Tracing Abraham's path to Mideast peace
Two researchers are following the footsteps of the religious patriarch in the hope that people will rediscover their common roots.
from the February 13, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
A test-run meets enthusiastic response
Last November, after three years of research and gathering supporters from different faiths, Ury and people from 10 countries set out on a 12-day study tour through all of the countries through which the path would initially run. The goal was to test the feasibility of the path and to seek support from many realms: tourism ministry officials, economic and religious leaders, and nongovernmental organizations.
They found an enthusiastic response almost everywhere, even in the places where it might be a hard sell, such as in Syria and Israel.
Taking on obstacles slowly
Just in mentioning those countries, the potential obstacles in the path spring up almost immediately.
Is a Syrian government about to give out visas to Israelis? Would the average American or European feel safe traveling there? Will Israel give out visas to Muslims from around the region to walk through the part of the path that will wind into its territory?
"We have to go slowly," Ury acknowledges. Parts of the path could takes years to establish, and its founders say that they don't plan to play Pollyannas about some of the harsh realities on the ground.
"On the trip, from the point of view of religious, social, and economic relations, we found that the idea had a lot of resonance and despite the difficulties and issues, and we got a green light to really proceed. Now what we're faced with is how to assist, how to inspire the actual building of the path."
In this, the spotlight falls on Jordan. Already a tourist destination, it has long been keen to promote itself to visitors. A majority of those, however, come for just a few days and miss a plethora of sites of Judeo-Christian and Muslim interest – often located at the same site.
Here, for example, people can look out from Mt. Nebo, where the Torah describes Moses as viewing the holy land. Nearby is a pilgrimage site that Muslims have dedicated to the legendary figure Al Khadir and that local Christians revere as a shrine to St. George.
On this drizzling winter's day near the medieval Ajlun Castle, visibility is low. But despite that, the two researchers load up their equipment and hop into the jeep, visiting religious sites that will be included in a guide about the Abraham Path through Jordan. They hope to have the path open to visitors by the spring of 2008, the first leg of a path that will open gradually.
Many of the sites, while holding various levels of importance in the religious narrative of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, are not directly related to the exact places Abraham is believed to have walked. Rather, they touch on the descendants of Abraham and the revered religious figures who are seen as having continued on the path he started.
"We don't feel confined by scripture alone," Adamson says. "Three billion people in the world belong to the family of Abraham, and we're thinking of it like a moving celebration of him."
The project does more than bring people of different faiths together to talk, emphasizes Adamson.
"We're not talking at each other across a table, we're walking together side-by-side."
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