Everyone, no matter how different, is part of the one body of
humanity ““ this was the message given at Wednesday’s
Students for Peace Festival.
“(It’s) seeing yourself everywhere. Seeing yourself
in me, in (Sheikh Fara Gaye), in the Rabbi (Chaim
Seidler-Feller),” said Reverend Obadiah Harris.
The event, orchestrated by Students for Peace, in conjunction
with about 20 UCLA student groups and the Anti-Defamation League,
sought to remind people they are essentially the same, though they
may have different religions, cultures and ethnicities.
In the event’s title, “Coexist,” the C is
written as a crescent moon representing Islam, the X as a Star of
David for Judaism, and the T as a Christian cross.
“You gathered (here) today have taken a stance. … all
for one purpose ““ to say enough,” said Students for
Peace founder Nicolo Nourafchan.
The guest speakers, Gaye, Seidler-Feller and Harris, emphasized
the importance of peaceful coexistence to the survival of
humanity.
“I think we’re confronted with only one alternative:
unite or perish,” Harris said. “We don’t want to
win the war ““ we want to win the peace.”
Attendees came from destinations such as Bosnia, South Africa,
India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the Darfur
region of Sudan.
For Jamshid Kay of the United Arab Emirates, the event marked
the first time he had eaten pizza with an Israeli, which he likened
to the symbolic breaking of bread in the Jewish culture.
“Where I’m from, you’re not exposed to other
cultures, and this type of event was really key,” Kay
said.
Graduate student Robert Nuengaye was greatly encouraged by the
conference because of his personal experience with intolerance.
Nuengaye, who is studying internal conflict resolution, lost his
family during the South African apartheid and chose to forgive the
men who murdered them, he said.
Cultural restrictions and prejudices also prevent followers of
different religions from coexisting harmoniously, Gaye said.
Seidler-Feller believes monotheism could be partially to blame
for religious tension because each religion claims it is the only
path to God.
“Can both brothers share the blessing? Are we going to
sell our brother into slavery again?” he asked, alluding to
the Judeo-Christian stories of Cain and Abel and Joseph and his
brothers.
The key, he said, is compromise and realizing that human
interpretations of religion are flawed.
“If even one student goes away with a different
perspective, I think it was worth it,” said Hang Lee, a
fifth-year history and classics student and director of student
affairs for Students for Peace.
Fourth-year psychology student Lila Seif attended the event
after hearing about it from the United Arab Society.
“It’s encouraging to see that three
(representatives) of three major faiths feel this way because
it’s not what happens on a regular basis,” Seif
said.
To wrap up the conference, the Middle Eastern Ensemble gave a
performance that had audience members uniting and clapping their
hands to the beat of the same drum.