MUSLIMS, JEWS JAM TOGETHER AT PINES FEST
NATALIE P. McNEAL, nmcneal@herald.com

South Florida's Jews and Muslims bonded Sunday afternoon in a peace-fest at a Pembroke Pines Muslim temple.

The event, mounted by a Jewish-Muslim group formed after Sept. 11 and held at the Darul Uloom Institute, was aimed at letting people of the two faiths get to know each other.
About 300 guests ate food (halaal and kosher, of course) buffet style. A sea of head scarves, yarmulkes and kufis filled the inside of the institute as guests listened to speakers.

Greetings of al-salaam alaykum and shalom filled the gathering.

The group that organized the event, JAM - an acronym for Jews and Muslims - said it wanted to make sure that people get along in South Florida.

``The point is to make peace and make friends and understand each other's humanity,'' said Moshe David Kamrat, who is Jewish and a founder of JAM. ``Muslims and Jews have gotten along historically. They lived together side by side in Palestine and Israel. All that the media expresses are the differences, not the commonalities.''

Kamrat, who lives in North Miami, came up with the idea for JAM after the Sept. 11 attacks. He said he feared there would be a backlash against Muslims or Jews, and he wanted to do something to improve relations. He enlisted the help of Maulana Shafayat Mohamed, who leads the Darul Uloom to help in the venture.

``There are a lot of interfaith initiatives, but afterward, people go their own way,'' said Mohamed. ``They don't have that community love. Things are different here.''

The temple has been in the spotlight recently. Jose Padilla, the former Broward man suspected of plotting to explode a ``dirty bomb'' to spread radiation in the United States, worshiped at Darul Uloom, as dids Imran Mandhai and Shueyb Mossa Jokhan who allegedly plotted to bomb South Florida electrical substations and a National Guard armory.

Mohamed has repeatedly spoken against terrorism to his congregation.

On Sunday, outside the institute, the gathering was much like a low-key carnival.

Children played in bounce houses and adults sat around tables and chatted. For $1, guests could try to sink a boy wearing a shirt reading ``Bigotry'' in a dunk tank.

``Who wouldn't want to dunk bigotry?'' said Adam Offer, 19, who is Jewish and ran the dunk tank.

Inside the institute, keynote speaker Patricia Wickman, director of the Department of Anthropology and Genealogy for the Seminole Tribe, spoke about the importance of peace among people.

``When you have love in your heart, your have no fear of human beings,'' Wickman said.

Guests seemed happy with the event.

``This should happen every week, where people of difference races come together,'' said Antoinette Ali, 18, who attends Darul Uloom. ``It's a reunion. It's like family.''

Illustration:photo: Marisa Bharath (a)

LILLY ECHEVERRIA/HERALD STAFF INTERFAITH INITIATIVE: Marisa Bharath of Plantation takes part in an interfaith event sponsored by a group called JAM (Jews and Muslims) Sunday at the Darul Uloom Institute in Pembroke Pines.

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Copyright (c) 2002 The Miami Herald