Interfaith Encounter Association

The Interfaith Encounter Association occupies a distinctive niche among Israeli civil-society organizations: rather than addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict primarily through political negotiation or advocacy, it concentrates on religious and cultural dialogue as a pathway toward mutual understanding and sustainable peace.[1] Its stated mission is to promote real coexistence and human peace in the Holy Land and the Middle East through cross-cultural study and interreligious dialogue, based on the view that religion can contribute to solutions for regional conflicts rather than merely causing them.[1]

Central to the IEA's approach is a refusal to merge religious traditions into a single ecumenical identity. Instead, it seeks to create settings in which participants retain and express their distinct religious identities while learning to understand and respect those of others.[1] Its stated vision is a society in which "the otherness of the other is not only tolerated, but truly understood and respected."[1] The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies classified the IEA among organizations working "toward the advancement of interfaith understanding."[2]

The IEA's published operating principles include equal representation of faiths, gender equality, outreach across religious and secular communities, inclusion of varied political viewpoints, ages, and social backgrounds, continual recruitment of committed activists, development of new encounter models, and ongoing program evaluation.[1] These principles inform the composition of encounter groups and the design of retreats, public events, and regional forums.

The IEA was founded in the summer of 2001 by a group of long-time interfaith activists, during the Second Intifada.[1][3] Its founding brochure says that decades of interfaith activity in Israel had involved only a limited circle of participants. The new organization therefore sought to broaden participation and implement interactive encounter models capable of producing lasting changes in participants' outlooks.[1]

Founder Yehuda Stolov has argued that formal peace agreements require a foundation of grassroots relations and broad public support.[3] He has described the association as concentrating on religion rather than politics, bringing together people from across the political spectrum and seeking to cultivate trust, friendship, and mutual respect among people who may continue to disagree politically.[4] In a 2011 account, Stolov presented the organization's central premise as showing that religion could be a bridge to peace rather than a barrier to coexistence; political subjects were excluded from the reported conference while discussions focused on Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.[3]

By 2011, a decade after its founding, the organization had established 38 groups across Israel, of which 23 were then active.[3] Groups ranged in size from 10 to 50 people from different religious communities and met monthly for dialogue on religious and traditional subjects.[3] This early growth showed that the encounter model could support recurring participation in multiple communities.

Dr. Yehuda Stolov serves as executive director and remains the organization's central public figure. The current staff page also lists Carolina Frimer as community manager and Abier Abd Al-Daim as office manager. The board is chaired by Rabbi Bob Carroll, with Ibrahim Mustafa, Moatasem Hassuneh, and Jared Goldfarb listed as additional board members.[5]

Encounter groups are the organization's primary structural unit. Groups typically meet monthly to discuss religious and traditional subjects and explore similarities and differences among their communities.[3] They may be organized around a shared profession, such as a group of Arab and Jewish midwives, or around a shared geographic area.[6] A religious-leaders group has included Israeli rabbis, including settlers, and Palestinian sheikhs who meet at rotating locations and focus on shared religious connections and the worship of God.[6]

The IEA also operates specialized programs for women and youth. Women's Interfaith Encounter brings together Muslim, Christian, Druze, and Jewish women for monthly meetings, shared religious celebrations, and conferences focused on issues affecting women.[1] Youth Interfaith Encounter applies a parallel model to young people; published program materials identify youth groups in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and plans for expansion to Haifa, Be'er Sheba, and other locations.[1]

The association's program materials describe cooperation with seven Palestinian organizations and a major role in the Middle East Abrahamic Forum, involving organizations from Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia, and Turkey.[1] The forum's annual conference is intended to consolidate joint work and promote acceptance and coexistence among Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Druze communities.[1]

The IEA's main recurring activity is its network of ongoing interfaith-encounter groups, which spans Israel from the Upper Galilee to Eilat.[1] Each session generally focuses on a single theme and combines a short presentation with joint study and discussion of the beliefs, practices, and sacred texts represented among participants.[1] The organization says that, over time, these groups develop into small communities that respect the distinct identities of their members and can serve as models for broader communal relations.[1]

Weekend retreats form a second major format. They are described as intensive two- or three-day encounters involving approximately 80 participants from different religious contexts.[1] Participants spend most of their time in small groups discussing religious aspects of selected topics while avoiding divisive political debates. The stated aims are to build a joint community, encourage follow-up activity, and support continuity after participants return home.[1]

Public and large-scale events complement the recurring groups. In 2018, the IEA and Jerusalem.com organized an event at the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem attended by nearly 100 religious leaders and approximately 700 Israeli participants, including Jews and Arabs and religious and nonreligious attendees.[7] The program included interfaith dialogue, a joint prayer by representatives of three religions, and a Kolulam performance of Bob Marley's "One Love" in three languages.[7]

The IEA also has a longstanding Ramadan iftar tradition. During the Gaza war covered by one report, approximately 80 Muslims, Jews, and Christians from Israel and the West Bank attended a kosher iftar meal in Jerusalem's Musrara neighborhood. Water and dates were served first to break the fast according to Muslim custom, and the USAID-sponsored event was presented by organizers as a message of unity and solidarity.[8]

Meetings may be conducted in Arabic, Hebrew, or English, depending on the composition of the group, and the IEA has organized language-exchange meetings between Arabic- and Hebrew-speaking women in Jerusalem.[8] Its 2020 and 2022 annual reports describe activities including active listening, collective prayer, music, healthcare cultural-competence study, Model United Nations simulations, and university groups at Reichman University, Hebrew University, and Bar-Ilan University.[9][10] The 2023 report also describes New Testament study from Jewish and Christian perspectives, outings, nature trips, aid deliveries, youth workshops, and mutual-support activities.[11]

A defining feature of the IEA's work is its operation of encounter groups crossing the Israeli-Palestinian divide. The organization has maintained groups involving Israeli settlers and Palestinians in Ma'ale Adumim, Abu Dis, Gush Etzion, and surrounding villages in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[3] The IEA characterizes this work as interreligious and non-political, arguing that this framing enables participation by people across the political spectrum who might otherwise refuse to meet.[1]

One extensively documented group operates in the Hebron area, where Jewish and Palestinian participants had been meeting for approximately five years at the time of reporting, primarily at the home of Hebron businessman Ashraf Jabari.[4] Activities included shared Ramadan iftar meals and meetings with school and preparatory-school students. Participants also discussed cooperation in business, tourism, medicine, education, and environmental and sewage treatment.[4]

Reported practical outcomes included a mattress transaction with a Hebron company, a fireworks arrangement for a Bat Mitzvah at the Cave of the Patriarchs involving Palestinian partners, and a procession of 200 Jewish participants into Arab Hebron on the Sabbath of Chayei Sarah, organized with the army and Jabari.[4] In 2022, a Nablus-region group organized an olive-picking activity in which Jewish settlers helped Palestinian farmers.[10]

The U.S. Department of State reported that, of 245 IEA encounters held in Israel during the 2018 reporting year, 120 included Palestinian residents of the West Bank.[12] A further U.S. Embassy-supported initiative brought together three groups from Jerusalem's Israeli and Palestinian neighborhoods to meet with U.S. experts, coordinators, and other interfaith organizations. Its stated aim was to transform attitudes through constructive conversations about similarities and differences among religions.[13]

The IEA's documented activity has grown substantially since its founding. The U.S. Department of State recorded 245 IEA interfaith encounters during the 2018 reporting year.[12] It recorded 384 encounters during 2019 and again during 2020.[14][15] The association's Arabic-language homepage currently displays a figure of approximately 4,000 participants per year.[16]

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted hundreds of face-to-face encounters across dozens of groups in 2020, leading the organization to move most activity online.[9] Thirty-one active groups nevertheless held 299 encounters, five new groups were created, and the organization worked with 22 partner organizations.[9] Nine online events attracted approximately 250 attendees and generated more than 3,500 views on Facebook Live and YouTube. They included Passover and Ramadan celebrations, a Prayer for Humanity, a panel on "Baseless love," Interfaith Encounter Day, and open interfaith panels.[9]

The 2020 report also describes a partnership with the Jerusalem Municipality to call families with special needs during lockdowns and a job task force established to help community members find employment.[9] Nearly half of the organization's groups continued to meet, either online or in person during periods when restrictions eased.[9]

Activity returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, when 39 active groups held 412 encounters and the total group roster reached 120.[10] Eight groups resumed activity or began anew, with participants coming from the Negev, Galilee, Hebron, Otniel, and both East and West Jerusalem. Three organization-wide events were held that year: an annual iftar attended by 70 people, Interfaith Encounter Day in August, and an interfaith singing evening featuring the Wast El Tarik band.[10]

In 2023, the IEA recorded 479 encounters conducted by 42 active groups, six new groups, and a total roster of 123 groups, which it described as a 16 percent increase in activity.[11] After the October 7 attacks and the ensuing war, staff contacted coordinators, encouraged groups to resume meeting, and supported conversations intended to help participants process fear, anger, and other difficult emotions while maintaining relationships across communities.[11] Groups continued religious and cultural study, language exchange, outings, aid deliveries, music, youth activities, mental-health support, and daily online check-ins.[11]

The IEA has received recognition from Israeli institutions and international bodies. In 2022, it received Israel's Presidential Award for Volunteerism, which its annual report described as recognizing 20 years of grassroots peacebuilding.[10] Executive Director Yehuda Stolov subsequently met President Isaac Herzog, whose recommendation led to meetings with foreign embassies and expansion of the organization's diplomatic network.[10] The IEA's Arabic homepage also lists a 2014 nursing-innovation award, a 2007 women's peace-initiative award, and UNESCO recognition for contributing to a culture of peace.[16]

The U.S. Department of State listed the IEA in its 2018 and 2019 International Religious Freedom Reports among nongovernmental organizations working to build understanding and dialogue among religious groups and between religious and secular Jewish communities.[12][14] The 2020 report included the organization in the same context.[15] The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies likewise identified the IEA among organizations working toward the advancement of interfaith understanding.[2]

Participant testimonials provide a ground-level account of the organization's effects. A participant from Bethlehem who attended for four years said some members became friends and visited one another at home, and described the group as a way for people sharing one land to connect beyond political conflict.[17] A healthcare professional from the United States who joined in 2007 founded the IEA's first interfaith group for healthcare professionals and students. It addressed cultural competence, religious customs, and beliefs about health and illness, including pregnancy, birth, birth control, gender issues, and death and dying.[17]

The Arabic-language homepage currently states that more than 20,000 people have joined IEA activities and displays counters of 138 groups, approximately 6,000 encounters and events, and 4,000 participants per year.[16] Together with the State Department's documentation of hundreds of annual encounters, these figures show sustained interfaith activity over multiple reporting periods without requiring comparisons to organizations whose programs or counting methods may differ.

The IEA describes its Israeli-Palestinian work as interreligious and non-political and says it initially discourages political discussions that could prevent constructive dialogue.[1] Some programs nevertheless involve Israeli settlers, Palestinians, disputed territory, and politically sensitive Jerusalem neighborhoods. Official reports themselves have used differing descriptions, referring in one instance to Jerusalem's "Jewish and Palestinian neighborhoods" and in another to its "Israeli and Palestinian neighborhoods."[18][13]

Published scale figures also require attention to dates and categories. The 2022 annual report distinguished 39 active groups from a total roster of 120, while the 2023 report listed 42 active groups and a roster of 123.[10][11] The Arabic homepage's current counter of 138 groups is therefore not directly comparable to annual counts of active groups, and its approximately 6,000 encounters and events is a cumulative figure rather than a single-year total.[16]

Many claims about the organization's awards, regional role, and participant-level effects come from IEA publications or testimonials and should be understood as organizational self-reporting.[10][17] State Department reports independently document the IEA's inclusion among dialogue organizations and provide annual encounter totals, but they do not establish that the programs caused broader political or social change.[12][14]