Issue 17

10 Articles

Wajubu 17 issue

Editorial
RELIGION AND VIOLENCE

The World Council of Churches has been engaged in interfaith dialogue for quite a number of years. Specifically they have sponsored the meetings of a group of people representing different faith communities in order to explore issues of common concern. The Group is called Thinking Together . In the wake of 11th September 2001, WCC sponsored a consultation of this group in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the theme Religion and violence. Reverend Dr. Hans Ucko, the Editor of the WCC Office on Interreligious Relations wrote an introduction to this theme. We have reproduced two papers of this consultation most relevant to our subject, namely, part of the introduction to the consultation by Reverend Dr. Hans Ucko (see below) as well as the paper The co-existence of violence and non-violence in Judaism.

Hans Ucko
THE CO-EXISTENCE OF VIOLENCE AND NON-VIOLENCE IN JUDAISM

It is an honor and a privilege for me to have been invited to present a Jewish perspective on religion and violence. The other faith traditions represented here all have hundreds of millions of adherents, while the Jewish people worldwide numbers only about thirteen million! Another difference between Judaism and some of the others is that Judaism is the religious civilization of the Jewish people-Jewish identity being an ethnic, cultural and even national identity, in addition to a religious one.

Deborah Weissman
Poetry Corner

Building bridges

Solomon Mahaka
THE KADHIS COURTS

Kadhis courts were in existence along the East Coast of Africa long before the coming of the British colonialists in the 19th century. The Kenyan coastal strip was then part of the territories controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar. In 1895, the Sultan of Zanzibar authorised the British to administer the coastal strip as a protectorate, rather than a colony as distinct from the mainland, subject to certain conditions including the British agreeing to respect the judicial system then in existence in the said protectorate. The British agreed to these conditions and throughout their administration of the coastal strip this judicial system, which included the Kadhis courts, continued to exist.

Sumayya Athmani
THE QUESTION OF KADHIS COURTS

A CASE STUDY OF INTERFAITH CONFLICT IN KENYA

Strictly speaking, neither Christians nor Muslims have made a logical, persuasive and coherent argument for the reasons why the structure and powers of the Kadhis courts as contained in the current or in the draft Constitution of Kenya, should be retained or removed.

Kibe Mungai
THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN PEACEMAKING

INTERVIEW WITH AMBASSADOR BETHUEL KIPLAGAT
African Council of Religious Leaders/Religions for Peace - 10-12 June 2003, Abuja, Nigeria

FINAL COMMUNIQUE

In the name of the almighty and merciful God, we religious leaders, men and women, from across Africa and representing the major faiths, have gathered in Abuja Nigeria, from 10-12 June 2003. We have formed the African Council of Religious Leaders to promote inter-religious cooperation across our continent in pursuit of justice and peace.
STRUGGLING FOR PEACE IN JERUSALEM

DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS

As clashes continued in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the weekend, a group of Israelis and Palestinians spent the time together looking for common ground. Though denied travel permits by Israeli authorities, some 20 Palestinians from Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, and Bethlehem joined 35 Israelis in Jerusalem by evading curfews and checkpoints and traveling at times on foot through muddy back lanes. Due to clampdowns in Palestinian areas, an additional group from Jenin and Kalkilya that participated in the first event in October and signed on again couldn t get through.

Lauren Gelfond
THE NAZAL JAZZ BAND IN KAKUMA REFUGEE CAMP

Kakuma Refugee Camp, a hot, dusty, sprawling settlement in northern Kenya, seems an unlikely place for the birth of a 12-member band that fuses traditional melodies from southern Sudan with beats common in music blaring on modern-day East African radio stations.

Cathy Majtenyi