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The Middle East Coexistence House: Women Bridging Religious and Ethnic Divides

Photo courtesy of Danielle Josephs

Danielle Josephs, Dalia Gheith, Sara Elnakib and Samantha Shanni Date: Wednesday, 4 April 2007 Time: 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) View Webchat Transcript

Interfaith dialogue and the efforts of young Americans to bridge religious and ethnic differences is the subject of a USINFO webchat focusing on the experiences of students living in a special dormitory at Rutgers University in New Jersey. There, 11 female students of various beliefs — Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Agnostic — are living and studying side-by-side in a dormitory called the Middle East Coexistence House. The students — some born in America, some first-generation Americans, and others originally from the Middle East and elsewhere — come to live in the house with the goals of learning about each other and issues of mutual importance in the Middle East, and of improving relations between Muslims and Jews. Please join dormitory founder Danielle Josephs and residents Dalia Gheith, Sara Elnakib and Samantha Shanni on April 4 for a webchat on this student-driven effort at achieving cross-cultural mutual understanding.

Guest Biography:

Danielle Josephs is a senior at Douglass College double-majoring in political science and Middle Eastern studies. The daughter of an American mother and an Israeli father, Josephs has always had an interest in the Middle East and is working to realize her goal of becoming a Middle East negotiator/policymaker. Danielle founded the Middle East Coexistence House with the dual aim of bridging the gaps between Jewish/Israeli and Arab/Muslim/Christian women at Rutgers University and encouraging women’s involvement in international conflict resolution and negotiation.

Dalia Gheith is a freshman at Douglass College. Gheith is of Palestinian origin, and lived in Saudi Arabia and Jordan for 11 years before coming to the United States.

Sara Elnakib is a young Muslim woman studying Nutritional Sciences at Rutgers University in hopes of eventually working with the World Health Organization to eradicate world hunger. Elnakib was born in Egypt and came to the United States when she was 3 years-old.

Samantha Shanni will be a sophomore majoring in psychology at Rutgers University. Shanni finds the Middle East Coexistence House important because she believes peace can only be achieved through knowledge and understanding.