“Facing Outward and Inward: What is the work of Jewish and Muslim friends in navigating their own faith communities in the UK, whilst the ongoing conflict in the Israel-Palestine region continues to impact on diaspora communities?

As the conflict in the Israel-Palestine region continues, committed friends and interfaith relationships have been severely strained across the globe, and the past eighteen months have been catastrophic for many of the friendships forged between Jews and Muslims in the UK.

Nevertheless, despite the polarised voices and radical opinions, some friendships have flourished. Through auto-ethnography and more recent anthropological work on friendship, this session will work to disentangle the complications of a robust friendship across religious belief, political affiliation, and the expectations and allegiances of a person’s own faith community.