I would like to start with a brief story, about the time when I was working in Saudi Arabia. My employer, Aramco, sent me to take an advanced management training course at the University of Pittsburgh. What I remember the most is the young professor who showed up one morning to teach us one of the subjects. As he came in, he went straight to the board without any introduction and proceeded to draw a large square. Then he cut it up several times vertically and horizontally, turned to the class and asked, as if challenging us, “How many squares do you see?” Out of the twenty young managers in the class he got around a dozen different answers.

Then, without any further comment he proceeded to erase the board and start the lecture; but we stopped him with the question “What is the right answer?” He turned to us and said: “You all had the right answer. I asked how many squares do you see, not how many are there. You see what you see, regardless what may be there. That is your perception; your challenge is that others may always see a different number of squares; you have to find a way to let them see what you see.”

This evening, it is likely that you have come into this interfaith Forum seeing a different number of squares. The challenge is for all of us to work together so that eventually we all see the same number of squares.

A Christian Palestinian, I was born in Jafa (Israel), a city I left when I was seven years old as a refugee. My family settled in Ramallah on the West Bank. Later in my life, after I came here — went to school, worked and became a US citizen — I went back to work for the US oil industry in the Middle East and lived there for 22 years.

Although my family and I never felt threatened while living and working as Christians amidst Muslims in the Middle East, I did on occasion run into zealots who did promote division and prejudice against others.

Among us Christians we too have people who fill both ends of the spectrum. We have those who are appreciative of other religions and promote harmony and understanding; there are also many who are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They spew poisonous criticism of religious principles and promote fear from other religions.

History tells us that hatred of any kind, if allowed to flourish, cannot be contained and ultimately spills over to all areas no matter how unintended. History has taught us that lesson in Anatolia under the Ottoman Empire, and in Europe, and continues to teach us the lesson every now and then.

I was too young when I left Jafa to remember much, but my father always told me pleasant stories about a different time, a time when he lived in harmony with his Jewish and Muslim friends as brothers in Palestine before the conflict. Now, that seems so long ago. Today, peace and harmony seem to be such elusive goals.

But since those days I have come across many Jews and Jewish religious and secular organizations that have been active in promoting peace and justice for all peoples of the Middle East. But like their Christian and Muslim brothers, Jews are not immune from having those elements among them who manipulate religion and promote hate and violence.

So recognizing that none of us are perfect what are we to do if we are to live in peace and harmony?

If we are to coexist, we must all respect the beliefs of others. We must try to understand the other beliefs so we don’t fear and so we don’t hate. Ignorance breeds fear; fear breeds prejudice and hatred, and hatred promotes violence. We can’t justify evil under any circumstances.

I am reminded of the saying: Evil will flourish if good men do not speak out. We must have the courage to speak against evil especially when it is practiced by our own people.

This means speaking out against targeted assassinations and suicide bombings among other forms of violence, and against intentionally imposed economic hardships and other practices which make everyday life for any people difficult, even unbearable.

If we are to coexist, we must all have the same rights. Our teachings and practices must be tolerant and inclusive; they must not be exclusive.

How would this translate into the practicality of living together in the Middle East, among Israeli Jews, Palestinian Christians and Muslims, and other Arab Christians and Muslims? I believe it translates as follows:

1) End the Israeli Occupation.

2) Recognize The Right of Return: If a Jew has the sacred Right of Return, then a Palestinian must have that same sacred right whether Christian or Muslim, or anything else.

3) Advocate Equal Rights: If anyone, Israeli, Palestinian or other Arab, is entitled to live in freedom, with justice and in a democracy, that entitlement should never be exclusive to one over the others. This means that all sides must be entitled to the same water ration, the same use of roads, the same freedom of movement, and the same right to build a home and live in peace.

Once occupation ends, and these principles are implemented, relations should be normalized among all countries of the Middle East, diplomatically, economically and in every other way.

In the meantime, it is not enough for us present here to advocate these principles silently. We cannot remain on the sidelines. We must all be on the side of peace and justice, and must speak out clearly.

This is what I believe coexistence means. This is what I believe it translates to in practical terms.

I challenge our community to continue to work together and adopt a declaration that outlines these principles and calls for peace and justice for all faiths and all peoples of the Middle East.

I leave you with this, a different number of squares than you may be accustomed to seeing. I hope we can work together so we can narrow the difference in the number of squares that we all see.

— Michael S. Ladah is an Arab-American who lived and worked in various parts of the Middle East. He is the author of “Quicksand, Oil and Dreams: The Story of One of Five Million Dispossessed Palestinians.” He can be reached at: [email protected].

This is an edited version of speech was given by Michael S. Ladah during an Interfaith Forum on “The Opportunities for Peaceful Coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews” in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 15, 2005.

The Forum was sponsored and organized by the Arab American Heritage Club of Southern Nevada and was hosted by the Islamic Society of Nevada.