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Arts & Entertainment

Rock Concert Brings Together Muslim, Jewish Communities

Second-annual UnityJam raises money for two nonprofits and promote greater understanding.

The sounds of klezmer, Arabic and Sufi music and rock filled the Spangenberg Theatre Sunday night as six musicians performed a benefit concert for greater understanding between Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian and Israeli communities, and to help Pakistan’s millions of impoverished, internally displaced people.

UnityJam 2011 featured rock star Salman Ahmad, klezmer singer Elizabeth Schwartz, and klezmer violinist Yale Strom. They were joined by drummer Sunny Jain, guitarist John Alec and accordionist Lou Fanucchi.

“When we jam, we trust each other; we have compassion,” Ahmad said. This is a metaphor for the purpose of UnityJam and its two beneficiary nonprofits: Abraham’s Vision and the Salman and Samina Global Wellness Initiative (SSGWI).

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SSGWI was founded by Ahmad and his wife, Dr. Samina Ahmad, to help the 3 million innocent people who have fled from the fighting between the Pakistani army and the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Ahmad who was born in Pakistan, is one of South Asia’s most successful rock musicians. His band, Junoon, blends rock with Islamic music, in a style called Sufi rock.

Abraham’s Vision is a conflict transformation organization that uses experiential and political education to examine social relations within and between the Jewish, Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian communities. Founded by Aaron Hahn Tapper, a University of San Francisco professor, the organization encourages dialogue between Jewish, Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian college and high school students.

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During a break in the music, Megan Rose Martin, the operations associate of Abraham’s Vision, said, “We’re here to create and build bridges.” She introduced several students who had participated in the group’s programs.

One college student, who went to Jerusalem last summer with the Beyond Bridges: Israel-Palestine program last summer, said, “I grew enormously during this period. I learned that everyone’s right and everyone’s wrong. Who is willing to move past such distinctions?”

A teenager who took a high school course called the Unity Program, said, “None of us are politicians, but we’re doing a better job.” Another said, “It taught me to appreciate other human beings.”

The Vision Program is a 10-month fellowship for Jewish American, Palestinian American, Israeli and Palestinian college students. Fellows spend four weeks in Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina learning about the Balkan wars of the 1990s. They then use individual and group processes to study the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“It changed the way I see the world," said one participant. "We could have fun while saving the world.”

Ahmad introduced Talullah Strom, daughter of Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom, and described how she ran 30 miles and raised $5,000 to help the victims of Pakistan’s devastating floods. He presented her with a Pakistani shawl.

The audience joined the musicians in singing John Lennon’s Imagine, and there was dancing in the aisles as the concert concluded with Hava Nagila.

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