The American Jewish Committee Global Forum of 2017 in Washington DC was attended by more than 70 countries where Brazil was represented by a large group.

The opening where the importance of not behaving as a minority was discussed.

“WE MUST PERCEIVE THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS A DYNAMIC MEMBER OF SOCIETY, TO SEE THE STATE OF ISRAEL AS A FORCE OF JEWISH IDENTITY, BUT NOT AS SOMETHING THAT DEFINES AND LIMITS IT, WE EXPLORE THAT WE CAN NOT CONFUSE OUR JEWISH IDENTITY, BASED ON VALUES, WITH OUR POST-WAR EUROPEAN HERITAGE AND IDENTITY. “

Dr. Daniel Gestler, lawyer representing the Brazil-Israel Association.

The afternoon ended with a beautiful prayer divided between a Rabbi and an Imam with a message of love. And as David Harries put it well: it is not a question of tolerance, but of respect.

The evening began with the smashing of Ramadan at the Indonesian embassy, and ended with a rich conversation with Tahera Ahmad, a Muslim descended from Indians and Iraqis, who organized the Islamic youth movement at Chaplain University, sharing their grief at seeing the debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is increasingly less rational and more extremist.

“PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY ARE GROUPS WITH FEWER INDIVIDUALS AND THEREFORE WITH LESS POLITICAL REPRESENTATION, I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR LEADERS TO DEBATE TO ENSURE THE RIGHTS OF MINORITIES.”

Rabbi Ovadiah Tank, Foreign Relations of the World Jewish Confederation.