Muslims Honor Cardinal Keeler

By Grace Halsell

Although no Christian group has done so, the American Muslim Council took the initiative in honoring a U.S. Christian leader, William Cardinal Keeler, who reminded the world that Israel has no "exclusive" claim to Jerusalem. The Muslims honored the cardinal, who is also archbishop of Baltimore, at a Washington, DC "Excellence Award" banquet last Dec. 8.

It was early last year when Cardinal Keeler, then president of the National Council of Catholic Bishops, instigated a statement calling on President Clinton to use "the considerable influence" of the U.S. government "to halt Israeli construction in East Jerusalem and continued expansion into Palestinian areas." The statement, signed by seven other Christian leaders, warned that "Israeli planning for 'Greater Jerusalem' is an open secret; and Israel's assertion that Jerusalem will remain the 'eternal and undivided capital of Israel' is widely interpreted as a claim of exclusive Israeli sovereignty over the city that preempts genuine negotiation."

Dr. M.A. Cheema, a physician who is president of the American Muslim Council, presented the cardinal with the award named in honor of Mahmoud Abu Saud, who founded the American Muslim Council in 1990 and served as president from 1990 until 1993. Born in Egypt, Abu Saud specialized in economics and was adviser to the League of Arab States as well as an economic adviser to a number of nations, including Morocco, Kuwait, Libya, Tunisia and Malaysia.

In his talk, Cardinal Keeler, a native of San Antonio, Texas, who has spent most of his adult life in Pennsylvania and Rome, spoke movingly of how he had become close friends with Muslim leaders in the Middle East. "This came about after I got involved with interfaith dialogue and some of us met first with Muslim leadership in this country, who urged us to go over to the Middle East," the cardinal said. He held meetings with Muslim leaders in Jordan, Egypt and Syria, and became especially close to the Grand Mufti of Syria.

"Once a bishop from Brazil joined me in Damascus. And the Grand Mufti was ill. We went to the hospital to visit with him. And as a prayer, we stood by his bedside and read from the Qur'an," the cardinal related. The portion they read dealt with Mary, mother of Jesus. The cardinal pointed out that there are many similarities between Islam and Christianity. For example, he said, Muslims believe in the immaculate conception. He added: "There are 34 verses in the Qur'an that speak of Mary—more than in the New Testament."

Some 200 Muslims and Christians attended the banquet, including several high- ranking Catholic leaders. A keynote address was given by Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, formerly of Herndon, Virginia, and now secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America in Plainfield, Indiana. John Esposito of Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding also spoke, stating it was wrong for Americans to speak of having a Judeo-Christian heritage when it would be correct to say "a Judeo-Christian-Islamic heritage."

Little was said about Jerusalem at the awards banquet, but it was clearly the cardinal's 1995 statement reminding President Clinton and the world at large that it was a city holy to three faiths and one that must be a "shared city where the interests of all parties are respected" that gave him wide recognition.

The statement expressed concern that the Clinton administration is backing away from longtime U.S. policy that Jerusalem is part of the occupied territories subject to U.N. resolutions, is failing to recognize and support Palestinian rights and interests in Jerusalem, and "is not using its considerable influence to halt Israeli construction in eastern Jerusalem and continued expansion into Palestinian areas."

"The future of Jerusalem must not be preempted by the actions of any one party," the statement said. "Only a negotiated agreement that respects the human and political rights of Palestinians and Israelis as well as the three religious communities can lead to a lasting peace."

The Question of Jerusalem

It urged Clinton to "see that the negotiators take up the question of Jerusalem as soon as possible."

Cardinal Keeler and the seven other Christians signing the statement came under immediate attack from several Jewish leaders and organizations. B'nai B'rith said it was "deeply distressed" by the Christians' "ill-considered appeal" and "strongly" objected to their harsh accusations. Accelerating negotiations over Jerusalem would "shatter trust" and "do more than anything to derail the process." The World Jewish Congress said the statement raised questions of "anti-Semitism."

When the Christian group sought a meeting with President Clinton, he would not see them. Undoubtedly he feared Jewish reaction, despite the fact that Jerusalem is a Holy City to some one billion Christians and one billion Muslims, as well as some 14 million Jews.

In a short personal interview with the cardinal, I asked him about Jewish reaction to the statement on Jerusalem. He soft-pedaled the criticism: "We found that when we discussed with the Jewish leadership the true intent of the statement—which was looking forward to a Jerusalem in which the civil and religious freedoms of all peoples would be respected—that those Jews in the United States were very supportive of that, too."

Was it true, I asked the cardinal, that it was only Muslims who were honoring him for his interfaith work and his stand on Jerusalem? Had he not been honored by any Christian group?

"We've had many letters," he responded. "While some were favorable, others were not—these being from persons who did not understand the statement in its full context."

In his closing remarks for the banquet, Abdurahman Alamoudi, the American Muslim Council's executive director, said that Muslims would work closely with Roman Catholics in areas of common interest, including the stressing of moral education in schools, less pornography and immorality in the media and entertainment fields and, in general, the stressing of a greater moral dimension in daily life.

Grace Halsell, author of 12 books, resides in Washington, DC