A recent publication by Faith & Freedom News has drawn attention to the Abrahamic Movement in Iraq, an Iraqi interfaith initiative promoting dialogue among Muslims, Jews, and Christians through their shared connection to Abraham and the prophetic traditions that unite the three faiths.
For the Virtual Embassy of Iraq in Israel, developments such as this deserve attention.
Iraq is too often presented as a society in which dialogue with Jews, Israelis, or advocates of regional reconciliation is impossible. Yet Iraqi civil society is more diverse than that picture suggests.
There are Iraqis who believe that religion should serve as a bridge rather than a barrier. There are Iraqis interested in recovering the country's Jewish history. There are Iraqis who reject sectarianism and religious hatred. And there are Iraqis who believe that Muslims, Jews, and Christians can find common ground without abandoning their own identities or convictions.
The emergence of such voices matters.
An Iraqi Religious Argument for Dialogue
The Faith & Freedom News article presents reflections attributed to Sunni scholar Abu Musa al-Iraqi, with participation by Professor Tom Wegner, examining the relationship between Islam and Moses.
The discussion uses the Islamic account of the Isra and Mi'raj to emphasize the role of Moses in advising the Prophet Muhammad concerning the number of daily prayers prescribed to the Muslim community.
Rather than treating this episode only as religious history, the authors draw from it a broader message: Moses is portrayed within the Islamic tradition as showing concern for a community other than his own.
From this perspective, the story becomes an argument for compassion across religious boundaries.
The Abrahamic Movement presents Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as belonging to an interconnected history of monotheistic faith and argues that extremists and sectarian movements should not be allowed to turn religious differences into permanent hostility.
This is an important message for Iraq.
Iraq Has Its Own Abrahamic History
Interfaith reconciliation should not be presented to Iraqis as something imported from abroad.
It belongs to Iraq's own history.
For approximately 2,500 years, Jewish communities formed part of Mesopotamian and Iraqi civilization. Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, and other cities were once home to significant Jewish communities whose members contributed to Iraqi commerce, music, medicine, literature, education, government, and cultural life.
Christian communities likewise represent an ancient and inseparable part of Mesopotamian history.
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism therefore do not meet in Iraq merely as foreign religions encountering one another.
Recovering that understanding can contribute to reconciliation.
From Interfaith Dialogue to Regional Peace
The Virtual Embassy of Iraq in Israel believes that sustainable peace cannot be created exclusively through agreements between governments.
Political agreements matter enormously.
But treaties become stronger when societies are prepared to recognize one another as human beings rather than permanent enemies.
Religious dialogue can play an important role in that transformation.
It can challenge the idea that hostility between Muslims and Jews is inevitable.
It can remind Iraqis that Jewish civilization has deep roots in their own country.
It can create space for discussion of Iraqi-Jewish reconciliation.
And it can help separate contemporary political disagreements from religious hatred.
Supporting dialogue does not require Muslims, Jews, or Christians to erase theological differences.
Nor does Iraqi-Israeli reconciliation require Iraqis and Israelis to agree on every political question.
Peace means developing ways to live with disagreement without allowing disagreement to become permanent dehumanization.
Iraq Needs More Space for These Voices
Today, Iraq's political and legal environment makes open discussion of relations with Israel extremely difficult.
The Virtual Embassy of Iraq in Israel has repeatedly argued that peaceful dialogue should never be treated as a crime and that Iraqis should be free to debate their country's future relationships.
Those who oppose normalization should be free to express that position.
Those who advocate dialogue and eventual peace should have the same freedom.
Interfaith initiatives are particularly valuable because they demonstrate that reconciliation can emerge from within Iraqi and Islamic thought itself.
An Iraqi scholar citing Islamic tradition to advocate respect toward Jews and Christians challenges the claim that peaceful coexistence is somehow incompatible with Iraqi, Arab, or Muslim identity.
It is not.
Our Position
The Virtual Embassy of Iraq in Israel welcomes peaceful Iraqi civil-society initiatives that encourage:
- Muslim-Jewish-Christian dialogue;
- rejection of religious hatred and sectarianism;
- Iraqi-Jewish reconciliation;
- respect for Iraq's religious diversity;
- preservation of Jewish and Christian heritage;
- peaceful communication across political boundaries;
- and a future Middle East based on cooperation rather than inherited hostility.
They should be heard.
They should be allowed to participate in discussions about Iraq's future.
And they should not be dismissed simply because their vision challenges decades of political hostility.
The journey toward reconciliation between Iraqis and Israelis will require political courage, historical honesty, religious understanding, and sustained civil-society engagement.
Every Iraqi voice that chooses dialogue over hatred makes that journey a little less impossible.
Peace does not require us to become the same. It requires us to recognize one another.