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June 17, 2008

Israeli interfaith organization head to get international award

by Judith Sudilovsky
Ecumenical News International

JERUSALEM — The International Council of Christians and Jews has awarded its Interfaith Gold Medallion for 2008 to the director of an Israeli interreligious group dedicated to involving religious leaders in promoting reconciliation and coexistence.

Rabbi Ron Kronish, who was among the founders of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel in 1991, will receive the Interfaith Gold Medallion, “Peace through Dialogue,” from the British-based Sigmund Sternberg Charitable Foundation on June 23.

Past award recipients include Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, former German President Johannes Rau, and Lutheran Bishop Krister Stendahl, who died on April 15.

The Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel works with religious leaders, women, educators and youth to promote Jewish-Arab coexistence and peace-building projects in Israel. It is an umbrella organization comprised of 75 Christian, Muslim and Jewish institutions and serves as the Israel section of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, and is a member of the International Council of Christians and Jews.

Kronish said that by linking the teachings and values of the three Abrahamic faiths — Christianity, Islam and Judaism — his group seeks to transform religion’s role from a force of division and extremism into a source of reconciliation, coexistence and understanding.