On 9 September 2026, the MJLC participated in a high-level side event in Geneva, convened by the World Jewish Congress during the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Bringing together ambassadors, diplomats, religious leaders, UN representatives and civil society participants, the side event offered a space for a substantive conversation on human dignity, religious leadership, dialogue and peaceful coexistence.
Representing the MJLC were Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Co-Chair of the MJLC Board, and Mufti Prof. Dr Faid Mohammed Said, MJLC Board Member. Their participation brought a decade of sustained MJLC engagement in Muslim-Jewish cooperation into an international conversation on the responsibilities of religious leadership and the importance of preserving dialogue.
A conversation grounded in human dignity
What followed was a lively and substantive exchange. Chief Rabbi Schudrich and Mufti Said responded to questions and reflections from the Ambassadors of Morocco, Canada, the Netherlands, Azerbaijan and Portugal, as well as a representative of the United Kingdom and other participants.
At the centre of the discussion was a principle shared across both religious traditions: the dignity of every human being, and the responsibility of faith leaders to uphold it.
Mufti Said grounded his reflections in Islamic teachings on the inherent dignity and worth of every human being, emphasizing that this principle also places a responsibility on religious leadership to uphold human dignity whenever it is diminished or misunderstood.
As he expressed it:
“Human dignity and human honor belong to every person. Whenever religion is misunderstood in ways that diminish that dignity, we must stand up to say so.”
Chief Rabbi Schudrich, drawing on Jewish teachings concerning the shared origins and inherent dignity of humanity, likewise reflected on the relationship between religion and human rights:
“Human rights emerge from a correct understanding of religion and of the value and dignity of every human being.”
The exchange brought these two perspectives into a shared conversation - different religious traditions speaking in their own voices, yet meeting around a common recognition of human dignity and the responsibility that comes with religious leadership.
The meaning of continuing to meet
The significance of the Geneva side event lay not only in the questions discussed, but also in the presence of the two MJLC leaders sitting together and addressing those questions together.
For a decade, the MJLC has brought Muslim and Jewish religious leaders into sustained dialogue, creating a relationship built not simply through statements, but through the continued practice of meeting, listening and working together.
This was particularly visible in Geneva. Ambassadors and other participants expressed their appreciation for seeing Muslim and Jewish religious leaders sitting side by side and engaging together with the same questions. Their presence offered something more enduring than a single exchange: a reminder that dialogue is sustained through relationships, and that those relationships acquire their greatest significance when they are maintained with openness and commitment.
As Chief Rabbi Schudrich put it:
“Division and hostility are not what God wants from us.”
The message was therefore not simply that dialogue is possible. It was that dialogue becomes meaningful when it is lived - when people continue to sit together, listen to one another, speak openly and preserve the channels through which understanding can grow.
Carrying the work forward
The conversation also turned towards the future through the MJLC’s Ambassadors Programme, which seeks to engage a new generation in Muslim-Jewish dialogue and leadership.
For the Council, investing in younger voices is part of ensuring that dialogue does not remain the responsibility of one generation alone, but can develop into a lasting culture of encounter, understanding and cooperation.
The Geneva side event offered the MJLC a moment to bring a decade of Muslim-Jewish engagement into view - not simply as a record of meetings and shared initiatives, but as a living relationship sustained through dialogue, trust and cooperation, and through the willingness to remain present to one another. It was a reflection of what the MJLC has built over the past decade, and of its responsibility to carry that work forward: preserving the space for dialogue and cooperation today while nurturing the voices that will sustain it for generations to come.
The presence of Chief Rabbi Schudrich and Mufti Said together at the United Nations conveyed a simple but powerful message:
“In challenging times, continuing to sit together, listen together and work together is itself an act of leadership.”
Watch: the Geneva side event
Watch the full discussion, “Building Bridges: Muslim-Jewish Dialogue and the Path to Peaceful Coexistence”, convened by the World Jewish Congress in Geneva.
Photographs courtesy of the World Jewish Congress.
