RICHMOND, Texas – Shariq Ghani and Steven Gross are longtime friends who have had their knockdowns over the conflict in Gaza, but they say the arguments have only improved their relationship.
Not necessarily the communities they represent.
The war’s brutality and seven decades of acrimony between Israel and Palestinians have exacerbated tensions among communities in the United States. And that’s why Ghani, a Muslim interfaith leader, and Gross, a Reform Jewish rabbi, were among several dozen imams, pastors, rabbis, ministers and others gathered at Ghani’s house in suburban Houston this week at a Ramadan iftar dinner for friends and family.
Ghani and Gross believe their personal relationship can be a model for their larger communities.
“We can overcome our differences,” said Ghani, executive director of Houston’s Minaret Foundation, an interfaith social justice organization. “And people have to know that.”
But…
