College women living a social experiment on the campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey describe some of their experiences and the lessons they have taken from them.

During the 2006-2007 school year, 11 female students of different faiths lived and studied side by side in a dormitory called the Middle East Coexistence House on the campus of Rutgers University. The students — some born in the United States, some first-generation U.S. citizens, and others from the Middle East and elsewhere — agreed to live in the house to learn about each other, their cultures, and issues of Mideast importance, in the hope of improving relations between people of different faiths.

Student Danielle Josephs founded the Middle East Coexistence House to bridge the gap between Jewish, Israeli, Arab, Muslim, and Christian women at Rutgers and encourage women's involvement in international conflict resolution and negotiation.

Danielle has now graduated from Douglass College, the women's college within Rutgers University, with a degree in Middle Eastern studies. The daughter of an American mother and an Israeli father, Danielle wants to become a Middle East negotiator or policy maker. Danielle and three other residents of the Middle East Coexistence House took part in a Web chat hosted by usinfo.state.gov in April 2007. The women from the house — identified by MECH below — took questions for one hour from Web chat participants. Some involved were using screen names, and one group was online through the technical facilities provided at the Information Resource Center (IRC) affiliated with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.

The following minute-by-minute transcript of that cyber-event has been edited for clarity and length.

07:52:42

MECH Danielle: This is Danielle Josephs. Good morning! Thank you to everyone for participating in this chat.

MECH Dalia: Hello, everyone. My name is Dalia [Gheith]. I'm a freshman at Douglass College. I'm interested in foreign languages and international affairs and relations. I'm of Palestinian origin, and I lived in Saudi Arabia and Jordan for 11 years before coming to the United States.

MECH Sara: Hi. My name is Sara Elnakib. I am one of the Muslim members of the Middle East Coexistence House. I am a 22-year-old senior studying nutritional sciences at Rutgers University. I currently live in Paterson, New Jersey; however, I was born in Egypt and came to the United States when I was three years old. And I would be happy to answer any of your questions. :)

MECH Samantha: Hi. This is Samantha Shanni. I am happy to be here. I am a sophomore majoring in psychology and Middle Eastern studies. I grew up in an interfaith family. My mother is Christian and my father is Jewish.

07:59:35

Warda: Hello. I am Warda from the University of Oran in Algeria. What are the efforts of young Americans to bridge religious and ethnic diversity? Thank you.

MECH Danielle: Hi, Oran. There are a number of grassroots efforts on American college campuses to bridge cultural gaps and embrace diversity. Our house is one example. In fact, our coexistence house is the first living-learning community of its kind on any American college campus. Our model is being replicated next year on a number of American college campuses, including the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

08:03:51

Benama: Excuse me if I say that, by saying that you are bridging religious and ethnic differences, you are not doing good things for your religions. All pure religions call for the coexistence between nations, so the problem is not the religions because, for me as a Muslim, I know that a Jewish person was the neighbor of our prophet Mohammed (peace and blessings be upon him) during years in his city (the city of the prophet).

MECH Dalia: Hello, this is Dalia. Why are we not doing good things for our religions? On the contrary, I think we are doing good things for our religions when we coexist with members of other religions because it shows that there are members of our religious community who are open and willing to coexist with and accept members of different religions. In any case, I personally believe that problems arise with the interpretations of religious doctrines, not the religious doctrines themselves. I agree with you, I don't think any religion is a problem.

08:08:07

April2: Have you had "ah-ha!" moments? I mean a comment, an exchange, or an action that opened your eyes about the person from a different culture and how they see the world? What happened?

MECH Danielle: Hi, April. I think there are "ah-ha!" moments every day. When you live with someone, you get to know them on a completely different level. Every day is a learning experience. Every encounter broadens your knowledge base. For example, at the outset of the project, I was unaware that Muslim women could take off their hijab [headscarf] in the presence of other women. During the first week, when one of my residents took off her scarf, I practically ran the other way so as not to embarrass her. She later told me that it was totally appropriate.

IRC Cairo: Dalia, did you at first feel angry by living with a student Jewish at the same time you are of Palestinian origin?

MECH Dalia: This is Dalia. No, I did not. In fact, I was already expecting to be living amongst Jews in the Middle East Coexistence House. I wanted this to happen because if it did not, it would not be a true "Middle East coexistence" experience for me.

08:12:38

April2: What about your other friends who aren't part of the house? Do they come over … and sort of become part-time participants in the coexistence experiment?

MECH Dalia: Many of my friends have been affected by our project. It can change a person's attitude about how to solve the conflict. It can also give students hope because we are trying a new strategy and not giving up. In speaking to people I know about this project, it has also brought awareness about the Muslim culture and what it's like to live with someone religious or someone who is Middle Eastern.

08:14:49

Ali Eid from Cairo: How Muslims to live in peace with non-Muslims in U.S.A.?

MECH Dalia: Hello, this is Dalia. I believe that in order for us Muslims to live in peace with non-Muslims in the United States, we must have a good understanding of the tolerance of which our faith speaks and which it promotes. Consequently, we will become more open and accept dealing with and living amongst people of different faiths. For Muslims who are living in coexistence with members of different faiths, I think they are doing just that — being accepting of people from different faiths and understanding of the fact that their faith promotes tolerance.

08:19:46

Maha from Cairo: Sara, tell me about your experience by living side by side with students from different cultures and religions?

MECH Sara: Hi, Maha. This house had such a great impact on my life. First of all, I was able to learn so much about different cultures. It is a common scene to come into our rooms at, like, 2 in the morning watching us discuss religion, politics, and life. It is so interesting because, even though I have known Jewish and Christian people throughout my life, I never had the courage to ask them about their lives. This house gave me that opportunity to actually learn about not only Jewish culture, but about many other cultures as well.

08:21:12

IRC Cairo: Hi, Danielle. I am Sally from Egypt. I want to ask you about your vision of Islam and how Muslims are treated in America? Are there good communications between you and Jewish or Christian people?

MECH Danielle: Hi, Sally. Thanks so much for your question. To be honest with you, Islam has always fascinated me. My father is an Iraqi Jew. His parents were born and raised in Iraq — they lived their entire lives there. My grandparents from Iraq grew up coexisting with their Arab and Muslim neighbors. At Rutgers, I have been studying Arabic and think that it is a beautiful language. Because I also speak Hebrew, Arabic has been much easier to learn. I have many Muslim friends, and it is upsetting to me to hear the experiences that they encounter as Muslims today. It is especially frustrating to know that my Muslim residents, most of whom wear hijab, encounter daily discrimination. I am determined, through this project, to help demystify misperceptions about Islam and Muslim women.

08:44:30

JRabadov: Have you succeeded in bridging the religious differences between Muslim, Jewish, and Christian? If yes, what have you done so far to bridge the gap between these variety of cultures?

MECH Dalia: Hello, this is Dalia. I believe we have succeeded in bridging the religious differences between the three religious groups within the Middle East Coexistence House. By agreeing to live with each other, we also agreed to accept each other regardless of our faiths. We try to understand each other's points of view and learn more about each

other's backgrounds. We try to promote the message of coexistence outside our residence and show other people inside and outside our university what we have done.

MECH Samantha: In our "house class," an important thing that we do to bridge culture gaps is learn the history of different cultures and countries. We learn how the Middle East became what it is today and also about customs, traditions, and cultural practices. Sometimes we see similarities among cultures and philosophies that one may not expect. This practice is important because to help a conflict, you must understand it first.

08:53:54

IRC Cairo: Sara, hi, what about the influence of American Muslim intellectuals in Arab world?

MECH Sara: Personally, I strongly believe in the power of American Muslims in the Arab world. With the knowledge and education received in the United States, one can be very influential in the Middle East. I personally am planning to go back to Egypt to live after I graduate and hopefully somehow change health care in the Middle East.

09:00:22

IRC Cairo: How can a Muslim live in U.S.A now?

MECH Sara: Muslims live quite well in the United States today. After September 11, 2001, there was a huge movement from non-Muslims to understand Islam. And since there was this increase in discussion and debate about the religion, people started seeing that there are very simple and peaceful concepts in Islam. This made people less afraid and more tolerant and welcoming to Muslims. However, this isn't the case with everyone; I think it mainly depends on where you live. Many people still do not understand Islam and do not want to understand.

As a Muslim girl who wears my scarf, I encounter this first hand with mean remarks, but I handle it by being nice and kind to people and try and discuss their issues instead of just having people walk away still ignorant about Islam.

IRC Cairo: Samantha, how are you as a Christian girl able to deal with other people from different religions? And what is their image about [Coptic Christians] in the American society?

MECH Samantha: I was used to dealing with other religions because half of my family is also Jewish. When talking about Christianity in American society, I do find that a lot of people only talk about the evangelicals or extremely conservative Christians in the government. It is similar to the way people can stereotype Muslims as one certain thing. The more knowledgeable on the religion you are, the less this happens.

09:09:42

MECH Dalia: Thank you for your questions, everyone! Answering them was an enjoyable experience. I hope my answers provided insight into the life in the Middle East Coexistence House and the United States in general. Goodbye, everyone.

MECH Danielle: Hi, everyone. It has been a pleasure chatting with you. We greatly appreciate your support and interest. Please continue the valuable work you are doing all throughout the world in striving to create opportunities for dialogue among people of different faiths and ethnicities. It is vital that we are here for one another and that we participate actively in today's global society. Thank you all so much.

MECH Sara: I hope everyone found the Web chat productive. Thank you for this opportunity! I hope our message and project will continue to be spread so others can learn from it. Thanks again!

MECH Samantha: Thank you so much for your time. I hope this discussion helped you in understanding the house and our initiative.

The views expressed by the Web chat participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. government.