Abrahamic and inter-religious teams

In 2001 the Intercultural Council ("Interkultureller Rat") in Darmstadt developed the idea to form Abrahamic teams composed of Jewish, Christian and Muslim representatives for visits in schools and at parents' meetings and public events. For this purpose, the Intercultural Council cooperated with administrative bodies, migrant and human rights organisations and other societal groups and promoted the dialogue between the various groups.

At the events of the Abrahamic teams Jewish, Christian and Muslim positions on issues of co-existence were introduced briefly, followed by an open and critical dialogue. Up to the end of 2002 more than 50 Jewish, Christian and Muslim persons have volunteered to participate in such events. As a result of the funding by the Federal Agency for Political Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung), the Abrahamic teams were joined by inter-religious teams at the end of 2002. Up to now about 50 events with Abrahamic and inter-religious teams have been held.

The european forum for migrations studies carried out an evaluation of 4 events by the "Abrahamic and inter-religious teams". The evaluation focused on measuring the effects of the events as well as their sustainability with regard to the reduction of anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic prejudices.

As the composition of the Abrahamic and inter-religious teams varied in the different events and as the events didn't have a standardised organisational form, the evaluation emphazised qualitative-empirical methods. The researcher took records during the events and interviewed members of the teams, teachers and pupils.

Commissioned by: Intercultural Council (Interkultureller Rat, Darmstadt)
Completion: Autumn 2004
Researcher: Richard Wolf