A Los Angeles program that connects Muslims and Jews has been strained by the war in Israel. But the group’s leaders found that it has strengthened their bond.
By Kurt Streeter in the NYT (Thanks to Marilyn W.)
The two women sat knee to knee.
Aziza Hasan, a devout Muslim, looked out at the group gathered around her, spoke of the loved ones who had died in Israel and Gaza and began reciting the first chapter of the Quran.
“In the name of God, the most compassionate, most merciful …”
“Show us the straight way,” she continued, “the way of those whose portion is not wrath and who go not astray.”
Then, the woman beside her, Andrea Hodos, a devout Jew, followed with a Hebrew song acknowledging the angels.
“On my right side is Gabriel, God’s strength,” she told the crowd, translating the song. “Behind me, God’s healer, Raphael. Above my head is God’s divine presence.”
On this late afternoon of Oct. 15, the war between Israel and Hamas was well underway as Ms. Hasan and Ms. Hodos sat on parched grass at a bustling park six miles west of downtown Los Angeles. A circle of Jews and Muslims surrounded them.
Everyone on hand was part of NewGround, a nonprofit fellowship program that has helped more than 500 Los Angeles Muslims and Jews learn to listen, disagree, empathize with one another — and become friends.
Ms. Hasan, whose family roots run through Palestine, runs NewGround. Ms. Hodos, once a resident of Israel, has been her associate director since 2020.
The two woman can recall details of the long, brutal history of clashes and wars pitting Israel against its neighbors to the north, east and south — and how those clashes sent fearful shock waves through Los Angeles, a city with one of the nation’s largest populations of Muslims and Jews.
“But it’s never been this bad,” they said, practically in unison, during a recent interview at a Los Angeles cafe.
Never have they worried like this about death and destruction in the Middle East sparking antisemitic or Islamophobic violence in the United States.
Never have they fretted like this about their work and their words being misinterpreted and misunderstood.
Never had they held this much dread, or found this kind of hopeful, grounding solace in the interfaith bonds their labor has created.
Ms. Hasan and Ms. Hodos are more than co-workers. Their close friendship signals that the ties that bind adherents of Judaism and Islam can remain strong, even as the war pitting people of their faiths against each other rages.
“Aziza is like a sister to me,” said Ms. Hodos, 57. “She is family.” (continued)