For back-channel talks, another group of Pakistanis is going to Israel.
A group of Pakistani Americans went to Israel for the first time a few months ago. Now, another group is on its way to Israel.
American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC) said in a statement that the group is made up of well-known Muslim Americans and South Asian Americans, as well as members of AMMWEC and SHARAKA.
The goal of this delegation is to continue the peacemaking work started by the first delegation of interfaith leaders, which was led by Anila Ali, a Pakistani-American who is the President of AMMWEC and a member of the SHARAKA Board.
They also want to help improve relations between Pakistan and Israel and strengthen Pakistan’s ties to the Abraham Accords.
The group is made up of well-known Pakistani-American leaders, such as Dr. Nassim Ashraf, the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and a number of other well-known Pakistani-American journalists and religious leaders.
Anila Ali said about this,
“The floodgates are wide open. The initial shock has turned into a realisation that Muslims and Jews are both the children of Prophet Ibrahim PBUH.” So, if we want the Abraham Accords to be accepted in Muslim countries, we must keep working to build peace through connections between people.
If we want to make a better future for our kids, we have to let go of our old grudges.”
“The goal of the trip is to give the participants a chance to see and learn about Israel for themselves and to share what they learn and experience with people in Pakistan. This will help inform the important debate going on right now about whether Pakistan should join the Abraham Accords.
She also said,
“Because of the terrible flooding in Pakistan, a lot of the visit will be spent talking about life-saving technologies that Israel has made in the areas of water and food security and preventing climate and environmental disasters.”
Anila said,
“The trip includes a meeting with the President of Israel, senior foreign policy figures, and well-known intellectual, cultural, religious, and political figures.
The trip will focus on Israel’s high-tech ecosystem and will include meetings with leading innovators in the fields of water, agriculture, and climate technology, as well as visits to Israel’s world-class water management systems.
They will also meet a crisis preparedness expert who is known around the world. The team will also go to the Holocaust Museum and places of worship that are important to the Abrahamic religions. The delegation is made up of well-known Pakistani Americans, religious leaders, and big names in the media.
Dr. Nasim Ashraf, a well-known Pakistani-American social worker who was also Chairman of the PCB from 2006 to 2008, said, “I am delighted and honoured to be invited by AMMWEC and SHARAKA to be part of the delegation to visit Israel to promote peace and interfaith dialogue. People-to-people connections like these are very important for building understanding and peace between the Abrahamic Faiths, which we all follow.
Amit Deri, one of the people who helped start SHARAKA, said, “We are thrilled to welcome this delegation to Israel as part of our work to grow the peace camp. This is a very important event, and we hope that it will lead to more countries, like Pakistan, joining the peace camp.
We can only solve our differences and deal with common problems and threats if we work together and build ways to talk to each other. These include climate and water problems and extremists in the region who only want to spread hate.
