Jewish/Arab/Muslim/American (JAMA) Peace Forum

Under the guidance of the Peace Action Network (PAN), another highly motivated peace forum was created earlier this year and has already held two successful meetings.  As the name indicates, the Jewish/Arab/Muslim American Peace Forum, or JAMA, draws its membership from Jewish, Muslim and Arab-Christian YPOers and WPOers living in the United States and Canada .  

While all JAMA members currently reside in the relative safety of North America , the ongoing conflict in the Middle East weighs heavily.  Every Arab and Muslim member was born and raised in the Middle East and each still has family living in the region. Similarly, all the Jewish members have been to Israel on one or more occasions and feel a very strong bond to the Jewish state.

Holding its initial meeting in Boston this past March, JAMA worked with a YPO international resource who also facilitated the Middle East and Greek/Turkish Peace Forums to develop its mission and agenda for the upcoming year.  With a focus on making a difference through action, JAMA is working to create programs and host events which can create a better understanding and shed additional light on the issues most pressing to its members, including the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict, anti-Semitism and the anti-Arab/Islamic fervor, including the impact of the U.S. Patriot Act on Muslim and Arab Americans.  

A second meeting was held in southern California the last week of July where plans for upcoming JAMA events in LA, Washington D.C. and possibly the Middle East were discussed in detail.   

A third meeting took place in Washington D.C. in November, with two days of briefings from leaders in Middle East affairs.

Members of JAMA know there is no easy solution to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East .  However, it is always a step in the right direction when business and community leaders from both "sides" can sit down together and openly and honestly discuss issues such as the separation barrier, the Roadmap to Peace, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination, Zionism, the Gaza withdrawal and the Patriot Act.  

Exercises that allowed JAMA members to see and really "feel" these issues from the perspective of a member from the other side were quite effective at creating understanding and dialogue. It is this new level of understanding that allowed JAMA to formulate the action steps needed to do their part at making a difference.

The one thing that became crystal clear during the meetings is that all JAMA members dream of peaceful coexistence among Israelis, Palestinians and their Arab neighbors, and that such a peace would make the whole world a safer place. JAMA is committed to doing whatever it can towards that goal.

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