Seeking an end to the fighting

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/12/2023 (1019 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In July, I stayed at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. By chance, I was given a room on the 17th floor, just two doors down from the suite where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their famous bed-in for peace in 1969 — the same place where they recorded the song Give Peace a Chance.

It’s impossible to miss the suite when you are on that floor; large murals adorn the hallway leading to the room, and the words “Give peace a chance” are printed in a huge font across the door.

For me, it was cool being that close to history and, of course, I took photos.

I mention that experience because, in November, independent Montreal journalist Taylor Noakes wrote an open letter to Mayor Valerie Plante suggesting that city hold a rally for peace in the Middle East. He based his case for holding the rally, in part, on that city’s connection to Lennon and Ono’s bed-in.

They held it in that city, he said, “because of what Montreal represented, and how it was perceived at the time: a cosmopolitan city, a shining beacon of hope and human progress.”

Montreal could reclaim the badge of honour that event bestowed on it by inviting faith leaders of the city’s Jewish, Palestinian and Christian communities to come together in the cause of peace now, he told the mayor, adding, “The people of Montreal need someone to show them the way forward, to show how we do things differently here, and why we succeed because of it.”

It would not be easy, he told the mayor, adding “nothing worthwhile ever is.” And a minority would surely be critical.

But, he went on to say, the majority of Montrealers need someone “to demonstrate by example, to unite when others wish to divide, and in so doing, push the extremists far to the side.”

He urged the mayor to bring the people together for a common cause, to heal wounds and divisions, to set the tone.

The mayor never responded to his letter, Noakes told me. And the response on social media was mostly divisive. People accused him of being either pro-Israeli or anti-Palestinian — when all he wanted to be was pro-peace.

Winnipeg doesn’t have anything like the Lennon-Ono bed-in to build on. But it has a rich history of positive interfaith activity that offers a solid foundation for a similar event.

Unfortunately, such a thing seems impossible right now. Tensions are just too high, with people in the Jewish and Muslim communities here having family and friends in that part of the world who are suffering or who have been killed.

But like Noakes in Montreal, the Manitoba Multifaith Council wants to do something. This weekend it is inviting congregations and individuals to pray for peace in the Middle East — in their own way and on their own time.

“During this time of year, when many faith traditions share an emphasis on light, peace and goodwill towards all humanity, we invited people to pray for peace in all the world,” said Rocky Baronins, a member of the council’s board.

He hopes that by taking time to pause and pray people will “think about who we are all together as Manitobans, as part of the human race, even if we have different faiths and views,” he added.

On Dec. 11, Calgary’s Interfaith Council held an interfaith prayer service attended by 40 to 50 people.

According to executive director Sarah Arthurs, it was challenging for the council to organize, and it only took place after two listening circles with representatives from various faith groups, including from the Jewish and Muslim communities.

From those circles it was clear those two communities were not in a place to help organize an interfaith peace event.

Although the number of attendees was small, Arthur said it went well, with good conversations during a reception afterwards. “Just doing it was important,” she said.

Through that experience, Arthur, who comes from a Christian background, realized while Jews and Muslims have limited capacity at this time to organize or even participate in interfaith peace events, people from other faith groups that are not party to the conflict can have empathy for both.

“We can hold space until they are ready to return,” she said.

It’s like when a bone is broken, she said. “The rest of us can come around it like a cast to hold it and mend it until it is healed.”

Can what happened in Calgary take place in Winnipeg, too? Perhaps not now, but maybe in the near future, and maybe through the efforts of people from other religions who want to hold space by doing whatever they can to help with the process of healing in the city — to be like that cast on a broken bone.

In the meantime, congregations and individuals can at least pray for peace and an end to the fighting — even if it isn’t possible to gather together at this time. Resources for praying are available on the Manitoba Multifaith Council website: manitobamultifaith.org/news-upcoming-events.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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