Jerusalem - Also this year, in the heart of the month of Ramadan, some friars of the Custody of the Holy Land together with Jewish friends from the community of Kehilat Zion renewed a small but meaningful gesture of fraternity: distributing water and dates to Muslims a few minutes before iftar, the moment that marks every evening the end of the fast.
It is an initiative that over the years has become a concrete sign within the activities of interreligious dialogue. A few simple gestures, a bottle of water, some dates, a smile, that however contain a strong message: even in a land marked by tensions and divisions, it is possible to meet as brothers and sisters.
As often happens in Jerusalem, this year as well the context has not been simple. In the very first days of Ramadan the war with Iran broke out, creating a situation of great uncertainty and precariousness. For this reason, after the distribution in the first week, the initiative had to stop.
Today, however, taking advantage of a few hours of relative calm, without alarms or sirens, a small group of friars and Jewish friends decided to return to the streets and repeat this gesture of closeness.
It was a simple but deeply felt moment. The people who approached to receive water and dates, workers returning home, passersby, families, welcomed the gesture with gratitude.
Many thanked them, some blessed those offering that small gift, others expressed a wish that sounded the same every time: "Alsalam lihadhih al'ard walijamie sukaaniha" (peace for this land and for all its inhabitants).
In a time marked by fear and uncertainty, that brief moment shared before iftar thus became a concrete sign of hope. A small gesture, but capable of reminding us that dialogue is not made only of official meetings or great declarations, but of daily relationships, gestures of mutual attention and lived fraternity.
And as the sun set and the fast was broken, among shared dates and words of peace, for a moment it seemed possible to glimpse what many in this land continue to desire and pray for: a future in which people of different faiths can live together in mutual esteem and peace.
Fr. Alberto Pari
