Americans deserve to know the Islam I encountered in Baku

At the recent World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, I heard Muslim leaders speak about Israelis and Palestinians with a balance too rarely heard in American public discourse.

They defended the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people while recognizing Israel’s right to live in peace. They spoke about Jews and Muslims as peoples whose futures are bound together. They presented coexistence as a religious and moral obligation rather than a political concession.

As an American rabbi who has spent more than two decades building Muslim-Jewish relations, I was encouraged by what I heard.

American perceptions of Islam are too often shaped by conflict, extremism and some of the most radical voices claiming to speak for Muslims.