Conflict on the board of interfaith organization resolved
Published: Wednesday, Dec 20th 2023, 09:10
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The tensions within the Interreligious Association Switzerland (IRAS) have been resolved through mediation. The two Jewish representatives who had demanded that IRAS President Rifa'at Lenzin resign either as IRAS President or as a member of the Swiss-Palestinian Society (GSP) have returned to the IRAS Board.
Following a successful mediation process that was launched in mid-November, interfaith dialog can now continue, according to Jonathan Kreutner, Secretary General of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), in an IRAS media release on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Rifa'at Lenzin condemned the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, but also condemned the extent of the military escalation, which claimed numerous innocent victims. For her, it is particularly important at this time that the right of the state of Israel to exist is not called into question and that the rights of the Palestinian people are upheld.
Lenzin is very concerned that Jewish organizations continue to be represented at IRAS and that members of the Jewish and Muslim faiths, together with other religious communities, remain in dialogue. This dialog has been at stake in recent weeks.
Different positions discussed
The debate in the Board Committee had made it possible to clarify "the irritations" and discuss different positions that had questioned the membership of the IRAS Board Committee and the participation of Jewish organizations in IRAS in the meantime. The Board Committee had expressed its confidence in President Lenzin.
The two Jewish representatives on the IRAS board left the national network in protest at the beginning of November. They criticized the fact that the GSP's position had become even more radicalized since the Hamas attack. Lenzin was asked to "unequivocally" distance himself from the violence of Hamas and the perpetrators.
©Keystone/SDA
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