A recent study by the Foundation of Ethnic Understanding found that the more that American Muslims and Jews interact with each other, the more likely they are to see the two faiths as more similar than different. 65% of Muslims and 54% of Jews surveyed said that “Judaism and Islam are more similar to each other than they are different.”
“Muslim-Jewish relations are thought to be in conflict but this study shows that they are in a state of cooperation,” says FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier in a statement. “This is the first definitive study of its kind to quantify that with cooperation and dialogue between the two groups, we are stronger together.”
More findings:
— The gaps between American Jews and Muslims were smaller than previously thought, and that the more devout the person was, the closer they aligned with the other religion.
— Some 63 percent of American Jews polled and 65 percent of Muslim Americans agreed that it is very important for the two groups to work together to strengthen laws to prevent discrimination.
— The one issue where there was dramatic disagreement was over Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, with 48 percent of all Jews surveyed either strongly or somewhat supportive of Jerusalem being designated Israel’s capital and 63 percent of Muslims either strongly or somewhat opposed to it.
