NEWS RELEASE

Release date: 9/2/2005

For attention: news/features editor, Middle East editor, Religion editor, events listing

Spiritual Approaches to Middle East Peace, 28 February roundtable

‘The Spiritual Approaches to Middle East Peace event, on Monday 28 February 2005, 6.30pm-10pm, at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, will bring together Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz (a Sufi from Edinburgh), Rabbi Arthur Waskow (a representative of the Jewish Renewal Movement in USA), Sr. Karmela Farrugia (Chairperson, the Interfaith Encounter Association, Israel), Saheir Siam (a Muslim woman representative of the Interfaith Encounter Association, Israel), Rodef Shalom Eliyahu McLean (an Orthodox Jewish Peacemaker from Jerusalem), Shai Schwartz (a Professional Jewish Storyteller from Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, the only Jewish-Palestinian collective village in Israel), and Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari (a Sheikh of the Naqshabandian Religious Method (Sufi) and head of the Uzbeke Community in Jerusalem), among others, to discuss understandings, share experiences, and share spiritual practices associated with spiritual approaches to peace and understanding with particular reference to the Middle East.’

From Monday 14 February – Sunday 6 March 2005 the 2nd Annual Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace will bring together artists, scholars, grassroots spiritual activists, and speakers from the Sufi, Druze, Baha’i, Ismaili, Zoroastrian and other lesser known spiritual traditions, in addition to representatives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

More generally, all of the principal faith and spiritual traditions of Scotland are being invited to participate in this spiritual, cultural and educational festival of peace and understanding. The Festival is jointly organized by the Edinburgh International Centre for World Spiritualities, EICWS, and the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning, EIAL, and with the support of many other organizations. Among the Festival highlights includes a Spiritual Approaches to Middle East Peace

Festival Co-Directors said:

‘The Festival positively affirms the diversity contained within the religious and spiritual traditions of the Middle East, as well as those here in Scotland. The Festival takes no fixed position on any political, ethical or cultural question. We intend rather to create a forum in which we can listen to one another more deeply and learn with a more open mind and heart. The emphasis of the Festival is on spirituality, and on spiritual, educational, and artistic and cultural approaches to peace and understanding, and avoids any discussion of political issues associated with the Middle East.’

Contact:

Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, njwalk3001@hotmail.com

Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz, 07005-802-580, ndk@eial.org