What we do

Our Story

For the past 10 years, the Muslim Jewish Conference has gathered more than 1.000 young change-makers – from over 65 countries –  to engage in dialogue and together, create innovative networks of Muslim-Jewish cooperation. Through annual, week-long conferences that provide a safe space for participants to break down barriers and restore trust, the MJC has managed to become a grassroots leader in the field of interfaith dialogue. However, our ability to keep working independently depends on the necessary resources to establish a sustainable and professionally run organization.

 

Why we do it

Intercultural and interreligious relations worldwide have become increasingly tense over the past several years. Relationships between Muslims and Jews have particularly suffered. Nonetheless, given the right space and time, we know and have proven over the years that citizens can and will engage across different identities constructively and with an open mind, if given the chance to do so.

In 2007, Ilja Sichrovsky participated in a Model United Nations conference. There, in Geneva, he stumbled upon a new life path. A Muslim member of the Pakistani delegation asked if he was a Jew, telling him that he was the first Jew he had met. Sichrovsky recalled, “We were open minded and well-read, but quickly realized we knew nothing about each other. After determining that we posed no threat to one another, we spent time listening to each other.” Following the encounter, Sichrovsky convened like-minded peers to start changing the state of international Jewish-Muslim relations. He founded the Muslim Jewish Conference in 2009 (MJC) to change the pattern of Muslim-Jewish ignorance, mistrust, and hate, and instead repair and turn this relationship into a model for collaboration.

 

How far we have come

Over the last decade, the Muslim Jewish Conference has gathered more than 1.000 young changemakers from more than 65 countries. The MJC team has provoked meaningful communication on relevant topics including: religious teachings, confronting stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice, minority-majority relations, Anti-Muslim Racism and Antisemitism, inter-faith and intra-faith relations, gender relations, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, arts and culture, genocide awareness, and many more. We are proud to have provoked discussions and interactions of the highest quality as well as incubated some of the most original and impactful interfaith projects.

The MJC also managed to create an ecosystem of interfaith actors to learn from each other and build effective coalitions. With a decade of experience based on a network of deeply committed international volunteers, and despite a very limited budget from 2010-2019 which strictly allowed us to organize one conference per year, the Muslim Jewish Conference has become a trusted partner and a reference in the field of citizen and interfaith dialogue.

 

How far we can go

The mission cannot limit itself to annual conferences, be they of unmatched quality and depth. We have to multiply and sustain Muslim Jewish engagement in order to bridge the two communities and counter the divisive and confrontational discourse everywhere around the globe. We must therefore set up a sustainable movement which not only convenes regular conferences but also supports multiple local chapters as well as high quality alumni initiatives on Muslim – Jewish dialogue and collaboration.

In December 2019, the MJC will host its 10th annual conference in Vienna with a specific purpose: to gather the main actors of this movement to reflect on how far we have come and how far we can go together. The objective is to set up the stage for another successful 10 years with a consolidated team, vision, and resources to transform our work from a grassroots initiative into a professionally guided structure.

In 2020, we want to transform the Muslim Jewish Conference into the Muslim Jewish Alliance (MJA). To be based in Germany, MJA will be run on the principles set forth by the actors of the 10 annual conferences and the many volunteers who made it possible.

 

We need your help

Run exclusively by volunteers, and having stayed fiercely independent, the MJC has not received the necessary financial support to sustainably professionalize its operations.

To achieve this goal we would like to ask you to have a look at our first ever crowdfunding campaign running until the 19th of December of 2019

Please read all the details of our pitch in the link below.

The MJC crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo

 

Every donation will help us to execute a transformational 10th Annual Muslim Jewish Conference. For many of our attendees, this will be their first time out of their home country, and in so many cases, it will be their first engagement with “the other”. Our aim has always been to be inclusive – to break down walls of access to dialogue, and to cross beyond socio-economic and political barriers. Your help will make it possible to require no costs for nor participation fees from our attendees.  This permits greater demographic diversity, and allows us to support more participants in their journey to the conference.

Additionally, your donation will help us to fund :

  1. Accommodations for 50 participants and 10 volunteers in Austria for the 10th MJC
  2. Kosher and Halal food for all participants and volunteers for the 10th MJC
  3. Airfare for volunteers as well as participants in need of financial support
  4. Professional conference and workshop materials

The money raised does more than just help us organize our 10th Annual Conference. Both during the conference and afterward, you help us to create a safer space for our participants to engage in community and coalition building, creating lasting bonds, and to forge activist platforms for our alumni where they can work to make dreams reality.

Any excess funds raised above our initial goal will go directly into the efforts to organize the 11th Muslim Jewish Conference, as well as seedfund the most innovative alumni projects in our network.

Any additional funds would be used to establish a professional working structure for the envisioned Muslim Jewish Alliance, which aims to ensure a more broad-reaching and permanent effort in rebuilding and strengthening Muslim-Jewish relations worldwide.

In summary, we are asking YOU to help us build a future where Muslim-Jewish collaboration becomes the norm instead of a distant dream.  Any donation will have an impact!

 

Other ways you can help

We are aware that a financial donation is not an option for everyone. If you are looking for different ways to support us we welcome your help.

  • Campaign with us

Share our campaign on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

  • Connect us

We are looking for funding organizations and individual donors who believe in creating change through grassroots bridge building. If you know of someone who might be willing to provide some financial support, please let them know about us.

  • Talk about us

We need to spread the news that MJC is uniquely equipped to counter the cycle of hatred between Muslims and Jews around the world. If you know journalists who would be interested in covering our story, please let them know about us.

 

Thank you for joining us in this vision, and for your generosity. 

 

 

We are Change

Be part of the Change

 

 

Relevant Links

The Muslim Jewish Conference

http://www.mjconference.org/

https://www.facebook.com/MJConference/

MJC official conference movie 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuuF7eE5zhY

MJC official conference movie 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNOKpeoTdnc

MJC official conference report 2017

http://www.mjconference.org/media-ftp/reports/MJC2017-report.pdf

MJC official conference reports 2010 – 2016

http://www.mjconference.org/category/reports/

Contact us

info@mjconference.org