Building TRUST

22 September 2010

Trust WIN CC | Middle East and North Africa Region

Elana Rozenman entered into interfaith work after her son was seriously wounded in a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 1997. One of the doctors who treated him was an Arab, as was a male nurse who stayed up with her all night while she awaited the outcome of his surgery. “Immediately, there was no way for me to go into a feeling of vengeance,” she said. “We are all victims of the violence in our region.” Her Cooperation Circle, the TRUST WIN CC (Women’s Interfaith Network) organizes social events, teen projects and pilgrimages to bring Muslim, Christian and Jewish women together. Elana finds that sharing meals in each other's homes and getting make-up done together breaks down barriers among women better than any formal dialogue. The URI network is her second family: It provides essential support for work that many of her peers would consider traitorous.