Al-Azhar Open to New Vatican Relations

Opening a blank sheet with the Vatican, Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Muslim world, raised the prospect of restoring ties with the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, calling on Pope Francis to declare that Islam is a peaceful religion.

“The problems that we had were not with the Vatican but with the former pope,” Mahmoud Abdel Gawad, diplomatic envoy to the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, told Italian daily Il Messaggero in Cairo, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported on Friday, June 7.

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/global/463032-al-azhar-open-to-new-vatican-relations.html

Baku to host next World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in 2015

The first meeting of the Ministers of Culture is being held in Baku within the II World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.

The purpose of the meeting is preparation for the next Forum and adoption of the Action Plan for Intercultural Dialogue, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan Abulfas Garayev said.

http://lurer.com/?p=104353&l=en

Jews and Muslims Worldwide Attending The Event "Mission of Muslim Leaders and Jewish Leaders from Southern Hemisphere Countries" in Washington D.C

With the U.S. State Department's eye-opening Report on Religious Freedom showing that both Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are on the rise worldwide, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU), is spearheading a Mission to Washington of Muslim and Jewish Leaders from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa on June 4-5. The goal of the Mission, which FFEU is co-sponsoring with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the largest Muslim- umbrella organization in North America, is to jump-start dialogue and cooperation between the Muslim and Jewish communities in those countries.

The Mission will acquaint the visiting leaders with the 'American model' for strengthening Muslim-Jewish relations, which FFEU, a New York-based not-for-profit devoted to strengthening relations between Muslims and Jews, has pioneered over the past five years. Since 2007, FFEU has helped create a common Muslim-Jewish agenda, focusing on building ties of friendship and trust between American Jews and Muslims on the grass roots and leadership levels; standing together against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, and working together to improve conditions for all people in the diverse communities in which Jews and Muslims live side by side. In six short years, FFEU has worked to strengthen relations between Muslim and Jewish communities in 30 countries on six continents.

http://news.yahoo.com/jews-muslims-worldwide-attending-event-mission-muslim-leaders-121100278.html