Dear Friend,
I hope you are in good health and doing well in these dangerous but fascinating times.
Last fall, I settled with my life partner Tanya in an 1899 row house in historic Frederick, MD, and earlier this week, was fortunate to receive my first COVID-19 vaccination. These days, I am feeling uplifted by our country’s recent successful defense of democracy and rejection of
totalitarianism and am resolved to contribute to healing America and affecting
positive change.
In that regard, I am delighted to inform you that my first book, co-authored with Muslim-American writer Sabeeha Rehman and entitled We Refuse To Be Enemies: How Muslims and Jews Can Make Peace One Friendship At A Time will be published by Arcade Publishing on April 21, 2021. Everyone interested in pre-ordering the book can do so here at: Amazon
or Barnes & Noble.
Sabeeha and I are keenly interested in speaking widely about our book via Zoom sessions in
the coming weeks and months. We have already spoken to a variety of Jewish, Muslim, Interfaith and non-for-profit organizations (see below link to appearance last September to- the New York City Bar Association. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=L8EjJsu_zJI
We Refuse To Be Enemies is the product of four years of collaborative effort between myself and Sabeeha, the acclaimed author of Threading My Prayer Rug: One Woman’s Journey from Pakistani Muslim to Muslim American. Our book elucidates the largely untold story of the building of a Muslim-Jewish alliance in America over the past two decades in which the two of us have been deeply involved. It also serves as a manifesto for 2021 and beyond; asserting the importance of our two communities standing up for each other and defending diversity and mutual acceptance in America at a time when, despite the change of Administrations, a toxic blend of bigotry, conspiracy theories and white nationalism remains rampant in the land.
In We Refuse To be Enemies, Sabeeha and I share our stories of how a devout Muslim-American woman from an immigrant background, and a non-observant Jewish man heavily impacted by the utopian ethic of the 1960’s counterculture, came together as friends and partners in a common cause. Growing up in Pakistan before she immigrated to the United States, Sabeeha never met a Jew, and her view was colored by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In my own youth, I never met
a Muslim, and my opinion was shaped by Leon Uris's Exodus and by extended periods of living in Israel. While remaining deeply connected to our respective faith communities and homelands—Pakistan and Israel—each of us has since evolved to a more universalist ethic focused on our common humanity as the transcendent value.
Tapping into our life experiences, we explain how we found myriad commonalities between our respective faiths and discuss shared principles and lessons, how our perceptions of 'the Other' have evolved, and the pushback we faced. We wrestle with the two elephants in the room: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and polarizing material in our holy texts and history. We share our vision for reconciliation, offering concrete principles for building an alliance in support of religious freedom
and human rights.
Sabeeha and I believe that if Muslims and Jews—alienated from each other for decades by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—can achieve reconciliation, that will serve as an inspiring example
for people of diverse faiths, racial backgrounds, and strongly held political/cultural viewpoints that they too can connect with each other, It all begins with a willingness to reach across the psychic barricades to someone we have been conditioned to fear and declare, ‘We Refuse to be Enemies’.
If you are interested in hosting Sabeeha and I for a zoom session about our book, please get in touch with me at 917 294-1772 or at walterruby@gmail.com.
Best Wishes
for a Happy and Healthy 2021,
Walter
