AMMWEC and Sharaka Lead a Second Delegation to Israel

After the groundbreaking success of a historic trip by Muslim American leaders to Israel and the United Arab Emirates in May 2022, which included prominent Muslim Americans and South-Asian Americans, the American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC) and Sharaka, are teaming up once more to take a second peacemaking trip to Israel.

The goal of this delegation is to continue the peace-making efforts started by the delegation of interfaith leaders led by Pakistani-American president of AMMWEC and Sharaka Board Member, Anila Ali, and to build positive understanding and to help encourage Pakistan-Israel relations and Pakistan’s connection to the Abraham Accords. The group consists of prominent Pakistani-American leaders, including Dr. Nasim Ashraf, and a number of leading Pakistani journalists and religious figures.

“The floodgates are wide open; the initial shock has turned into a realization that Muslims and Jews are both the children of Prophet Ibrahim PBUH.  Therefore, we must continue our work to build peace on a people-to-people connection to promote the Abraham Accords in Muslim countries. If we are to build a better future for our children, we must let go of the grievances of the past,” explained Anila Ali.

SHARAKA is a non-governmental, region-wide project that brings together Arabs and Israelis to build mutual understanding and promote peace in the Middle East through people-to-people engagement and citizen diplomacy. It has branches in the Arab Gulf, Israel, and Morocco, and members from around the region, as well as the US, Europe, and Pakistan.

The aim of the trip is to allow the participants to see and explore Israel for themselves, and to transmit what they learn and experience to audiences in Pakistan to help provide information for the important debate underway on whether Pakistan should join the Abraham Accords. Moreover, due to the tragic flooding in Pakistan, much of the visit will focus on life-saving technologies developed in Israel relating to water and food security and to mitigating climate and environmental disasters.

The trip includes a meeting with the President of Israel, senior foreign policy figures, and well-known intellectual, cultural, religious, and political figures. The trip will have a special focus on the Israeli high-tech ecosystem and will feature meetings with leading innovators in the water, agro, and climate tech spaces, as well as Israel’s world-leading water management systems. They will also meet an internationally recognized expert on crisis preparedness. Additionally, the team will pay a visit to the holy sites that are sacred to Abrahamic faiths along with a visit to the Holocaust Museum. They will explore different aspects of Israeli society from right to left, Israel’s religious mosaic including the large Muslim minority and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

“I am delighted and honored to be invited by AMMWEC and SHARAKA to be part of the delegation to visit Israel to promote peace and interfaith dialogue. Such people-to-people contacts are very important to develop understanding and harmony between Abrahamic Faiths to which we belong” said Dr. Nasim Ashraf.

Sharaka co-founder Amit Deri stated “We are thrilled to be welcoming this historic delegation to Israel as a part of our efforts to expand the circle of peace. This is truly historic and we hope can lead to additional countries, like Pakistan, joining the peace camp. Only by working together and building roads of dialogue can we work to solve our differences and take on common challenges and threats – from climate and water-related challenges to extremists in the region who only want to promote hatred.

Sharaka Global Affairs Director Dan Feferman. “We are thrilled to partner with these and other brave individuals from Pakistan who are willing to risk criticism and threats to explore the truth and promote Israel-Pakistan ties. It doesn’t mean they have to agree or like everything that Israel does, but dialogue and seeing for yourself is critical. Moreover, Israeli technologies and know-how can significantly help the Pakistani people and Israel is more than willing to share these with all new friends”.

For more information contact:

Anila Ali at anila@Ammwec.org
Dan Feferman at dan@sharakango.com