| Summary: | While the expanding phenomenon of Muslim-Jewish interfaith dialogue in North America and Western
Europe is often credited with the potential to positively influence relations in these regions as well as in
the Middle East, analysis of such initiatives is under-represented in the anthropological literature. In an
ethnographic examination of a small dialogue group in Vancouver, British Columbia, I interviewed eleven
Muslim participants of differing ages, genders, and ethnic backgrounds to discover how they viewed the
project's purpose, dynamics, and their participation in it. I found that despite mutual goodwill and an
effort on both sides to blur religious boundaries and create a unified psychological space or sense of
communitas, the interfaith initiative encountered difficulties due to disagreements over whether dialogue
should include discussion of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, tension over the expression of religious
stereotypes in one small group context, differences between the individualistic, esoteric beliefs of liberal
(and sometimes secular) Jews and the more traditional Muslims' respect for religious authority and
tradition, and the challenge for many of the Muslims of balancing inter-religious activities with the
requirements of religious practice and the demands of work, school, and family responsibilities. Such
difficulties are intrinsic to the broader dialogue process between Muslims and Jews in the West, which is
framed historically as an interchange that has been gradually developing over the past four decades.
Characterized by its resilience and open-ended, emergent nature, this process continues despite setbacks.
More research into the impact of factors like age and gender roles, employment patterns, tasks of religious
leadership, and trends in spiritual observance on Muslim-Jewish dialogue initiatives may provide
additional insight into the dynamics of these projects at the grassroots level. === Arts, Faculty of === Anthropology, Department of === Graduate
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