>> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you're in the stream. american jews and muslims, talk distrust among their communities. can they put aside politics and move forward in peace? digital producer wajahat, are passionate doesn't begin to describe the interaction we're seeing. >> yes you and i are committed

to solving all the problems of the world in 26 minutes. grandparents think you haven't eat be enough. you're so skinny, why aren't you a doctor yet? tragic irony that jews and muslims are mr, palestinian american, the term israeli american conflict doesn't hit here. thank you for your work. >> it hit it on the head when you talk about human nature, outside of politics outside of religion. >> community feedback wants to move forward as partners. >> let's how we do that. jews and muslims combined make up only 2% of the population,

educated and upwardly mobile. two powerful segments of the population often at odds in america because of conflict happening thousands of miles away. ironically, the two share many ideologies and beliefs. why are they defined by their differences? the new book, sons of abraham, asks if a little evolution of thought could make a world of difference. joining us tonight from new york is rabbi mark schneier, are co-author of sons of abraham. in d.c., im are yel elacmmach. and on skype, sheik yassir ladi. you and why rabbi shansa, why

are these two groups particularly acute? >> we wrote about issues that divide and we also wrote about issues that unite. as the children of abraham. muslims and jews we recognize that we share both a common faith, and we share a common fate. and how our single destiny must strengthen our bonds of concern and compassion and caring for each other. but the work that the imam and i do is about dialogue, about fighting, about use speaking out about islam phobia, about muslims speaking out about antisemitism and antiholocaust denial within the muslim community. i say that the muslims who fight

for their own rights are not pass honorable as when they fight for the rights of all people. that is journey that the imam and i are now on, 35 countries six continents and we are leading the effort bringing a reconciliation between muslims and jews worldwide. >> and we're going to talk about that a lot in the program but what i'd love for you to lay out for people who may not be deeply involved, is what's the flash point? why muslims and jews, twhas real tension point -- what's the real tension point there? >> most would focus on the middle east, that's real elephant in the room but what the imam and i would agree on is the flash points, misunderstandings and the misperceptions, how often do i hear from the imam that members of the muslim community take the

poks and reflect the attitude that you cannot dialogue with jews because jews view themselves as the chosen people, as if chosen means superiority, as if chosen means that we're better. which is not the definition being the chosen people. yet in the koran, islam is the chosen the best nation. and the imam and i always say to each other musingly, what's better, to be the best station or to be the chosen people? >> you bring up, sheik your own views have evolved in this matter. >> i had believed that jews had exaggerated the holocaust, of course i've apologized and retracted from such statements

and a few years ago, i was invited with other american imams, to visit auschwitz and dachau. and these types of stereotypes and conspiracy theories do abound in some muslim circles. it facilitates the criticism of israel, by denying the jewishness of the jewish people, some muslims feel they can defend the plight of the palestinians by demonstrating that the jews don't deserve the holy land. criticism of the jewish people and the antisemitism on the other. without smearing an entire

religion. >> speaking about the pink elephant in the room eating hummis. independent israel and mall tin imran state. things should be easier right lisa? i can't think of anything else the religions are so similar yet the differences are so deep. the depict of israel palestinian conflict as a jewish versus muslim thing. and the wedge being driven by liberals and conservatives on both sides. ordinary people on both sides would have throarnd get abelong. ds would have gonden along. .horace, palestine israel, it contaminates the conversation. real talk. how do both leaders, jewish and

muslim leaders get beyond and through issue? >> i think you need to get through the issue not necessarily beyond the issue. you have to start off by building deep relationships domestically so you can impact relationships abroad. american jews and american muslims, in terms of upward mobility, in terms of their experiences, american jews have not always had it great in this country and american muslims also face prejudice. they have a shared history in the u.s. but what they haven't done is build deep relationships at the local level at the congregational level. so then in a mature way discuss what happens abroad. when you see young american muslims and young american jews, where 16 weeks they come together in a fellowship and discuss domestic issues first.

for the last week they talk about israel and palestine they are able to get through the issues, have a substantive discussion about how to impact peace there. unless we get to know each other domestically we can't get beyond the rhetoric internationally. >> sheik, a lot of people talk about this and talk about the differences for thousands of years and this is just the fate of the jews and the muslims and it's just the way it's going to be. but really historically it hasn't always been a antagonistc has it? >> this myth fact of the matter is that many jewish historians, they believe the golden rule of the where judaism, is when over 150,000 jews were expelled from spain after the ottoman

administration. and are moses raimonides, the famous poet moses ben ezra, has been formulated under muslim lands and it is very true to say in terms of laws, noiks and code of living jews and muslims are far similar to one another than any two other faiths. >> a very wise woman once said about the conflict, peace is too important the leave to the politicians. how true. then maya said, i'm in my early 20s, i'm jewish and i have friends who are muslim. and rushika says racial stair joe types, perpetuated by parents around grandparents. was that an aberration or can

that model be replicated here in america? >> to share, why don't we talk about the present, my colleague from impact, the foundation for ethnic understanding which i head up with russell sim ons, we are facilitating this week alone lirls hundreds and hundreds of -- literal hundreds and hundreds of twinings, through our dear friend salaam. >> explanation what a twinning is. >> when you have rabbis jewish and young muslim organizations, it is a very, very intense program to get to know one another, to get to understand the other, we have been doing this for five years. and this is now a global, global

mission, and this is a global activity. and we've enjoyed tremendous, tremendous success both here and in north america and in europe. in latin america and the southern hemisphere really throughout the world. so we feel that the journey has begun. we may not be where we'd like to be but i often remind my friends it took the israelites formulate years to get to the promise land. we might not be the promised land of muslim jewish reconciliation. but the adjourn has begun and this is a grass roots effort to get to know the other. >> it's so nice to hear something positive during this sort of a conversation, right? because it's always such the opposite. so we've touched on it a little now. how do you move past the politics? we're going ocontinue to talk about that next. and discuss all the similarities, what unites the

jewish and muslim communities across the u.s. keep tweeting us your thoughts. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> here are the headlines at this hour. >> only on al jazeera america.

request. >> we're back talking about the jewish muslim story and how it's so often pred skated on what -- predicated on what's subdividing the two. rabbi schneider did your journey with -- i'm sorry with imam ali and the class action on the book that you wrote, did that journey on discoveries that surprised you? >> no question in terms of my own personal evolution, the way that i had seen muslims, the way

that i had seen the arab population, in terms of being the enemy, looking to eradicate the state of israel, to eliminate the jewish people, and it's been a wonderful journey for me in terms of my own evolution. in terms of my own growth. expoonding my horizon -- expanding my horizons and having greater understanding for the other. i just returned from israel where last week i was received both by israeli president shimon perez and also the new palestinian prime ministerham amramdalla, we we're having the same conversation we are having this evening of what where unites the two, in terms of prohibitions against ritual

circumcision, against basic tenets and elementary rights, in terms of our religious beliefs and faith, what a wonderful opportunity for muslims and jews to come together, as we are facilitating through the foundation for understanding, of 25 of the 29 countries in the eu we have a joint group of muslims and jews who are coming together in toll dater that the european union know that we are concerned about the other we will fight for other and we will stand by the other, muslims and jews. >> here's our community deanna on twitter says muslims and jews who work together for social are good work, end up being better,

and we have a muslim american activist on the ground. runzia. >> we have seen to be effective in terms of organizing work and before we can even taj pr issues of antisherea or antimuslim, interfaith partners that are built on trust amutual understanding and willingness to combat our own biases. once we are willing to have conversations about the serious issues that are affecting us then we are able to move through action through dialogue and understanding we are raibl to reflect and understand the issues that are affecting one community affect all communities. >> yail you are a jewish american film miker trying do a division bridge building through art. when you are trying to do this talk to me about the feedback you get from your own community. some people say you are

betraying them, you are a traitor. what is the feedback? >> no one's called me a traitor yet. >> okay, good. >> no one's called me a traitor. i believe what we're doing at slim peace which is a nonprofit organization which brings together jewish and muslim women and is open of woms of all faith but is run by a jewish woman and omuslim woman, a universal topic which goes very deep, very intimate and the results have been extraordinary. we have seen in 23 groups, 20 in the middle east, two piloted in boston, one that's happening now in d.c., and 16 cities across the u.s., that want to start groups of bringing together women of different faiths, through a health program. and overall, they've said to us two huge things: one is, 90% of what they've learned about each other, exp just basic things,

culture is through our group. they had no exposure before. and after having been in the group, the results have been actually amazing. the women have gone on to be leaders within their communities and have become true advocates for building bridges. >> horace it sounds so simple what she is doing. a weight loss group for women, what does that mean foundationally in the broader scheme of things? >> i think what that means is there has to be an effort for this to take place at the grass roots leader. you have folks like rabbi steiner, and a grass roots level, folks ton ground and when that happens that will be a movement. it will be a shift in the paradigm of how people, how jews and muslims view each other.

and part of it is getting beyond the rhetoric. in the media and public. everything is defined by the mid east conflict. >> building trust open things we have in common, right? >> if we can build trust on the local level, if we can build a food pantry in washington, d.c. or chicago, maybe we can have a conversation about allow to build trust, in the west bank or in ramalla. >> i have to chime in, antidefamation group called out your group as being one of the top 10 antiisrael groups in the area. two groups doing great works respectively, calling out the other one. how do you move forward? >> that's part of getting beyond the rhetoric. what that list was a, was

feeding into the rhetoric. and the adl qualified their list by saying, they do work on civil rights on counterextremively counterterrorism, but in the middle east that's where we were put on the list. if we can focus on partnerships on the issues of bullying, how many muslims or orthodox jews get bullied in schools. if we can put in a guideline for bullying in public schools, what i would suggest to our friends at adl and other institutions, let's get beyond the rhetoric. let's talk and have a more civil and substantive conversation about the middle east and hopefully we'll be an example for them in that region. >> speaking about building trust in these grass roots organizations, how do you know if these sort of interfaith organization he are working? when we come back we'll look at

whether that can recess natal abroad and what kind of metrics are used to judge them. we'll be right back.

>> audiences are intelligent and they know that their

oh the. >> colts from the did -- coming from the sky from the moon, we are people. >> until this meeting i thought that everybody who had the hijab, that's what it's called right, wanted to kill me, how's that, maybe not to that extreme. but now i feel like i enjoy being your partner. >> that was a clip from the documentary slim peace. it's about a group that she started to overcome cultural

stereotypes of israeli and palestinian are women. you are not just a scholar, you are an activist. what do you do to measure success? >> well i think one of the simplest ways of measuring success is the pulse of the communy u're dealing with. last year i presented an academic are paper to muslim clerics. the topic of my paper was it's kosher halal. we had an hour and a half technical discussion about the cultures of slaughtering an an plal. not a single cleric or imam brought up this are discussion, this conversation could not have happened you know ten years ago. i think it's very open that we do understand the need for dialogue, the need for cooperation. as the rabbi pointed out the

same countries that are trying to ban kosher laws are also trying oban hilal laws. they should get together. >> intifying certain iues, like kosher hilal meat, and gentlemen acrandgeneric events,y could be valuable in possibly addressing sectarianism. and should be spoken of by local action. when i was in jerusalem and palestine, the greatest shock i could be in israeli scholars were that muslims could be funny. true story. a lot of muslims think that all jews are like ariel sharon. what can jewish and muslim leaders do to bridge this

forward? >> i think exactly what you said, jews and muslims not like ahmadinejad, people don't have the opportunity to simply meet. in our program, they meet over a common goal which actually is quite important, universal and int plaintimate. and the impact that was seen, as lisa said before break, the metrics which matter so much to us after this work, we have seen women lose on average 8 pounds, they feel 95% more comfortable in a mixed group after having been in one because they've been given the sheer opportunity to meet. as well as hearing the words of our participants which speak louder than anything. and when we get on the scale, we all say the same prayer. and -- >> if i might say something -- >> i want to actually, rabbi

schneider we have about 45 seconds left in the program. in your book you say theologians have a unique and important role. tell us about that. >> first just to compare something i would not compare arik sharon with ahmadinejad. deny holocaust, remember sharon led the israelis out of gaza. when i was in israel speaking with shimon perez speak going the possibility of his meeting with young muslims and young jews in new york, in he was thrilled with the suggestion as was -- >> soirt we're out of -- sorry we're out of time. waj and i will see you online.

>> good evening, everyone, welcome to al jazeera america, i'm are are john siegenthaler in new york. breaking ranks, sexual assault in the military. the sweeping new promote on cases being investigated and prosecuted. >> i never pulled a firearm, i never displayed it. >> george zimmerman's 911 call. is it a plea or a ploy? his 911 recordings. the remarkable story about how john f. kennedy's final resting place was chosen. plus, road trip, forget the

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