In his book, I Shall Not Hate, Izzeldin Abuelaish traces his journey from an impoverished childhood in the Gaza Strip to medical school in Egypt and eventually, in face of enormous barriers, to become the first Palestinian doctor on the staff of an Israeli hospital. The book also describes his commitment to peacebuilding in Gaza, Israel and beyond – a commitment that was improbably d ...More
Late one January afternoon in 2009, during a three-week war between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip, two tank shells crashed through the bedroom wall of a Palestinian home in Jabalia City where Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish lived with his family.
Three of his daughters between the ages of 13 and 21 were killed instantly, along with a 17-year-old niece.
Abu ...More
“Religious Life” is the kind of topic one would expect Eastern Mennonite University to pick as its 2014 theme for International Education Week. It may surprise some, though, that this Christian university used the words “religious life” to refer to more faith perspectives than Christianity exclusively.
Then, again, this is a Christian university that says it is “like no other. ...More
Based on the qualities of its visiting scholars, the Center for Interfaith Engagement (CIE) could make a strong claim to be the most diversified place at Eastern Mennonite University during the spring 2014 semester.
Joining two Muslim scholars from Iran is a Jewish scholar from Chicago, who does martial arts when he’s not leading synagogues, ...More
When the Center for Interfaith Engagement (CIE) at Eastern Mennonite University brings people of different religions together to talk, what’s the point? Should everyone water down their beliefs in order to find as much agreement as possible? Or, at the opposite extreme, should they be trying to convert each other?
At a March 27, 2014, forum ...More
The Center for Interfaith Engagement at Eastern Mennonite University has been hosting two outstanding Muslim scholars from Iran, who are also a married couple. Their unusual journey, from a country with no diplomatic relations with the United States to the welcoming atmosphere of EMU, reflects their devotion to interfaith engagement and optimistic pe ...More
Salim Munayer is a citizen of a small nation that casts a giant shadow on the world stage. Small enough to fit four within the borders of Virginia, the modern state of Israel is a land of deep history and intractable conflict.
Munayer’s mosaic of identities gave his four presentations at EMU, Feb. 20-21, the ring of authenticity. Palestinian. Christian. Arab. From a family whose lands ...More
EMU’s cross-cultural program is intentionally different from that of almost every college in America, says Vernon Jantzi ’64, who became a faculty member at EMU after earning his PhD in the sociology of development from Cornell University in 1975.
Jantzi, who has held a number of key administrative positions at EMU (and who passed up a chance to work at Harvard ...More
Why would an explicitly Christian university go out of its way to bring Muslim and Jewish scholars to its campus to teach entire courses and interact every day with students?
That’s what is happening at Eastern Mennonite University.
“Interacting with people of other faiths builds friendship and understanding – something we sorely need in this world,” says ...More
