Fr. Émile Shoufani, an Arab Israeli and tireless promoter of dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims, received the 2014 Judeo-Christian Friendship of France (AJCF) award on November 17.
Born in 1947 in Nazareth, Shoufani was driven out of his family village the following year by the Israelis who killed his grandfather and uncle.
He was reared by his grandmother, who taught him to appreciate the value of forgiveness.
When entered the priesthood in 1966, he was sent to a seminary in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
He discovered Dachau, the Holocaust and anti-Semitism during a trip to Germany.
He became principal of St.-Joseph de Nazareth middle school in 1976, where he initiated his Christian and Muslim students to dialogue with the Jews, taking them to the Yad Vashem Memorial.
He also brought young Jews, Muslims and Christians to visit Auschwitz and was awarded the UNESCO prize for peace education in 2003.
In 2010, his superiors removed him from his position as middle school principal because of his divergent views, but he remains the parish priest of Nazareth.
As the situation in Israel once again becomes unstable, he continues to call for dialogue and peace.
The situation between Israelis and Palestinians appears to be on the verge of a third Intifada. After more than 30 years of commitment to dialogue, haven’t you lost hope?
Fr. Émile Shoufani: Not at all. The media do not provide us with an in-depth understanding of the situation.
There are incidents that take place, movements involving a few people and demagoguery used by a handful of politicians to establish their power.
But there is a way out of this situation if we are honest enough to start from the interest of our two peoples and support projects for peace and reconciliation. Continue reading
Sources
- Global Pulse
- Image: Toothless & Hiccup