared religious commitments to the equal dignity and rights of each person. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that within each religion elements of violence exist within our heritage and traditions, as well as debates regarding the way these principles apply to people outside of the religion. In this presentation, we will outline fundamental principles that we find persuasive and will recommend understandings that purify and transform the way we think and act.
- Human Dignity and Rights
The principles of equal human dignity, love of neighbor, and justice are central in both Islam and Judaism. We believe in the value of Exodus, as a narrative that unites our two religions, mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran, representing a source of inspiration in our common struggle against oppression and slavery, for justice and peace, for a freedom that welcomes all without discrimination. We believe in a God who stands in solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, the victims of injustice – a liberating God who stands beside the weak against the crushing power of today’s pharaohs.
The foundation of Judaism is that each human, Jewish or not, is created in the image of God. In the early Rabbinic period, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Simeon Ben Azzai debated the most important teaching in Judaism. Akiva argued for the principle “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Ben Azzai responded that the most important teaching is that all were created in God’s image.[2] Commentators understand that Ben Azzai’s point is necessary to properly understand the command to love they neighbor as thy self – even if one does not love themselves, they must love others because they are created in the image of God.[3] A related teaching is that all people are descended from Adam so that no person can claim that “my father is greater than your father.”[4] Similarly, the Torah requires equal treatment of Jew and non-Jew: “The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I יהוה am your God.”[5]
Another central principle of Judaism is justice. The Prophet Amos famously taught, “let Justice well up like water, righteousness like a mighty stream.”[6] The Torah commands “Justice, justice shall you pursue.”[7] Commentators have explored why the teaching repeats the word justice twice. Some explain that the repetition of justice emphasizes how important justice is to God. Commentators agree that true justice is equal justice. Rabbi Bakhya ben Asher in the twelfth century, for example, “taught that the double emphasis means justice under any circumstance, whether to your profit or loss, whether in word or in action, whether to Jew or non-Jew.”[8] Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson observes:
In Midrash Devarim Rabbah, they explain that God loves justice even more importantly than sacrifice. This bears out what Scripture says. “To do what is right and just is more desired by the Lord than sacrifice.” Scripture does not say, as much as sacrifice, but “more than sacrifice.” The ‘Midrash then goes on at length to explain the many ways in which justice is superior to sacrifice in the sight of God.[9]
Indeed, the pursuit of justice is the obligation of every individual, not only judges. As Rabbi Jonathan Kliger notes, “Rabbi Hiyya, a fourth-century scholar [explained that], “’If a person is neither a scholar, nor a teacher, nor known for observing all the ritual commandments, but stands up to protest against evil, such a person is considered a blessing.’”[10]
Islam confirms the biblical tradition regarding the origin of humanity, which makes us all one human family, brothers and sisters. The Islamic tradition confirms also that God created human beings in His Image.[11] Human dignity is an absolute value in the Quran: “We have certainly honored the children of Adam,”[12] all the children of Adam, without any distinction of nation, culture, religion, or gender. The children of Adam encompass all of humanity and every individual. This honor is none other than human dignity, which is sacred like its Giver, like life itself, and what God grants, no one can take away. God has honored the human being by creating him with His own Hands,[13] breathing into him of His Spirit, teaching him the names of all things, appointing him as His vicegerent (khalīfa) on earth.[14]
God is absolute Justice; before Him, we are all equal, and He calls us to be just like Him and to uphold justice: “God bears witness that there is no god but Him, as do the angels and those who have knowledge. He upholds justice. There is no god but Him, the Almighty, the All Wise.”[15] Justice condemns all forms of discrimination:
You who believe, uphold justice and bear witness to God, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or your close relatives. Whether the person is rich or poor, God can best take care of both. Refrain from following your own desire, so that you can act justly– if you distort or neglect justice, God is fully aware of what you do.[16]
You who believe, be steadfast in your devotion to God and bear witness impartially: do not let hatred of others lead you away from justice, but adhere to justice, for that is closer to awareness of God. Be mindful of God: God is well aware of all that you do.[17]
2. Peace and Nonviolence
Similarly, both Islam and Judaism seek peace and to make violence a last resort. Some Muslim and Jewish thinkers have gone even further, arguing for nonviolent resistance in ways that resemble the better-known approaches of Mahatma Gandhi, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and Martin Luther King Jr. As part of a larger INTERRELIGIOUS INITIATIVE FOR NONVIOLENCE THEOLOGY (IINT), we will begin to develop shared approaches.
The pursuit of peace is, without question, central to both Islam and Judaism. The Hebrew Shalōm and Arabic Salām cannot be translated simply with superficial peace. Instead, they indicate permanent and profound Peace, a divine and inclusive one. Al-Salām, the Peace, is one of the beautiful divine Names in the Qurʾān,[18] which should be reflected in the life of believers: “O believers! Enter the Peace, all of you, and follow not the steps of Satan; he is a manifest enemy to you.”[19] The divine message transmitted by the Prophets throughout history is a message that invites to “the ways of Peace,”[20] to the point of dwelling in Peace, in this world and in the other.[21]
In Judaism, peace is a central tenet. The Mishnah explains that the world rests on peace, together with justice and truth.[22] The preeminent scholar Maimonides taught, “Great is peace, as the whole Torah was given in order to promote peace in the world, as it is stated, ‘Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.'”[23]
Commitment to nonviolence derives both from the sanctity of human life and the pursuit of peace. Both Islam and Judaism have a similar teaching. Judaism teaches “Whoever destroys a single life, it is considered as if he has destroyed the entire world. And whoever saves a single life, it is considered as if he has saved the entire world.”[24] We find the same principle literally in the Quran.[25] Nonviolence does not mean giving in to injustice and other evils – rather it means resistance in order to promote justice and freedom. Indeed, Erica Chenowith and Maria J. Stephan have documented in the past century how nonviolent resistance has been more effective than violent resistance even in opposing authoritarian oppression, in part because violence requires a significantly larger following to succeed.[26] Moreover, as commentators have recognized, violence often creates a cycle of violence, not peace.[27]
3. Facing the Same Challenges
The creation of the State of Israel and the resulting exile and oppression of Palestinians has generated deep wounds in the collective memory of both communities, often creating parallel, if not opposing, narratives. Ethnic cleansing forced part of the Palestinian people into exile. Many Arab Jews were pressured to leave their countries to live in Israel or elsewhere.
Nonetheless, while religion has played a major role for many actors in this conflict, we want to affirm together that this is not necessarily a religious conflict. In truth, it is a problem of occupation and an unending cycle of violence, despite the land being called “holy” – but no land will ever be more sacred than the human beings walking upon it, who need to defend and protect their rights. Jerusalem is a city of high symbolic value for the three Abrahamic religions, but occupation makes equitable collaboration difficult.
We understand there are nationalist and religious groups, movements, and ideologies that use religion to justify occupation or resistance. We, instead, want to be inspired by our faiths to work for justice, peace, and reconciliation. Our religions share fundamental principles and values that believe in human dignity and serve all humanity without discrimination and without claims of supremacy.
We are against every type of warrior messianism, whether Jewish, Christian, or Islamic. Messianisms that preach a final clash between good and evil, that take on tribal and identity-based forms and dream of global hegemony of one race or religion. It matters not whether this final battle place is called Armageddon or Dābiq.
We believe that the future of Israel is linked to the destiny of the Palestinian people, and vice versa. The denial of the other is the denial of the self. Democracy and occupation are incompatible. Recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people leads to true peace and genuine integration of Israel into its Middle Eastern environment. Military superiority, external support, annexation, ethnic cleansing, deportation, and domicide do not make Israel safer – only true dialogue that offers hope and future to all inhabitants of that land can do so.
We believe that Jewish-Islamic solidarity, open to including in an interfaith coalition Christians and all others, will together combat all forms of racism and xenophobia, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. These are interconnected and inseparable struggles that cannot be used against each other, lest we fall into contradiction and incoherence.
Solidarity with the Palestinian cause and resistance to occupation are not forms of antisemitism. Indeed, there are antisemites who declare themselves Zionists or pro-Israeli to hide their antisemitism and justify their Islamophobia. We find Jews who have chosen solidarity with Palestinians as a path to security and as a struggle against antisemitism. This does not diminish the danger of antisemitism, but we must confront it with our solidarity in its proper contexts, particularly in white supremacy that produced Nazism, Fascism, and their contemporary forms.
Jewish-Islamic solidarity is also a remedy against the confusion between Zionism and Judaism, between the State of Israel and global Judaism. This confusion exists even among a sector of Muslims. A confusion that serves only the extremists from all sides.
The Holocaust was a scandalous and terrible genocide that must never be repeated, for Jews and for all people. We know, at the same time, that one genocide does not justify another, one trauma does not justify another. The Holocaust does not justify occupation, just as occupation does not justify October 7th, and October 7th does not justify the genocide in Gaza. We must together break this infinite chain of accumulated traumas and offer hope for a dignified life for all. Our faithfulness to the Holocaust victims demands our solidarity for human rights and world peace.
We strongly condemn the massacres and kidnapping of Israeli civilians on October 7, and the continued holding of Israeli hostages. For the same reason and for the sake of consistency, we condemn the massacres of Palestinians that took place, and the Palestinian captives that were taken, after October 7 and before October 7.
To create conditions for world peace, we must consolidate and improve international institutions and international law. We do not live in a jungle where the powerful oppress the weak without consequence, silencing critics without counterbalance and without justice.
We encourage together peaceful and nonviolent struggle against occupation – which does not mean simply reproaching victims but requires active involvement to ensure the conditions that allow and promote this nonviolent struggle.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims, shocked and traumatized by the current wars, who reject violence in all its forms—especially in relation to war and occupation—come together to reflect on innovative approaches to dialogue and solidarity that have yet to be explored, as the urgency of our current situation demands. Our aim is not to adopt a comfortable stance that merely condemns war while hoping for peace; rather, we seek to reinvent interfaith dialogue and our theologies of nonviolence.
Believing in the humanizing and disarming functions of religion and theology, despite their abuses and deviations, we condemn all forms of colonialism and hegemony. We denounce all acts of terrorism, including state terrorism and resistance terrorism. The killing of children and unarmed civilians is unacceptable under any ideological justification. At the same time, we recognize that nonviolence can either serve a noble cause ethically or be co-opted and manipulated by those in power. Indeed, Gandhi noted that acceptance of oppression was in his view worse than violent resistance, although nonviolent resistance was far superior to both in terms of morality and effectiveness.[28]
We must confront critical questions: What are the boundaries of nonviolence? How can it be made effective? How do ongoing conflicts reveal the crises of our time, highlighting the failures of the post-World War II system? Observing the ineffectiveness of international institutions, the shortcomings of international and humanitarian law, and the rise of right-wing extremism, we strive to articulate a credible ethical stance that aligns with our faiths, demonstrating solidarity with those who suffer and are dehumanized.
We reaffirm essential ethical principles, such as the inherent equality of all human beings and the acknowledgment that all victims are deserving of compassion. It is crucial to recognize that every child and every adult has the right to life, protection, food, shelter, and education. Yet, spreading these fundamental principles has become increasingly challenging. In an era where we can witness genocide live streamed, we bear a profound moral burden that compels us to act. This reality urges us to engage in collective reflection, making our dialogue and actions more meaningful and effective.
Defending the rights and standing in solidarity with the oppressed in Gaza is a defense of our own freedom and humanity. Gaza reflects the failures of a broken global order. It tests our compassion, our conscience, and our commitment to justice. When we stand with its people, we are resisting a system that threatens us all.
The nightmare unfolding in Gaza, its deliberate destruction, the forced displacement of its people, man-made famine, sets a dangerous precedent. This model of oppression has extended to the West Bank and may very well extend within Israel itself, as well as by authoritarian regimes worldwide. The message is clear: if you have enough power, enough weapons, and enough impunity, you can act without consequence. Meanwhile, resistance to such injustice is criminalized, framed as a threat rather than a moral imperative.
We cannot accept—for ourselves or our children—a world where lawlessness and brutality prevail. This is not only Gaza’s struggle; it is a global crisis that demands global solidarity. Together, we must strive for a world that is ethical, just, and nonviolent, because none of us are truly free until all of us are free.[29]
Conclusion
We recognize that our dialogue opens as many questions as it answers. In what ways can our theologies foster meaning and life rather than death and destruction? How can we endure the devastation in Gaza and elsewhere in the world while maintaining our faith in the inherent goodness of human beings? What approaches can we adopt to resist, ethically and humanely, while ensuring we are not consumed by hatred, anger or despair?
In these circumstances, how can we embody hope for one another and for the world? Social justice activist Mariam Kaba teaches us “To wake up every single day and decide to practice hope.”[30] Martin Luther King, Jr. asks us “to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”[31] Only with hope can we conceive of a better world and find the courage to pursue it.
In our dialogue, we have found hope. Our essay is neither the first nor the last word on Muslim-Jewish dialogue. As friends and scholars, we offer this contribution to share how we have found inspiration for solidarity in the teachings of our traditions. We hope, in turn, that our essay can plant the seed for others to join us and develop their own dialogues of justice and peace.
[1] Adnane Mokrani is a Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. Russell G. Pearce is Professor of Law Emeritus and Edward and Marilyn Bellet Chair Emeritus at Fordham University School of Law, New York. The views expressed in this essay are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective institutions. Their institutional affiliations are provided for identification purposes only. This document was first presented in its initial form at the “Study Day on Nonviolence and Peace: Are There Opportunities for Pacifism?” organized by Logia and held at KU Leuven on April 16, 2025. It was later discussed within the research group Interreligious Initiative for Nonviolence Theology (IINT) at the University of Vienna on July 7, 2025, in the context of the European Academy of Religion.
[2] Genesis Rabbah 24:7.
[3] For a discussion of the range of Jewish perspectives on whether the definition of neighbor necessarily extends to non-Jews, including commentators who suggest that the teaching of b’tzelem Elohim – the creation of all in the divine image – by itself requires love and respect for non-Jewa, see Raphael Jospe, “Love your fellow as yourself”: universalism and particularism in Jewish exegesis of Leviticus 19:18,” https://www.jcrelations.net/articles/article/love-your-fellow-as-yourself.html.
[4] Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 (English Joseph Kulp).
[5] Leviticus 19:34.
[6] Amos 5:24
[7] Deuteronomy 16:20. The complete text of Deuteronomy 16:20 is “Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” According to the prominent commentator Sforno, this text teaches that Jewish residence in the land of Israel is contingent upon justice and righteousness. https://www.sefaria.org/Sforno_on_Deuteronomy.16.20.
[8] https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/justice-justice/
[9] https://www.aju.edu/ziegler-school-rabbinic-studies/our-torah/back-issues/justice-justice-you-shall-pursue
[10] https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/justice-justice/
[11] The Ḥadīth: “God created Adam in His Image” is narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, which reflects the biblical verse (Genesis 1:27). This has been the subject of many interpretations that understood it in a metaphorical way. Some of them read it as: “God created Adam in his image,” meaning the image of Adam, in the sense of a fixed form.
[12] Quran 17:70. The Quranic translation used in this text is from Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004. It can also be translated as: “Indeed, We have conferred dignity upon the children of Adam.” The verb karrama admits both semantic nuances.
[13] Quran 38:75.
[14] Quran 2:30-32; 15:28-31; 38:71-75.
[15] Quran 3:18.
[16] Quran 4:135.
[17] Quran 5:8.
[18] Quran 59:22–24.
[19] Quran 2:208.
[20] Quran 5:16.
[21] Quran 6:127.
[22] Pirke Avot 1:18.
[23] Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Zmanim, Hilkhot Hanukkah 4:14 (quoting Proverbs 3:17).
[24] Sanhedrin 37a. Although a debate exists within Jewish literature regarding whether this principle applies only to Jews, Menachem Kellner explains that the universalistic interpretation is both more accurate and more persuasive. Farteitcht un Farbessert (On “Correcting” Maimonides), Meorot 6:2 Marheshvan 5768 p.6 n.16. Of particular interest for purposes of this essay, Kellner relies on the Quran’s citation as “the earliest textual witness to the correct text.” Id. Many contemporary Jewish thinkers apply the universalist approach to the Mishnah’s language. See, e.g., Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Individual and Community 5768, https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/masei/individual-and-community/?utm; Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild, Whoever destroys a single life is considered to have destroyed a world, https://rabbisylviarothschild.com/2024/01/19/whoever-destroys-a-single-life-is-considered-to-have-destroyed-a-world/?utm, January 19, 2024.
[25] Quran 5:32.
[26] Maria J. Stephan and Erica Chenowith, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Non-Violent Conflict (Columbia University Press 2011).
[27] See, e.g., “Satyagraha Leaflet”, No. 13, 17, The Collected Works of Mahatma Ghandi 4, 5; Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community 64 (Beacon Press 2010); Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Nonviolence and Islam, The Pioneer, Jan. 11, 1998, https://old.cpsglobal.org/content/non-violence-and-islam-3?utm_source=chatgpt.com; The Passionate Pacifist: Essential Writings of Aaron Samuel Tamares 143 (Everett Gendler ed. and trans., Tzemah Yoreh and Ri Turner trans. Ben Yehuda Press Teaneck, NJ 2020).
[28] Mahatma Gandhi, The Doctrine of the Sword, 131, 132 Sayagrapha, V. 18, Book 91 (“I would rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honour than that she should in a cowardly manner become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonour. But I believe that non-violence is infinitely superior to violence, forgiveness is more manly than punishment”). See also Martin Luther King, Jr., The Social Organization of Nonviolence, Liberation 4 (October 1959): 5-6, n.5 (quoting Gandhi). Gandhi and King argue, moreover, that violence only leads to cycles of violence.
[29] Fannie Lou Hamer, “Nobody’s Free Until Everybody’s Free,” 134-39, in The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer: To Tell It Like It Is (Davis W. Houck and Maegan Parker Brooks eds., Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African-American Studies, University Press of Mississippi 2011).
[30] Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, Let this Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care, 226-27 (Haymarket Books 2023).
[31] Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream Speech, August 28, 1963, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/mlk01.asp.