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>> we find the fault lines that run through communities. >> the shooting happened about 30 minutes ago. >> companies... >> the remains of the fire are still everywhere here. >> the powers that be

at home and around the world... >> not only do they not get compensation but you don't even have to explain why? >> well thats exactly what i said. >> we question authority. >> so you said we could get access... >> that's enough! >> ... and those affected. >> investigative journalism at it's toughest. 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 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 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 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 community you'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. >> identifying certain issues, like kosher hilal meat, and gentlemen acr andgeneric events, i think they 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 pla intimate. 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.

h. this is al jazeera. >> hello there, welcome our top stories. any deal keeping u.s. troops won't get final approval until after he leaves office. >> with all the news from europe, as three women are freed by police in london, after being held as slaves for 30 years. and no release, ukraine