Office of Academic Affairs holds ‘Promoting Religious Understanding’ panel amid Israel-Hamas war

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Syracuse University’s Office of Academic Affairs held a “Promoting Religious Understanding on Campus: The Ongoing Conflict in the Middle East” panel Monday, which aimed to have a “timely and informative conversation” about the Israel-Hamas war.

The panel featured Imam Amir Durić and Rabbi Ethan Bair — Hendricks Chapel’s Muslim and Jewish chaplains, respectively — and was moderated by Rev. Brian Konkol, dean of Hendricks.

Konkol asked questions about how the two chaplains have grown their personal relationship since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The chaplains spoke about how they have been able to unite SU’s Muslim and Jewish communities, and offered advice to students on having uncomfortable conversations surrounding the conflict.

To begin the discussion, Konkol asked each chaplain what their first reaction was to the onset of the war.

Durić grew up in Bosnia and said he first started school as the Bosnian War broke out. When he first heard about the Oct. 7 attacks, he felt emotional as the conflict “triggered (his) war memories.”

“What (Hamas) did doesn’t make any sense, and it will not be good to anyone, then on the other hand was fear of retaliation and what is going to come because we know that, historically, there is this disproportion when it comes to loss of life,” Durić said. “I knew that things (would) develop in a direction that probably nobody (would) be happy about. It (would) become more painful.”

Bair mentioned that, when he first heard about the attacks, he saw a post on social media about a vigil and was thinking about how to bring the community together to mourn.

“Dean Konkol and I had an initial conversation of wanting to have a peace vigil that was really very universal, and that everyone could come together as a community,” he said.

Bair and Durić also said how they led their communities through grief. In the weeks following the initial attacks, Syracuse Hillel, SU’s Chabad Jewish Student Center and SU’s Muslim Students’ Association all held peace vigils at Hendricks.

Durić and Bair both recalled receiving invitations on social media in October to participate in a national day of fasting in order to show solidarity with victims of the Israel-Hamas war.

“Fasting helps develop compassion and empathy because if I feel that I’m hungry and thirsty, I am able to empathize more with those who may need help. It was also a way we found to show strength,” Durić said.

Bair and Durić said they used the traditions and teachings from their own religions to support themselves through the aftermath of Oct. 7.

“Jewish values are so much of what I was leaning on — the value of friendship — and our friendship only grew as a result of the conversations we had together, the listening we did and also having hard conversations,” Bair said.

Bair said Jewish people do not “shy away” from debates and called them “the heart and soul” of friendship within their community. The conversations also help Jewish communities engage with the study of the Torah.

In the time following the onset of the war, Durić said he relied on his relationship with Bair.

“One of the biggest blessings was to be able to have a Rabbi, and that being Rabbi Bair,” Durić said.

Durić recounted a phone call with Bair where they discussed United Nations statistics regarding the war. He said while they disagreed about how to interpret the information, the phone call was both “challenging” and a “blessing.” He said these difficult conversations helped him “verbalize his feelings” surrounding the conflict.

“I think we had so much more in common than what was different, as far as what our jobs look like in the wake of Oct. 7 and how we’re navigating conversations with students,” Bair said.

Sabrina, an SU sophomore who wished to not share her last name for safety reasons, said the panel introduced her to new sources to refer to when learning about the war.

“I learned some new media outlets where I could learn more content about the topic because I don’t really know where to get correct sources and correct information from,” she said.

Nora, a sophomore at SU who also did not share her last name, said she often thinks about how to have conversations about the war, and that the panel helped her feel more comfortable having them.

“Especially because I feel very removed from it … it’s hard for me to bring up the conversation and feel comfortable talking about or asking questions,” she said. “I feel a lot more comfortable from what (Bair and Durić) spoke about and how to have the hard conversations and how to develop the relationships first.”

At the end of the event, Durić said he had many takeaways from the discussion, namely the importance of building relationships across cultures and practicing “the art of listening.” He said it is important for Jewish and Muslim communities to continue to “build relations and trust each other while being there for each other” in times of conflict.

“I do hope it will be an inspiration for each one of us to give a chance to those we share this campus with,” Durić said. “It’ll become a better world if we give a chance to each other and if we just pause and hear each other out.”