c. 1998 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ At a White House celebration Monday (April 27) of Israel’s 50th anniversary as a modern nation, Sulayman S. Nyang stood out sharply: As a black man in a virtually all-white crowd, and as a Muslim in a gathering that was overwhelmingly Jewish.”If we are to develop a theology of pluralism in America, we must come to terms with our differences, whatever the occasion,”he said later.

Nyang, a 53-year-old native of Gambia, was the Muslim speaker at an interfaith scriptural reading that began the hour-long White House event, attended by several hundred American Jewish religious, community and political leaders, as well as Israeli government representatives.

Noting the criticism that many Muslims _ including non-Arab Muslims _ have of Israel because of what they regard as its unjust treatment of the largely Muslim Palestinian people, Nyang said he hoped his presence at the event helped American Jews feel more relaxed about dialogue with the growing American Muslim community.”Jews speak of security for Israel,”said Nyang, president of the Interfaith Conference of Washington and a scholar of Islam who teaches at Howard University.”Familiarity can breed contempt, but maybe familiarity with Muslims will breed a sense of security here.” Against a backdrop of a stalled Middle East peace process, Nyang joined the Rev. James Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs in Washington, and Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary, in reading Scripture.

Dunn read sections from the biblical prophets Amos and Micah that speak of God’s desire for justice and peace. Schorsch quoted Abraham’s willingness in Genesis to sacrifice his son, Isaac, using it to make a point about the common origin of the children of Abraham _ as Jews, Christians and Muslims all regard themselves.

Nyang read from the Koran, the Islamic holy book, choosing a passage about Satan’s seduction of Adam in the Garden of Evil.”O ye children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you in the same manner as he got your parents out of the garden, stripping them of their raiment to expose their shame,”said Nyang, quoting the Koran’s seventh surah, or chapter.

In an interview later, Nyang explained why he choose that passage.”It seems to me the Middle East problem today is just another aspect of the original fall. I sought to address the whole question of human divisiveness that results from distancing from God,”he said.

The event was held in a large tent erected on the same White House South Lawn where the late Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat signed their historic Declaration of Principles in September 1993. Their signatures committed Israel and the Palestinians to seeking a negotiated end to their deadly land dispute that predates Israel’s birth as a nation by another 50 years.

Standing in front of a phalanx of Israeli and U.S. flags, Vice President Al Gore told the gathering of the administration’s commitment to Israel and Middle East peace. President Bill Clinton talked of not allowing Middle East extremists to destroy the ongoing quest for peace in the region.”If we all pray for the wisdom to do God’s will, chances are we will find a way to close the gap in the next couple of years between what might be and what is,”said Clinton, who was awarded an honorary doctorate from Israel’s Hebrew University during the commemoration.

Actor Richard Dreyfus read a section from author Merle Miller’s”Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman”about how Truman, as president, became the first world leader to extend diplomatic recognition to Israel.

Truman _ the only other American president to receive a Hebrew University honorary doctorate _ did so just 11 minutes after Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948 (celebrated this year on April 30, in accordance with the Hebrew lunar calendar).

Actress Linda Lavin recited a passage from”My Life”by Golda Meir, the late Israeli prime minister, about her memory of the day Israel declared its independence.

But it fell to Nyang to deliver what undoubtedly was the day’s most problematic reading _ one he said he discussed in advance with other Muslim leaders who were concerned his participation might be construed as general Muslim approval for Israel.”The concern was the occasion (of Israel’s 50th anniversary) calls for critical assessment of the peace process,”said Nyang, who speaks often at Muslim and various interfaith gatherings around the nation.”I had to choose my words carefully.” In the end, Nyang left the South Lawn with Dunn and Schorsch. Dunn walked between the Muslim and Jew, his arms draped over the shoulders of both men, whose co-religionists continue to fight over land holy to the three Abrahamic faiths.

DEA END RIFKIN