Peace pilgrimage

Over the last one year, the Interreligious and International Peace Council (IIPC) which is a project of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace has been sponsoring pilgrimages to the Holy Land. This has considerably enhanced the cause of interreligious reconciliation and cooperation among the various ethnic and religious groups.

I always had an urge to visit the Holy Land where the Prince of Peace left his footprints for all times. Jerusalem enjoys the unique position of being not only the cradle of Christianity but also a city considered holy by the other monotheistic traditions as well, viz Judaism and Islam. It is also called the City of Peace. But besides Jerusalem, life in certain parts of Israel is quite fractured and unpredictable with a dramatic upsurge of violence taking place every now and then.

On our very first day we visited the Church of Nativity where Jesus was born. It was an unforgettable experience for me. As a Zoroastrian, it was all the more moving as the three wise men or magis who were Zoroastrian priests had come to bless baby Jesus at his birth. From there we went to other cities associated with different milestones in Jesus’s life.

It was truly a worthwhile experience to visit a Palestinian settlement and know their viewpoint about the dispute, which has been a festering wound for decades. When I spoke to some youth, there was so much anger and frustration — complaining about the injustice that they have had to suffer. A visit to one of the most important synagogues was significant. The learned rabbi gave us an account of the Jewish view of this debacle. Evidently, muscle flexing has not ended the stalemate, as Einstein had rightly observed, "The war is won, the peace is not.”

One may conclude that there is a crisis of confidence and religion could play a very constructive role and provide the healing balm to put an end to this human tragedy. As the Chief Rabbi, Jonathon Sacks has averred in his book The Dignity of Difference (Continuum, 2002), religions are either a part of the problem of this world, or they are a part of the solution to these problems. Furthermore, the words of President Nelson Mandela regarding the role of religious leaders is pertinent. Speaking at the Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Cape Town in December 1999, he said, "To really appreciate religion you had to be in a South African jail under apartheid. It was religious leaders who regularly visited the prisoners and gave us the hope that one day we would return. Religion was one of the motivating forces of everything we did. It will have a crucial role in inspiring humanity to meet the enormous challenges we face. Those challenges are not only material development but spiritual as well, nothing less than the re-definition of values.”

The media wields power and it’s easy for them to fan the flames of conflict or to act in a responsible manner and play a positive role in peace building. Religious leaders also ought to dialog with the media, to encourage them to be more constructive in their reporting. Another area, which would certainly help the fractured communal relations, is the introduction of peace education at the school level. This would go a long way in imbibing a culture of peace from an early age.

Dr HOMI DHALLA