On July 21, a groundbreaking festival of peace and brotherhood took place at
the Darul-Uloom Islamic Institute in Hollywood. The purpose of the festival,
sponsored by JAM and All (Jews and Muslims and All), was to show that Jews
and Muslims are inherently brothers and are capable of getting along and
creating peace. As one of the organizers, Maulana Shafayat Mohamed Imam of
the Darul-Uloom Institute stated, ³Muslims and Jews are one. We come from
the same father, Abraham.²
One of the themes I write about is that we have the potential to save
the world because answers to all the world¹s problems exist right now. Our
only problem is complacency, which prevents us from refocusing priority.
That¹s why the JAM and All concept intrigued me. Here was a group of
ordinary people, all of them either members of Temple Adath Or, or members
of the Darul-Uloom Institute Mosque, starting a grass roots movement to show
that hatred isn¹t a necessary part of life. In JAM and All lies a
demonstration of what I write about, i.e., by ending complacency we can
switch focus and create the kind of world we want to see. Arnie Welber, 54,
of Plantation, one of the attendees commented, ³There¹s a silent majority of
people in the U.S. who believe in peace and justice, but who haven¹t
expressed it yet. The members of JAM and All have the courage to stand up
for what they feel inside.²
It took courage to form JAM and All. Members of the steering committee
were called traitors and spies by their respective constituencies. What this
demonstrates of course is that hatred and blame are easy, but love is not.
People who came to the festival shared the beliefs of the JAM and All
members. For example, Susan Krams, 54, member of Temple Adath Or said she
came to the mosque to see how they operate in their own environment and to
find the common link that we are spiritual beings having human experiences,
not human beings having spiritual experiences.
Antoinette Ali, 18, and a member of the Darul-Uloom Institute, believes
that the whole concept of separate races is stupid. ³There¹s only one race,
the human race. We¹re all descended from Adam and Eve so we¹re all members
of the same family who just migrated to different regions of the world. I
have a lot of Jewish friends and I just feel like they¹re my brothers and
sisters. If they needed help, I¹d let them sleep over my house or I¹d feed
them or give them anything they needed.²
The JAM and All festival indeed had a festival atmosphere. Volunteers
brought all kinds of food: kosher, vegetarian and Halaal. There was a Bounce
House, face painting, games, a Dunking Tank, basketball, a fire truck and
mounted police. And it was all free. Keynote speeches were offered by
Patricia Wickman, Director of the Dept. of Anthropology and Genealogy for
the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and by Master Sergeant Vincent Mathias, from
Patrick Air Force Base who is Chief of Curriculum Development for the
Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) that is working to
rid the military of stereotypes.
The festival attracted reporters from the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel
and WTVJ-6, each of which carried news briefs about the festival. But the
festival did not make front-page headlines, nor merit more than about 30
seconds on television. Why? Why does a positive step toward bringing world
peace get buried on the local section of the newspaper, while violence and
killing takes up the majority of front page news?
The JAM and All event was a demonstration of miraculous living.
It was an affirmation that a few dedicated individuals can make a difference
and want to make a difference. So, I urge readers of the magazine to begin
to question what they see in the media. What kind of a world do we want?
The members of JAM and All are courageous enough to create the kind of world
they want. Are the rest of us that courageous?

Blessings,
Sorah