While the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants remains unresolved, a rabbi in Jerusalem says his hope for the region lies in the ability of Jews, Christians and Muslims to sincerely live out the humanistic values common to their respective faiths. “The hope that I see is in human beings… Jews, Christians, Muslims, offering sympathy and condolences, based on the humanistic values in our religions that we all share,” said Rabbi Ron Kronish. “That’s something we can all do and it’s important to do, even as the conflict goes on, to retain somehow our humanity, our religious sense of value for human life, despite the ongoing war.” Rabbi Kronish is a co-founder and the current director of the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI). His nonprofit group includes more than 60 Jewish, Christian and Muslim organizations. Its goal is to promote peaceful co-existence between Muslims, Christians and Jews in Israel through dialogue, education and action projects. “Unfortunately, the hope is not to be found in the political echelons lately,” he told Vatican Radio. “In the last 15, 16 years, all they do is talk about peace agreements and can’t seem to make them.” At the time of publication, Israel and Hamas were on the third day of their most-recent truce, which began on Sunday. And representatives of Israel and Hamas were once again in peace talks, aimed at reaching a long-tern ceasefire. “We are trying to at least counter the growing lack of empathy,” he said of his organization’s recent activities during this past month of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. “We still believe we have to keep this sensitivity to human life in the ...”   Read more