Ora and Ihab Balha: A Jewish and Muslim Story of Love and Peace - Part 1

Although it seems that we live in a world filled with tragedy, especially as we hear about events in the Middle East, there are still so many people there doing good in the world. In today’s show, Lisa interviews Ora and Ihab Balha, a Jewish and Muslim couple living in Isreal who exemplify love, despite the extreme conflicts in which they are living. Together they co-founded “The Orchard of Abraham’s Children'' nonprofit organization, a holistic educational and communal organization dedicated to transforming Jewish-Arab relations for a shared future, as well as the “Human First Community Center” in Jaffa, Israel.

Ihab Balha explains as a Muslim man how he was challenged to a fight by a Jewish man who came running into a restaurant screaming hateful words toward Arabs. They got into a physical fight. Frequently this many would run into this restaurant shouting the same words and fighting with men there. Eventually Ihab decided to wait for him and attacked him outside. The Jewish man was surprised and said how they should schedule the next fight and invited him to fight at his home. Ihab talks about how they scheduled it, and when he arrived at the man’s house, the man broke down about his wife leaving him. This led to a conversation about the importance of love and human connection. Together they talked about relationships and spoke from their hearts.

They continued to meet, to talk, and to express their fears and anger. Slowly more Jewish people and Muslim people began to gather with them, just to talk. They decided to have a meeting in the Holy Land between the Israeli and Palestinian people. They were anticipating approximately 10 people. More than 300 showed up. They invited people from various religions including priests, Sufis, and rabbis. One man talked about his daughter being killed by an Israeli soldier. Another person talked about how a Palestinian man killed his son. Together they cried and shared their pain. Afterwards they hugged each other.

At the second meeting, more than 1000 people came and for the third meeting, more than 5,000 people of various religions attended. This was essentially the biggest peace project in Israel. They did not talk about politics – instead they talked about being Jewish, Muslim, and Christian. They built bridges.

Ora Balha talks about how she met Ihab when she was visiting the Sinai desert in Egypt. They saw each other and immediately fell in love. Even though Ora is Jewish and Ihab is Muslim, they talk about how love “took” them. It took over. They had to rise above cultural and societal differences. Ora moved in with Ihab in Jaffa. Because of the difficulties, they couldn’t share this with anyone, including their families. When Ora first met Ihab’s father, it was especially challenging. Their families could not get over their prejudices, but every time they met, Ora and Ihab would express only love. Finally, after a struggle of several years, their families accepted one another. It took time, but Ora and Ihab stayed true to their love. They also talked about the importance of choosing love. Even if you are afraid, when you choose love, people can see that and then reflect it.

They also discuss what happened when they had their son and how they educated him. He learned both Hebrew and Arabic at home. They celebrated all of each other’s holidays.

When it came time to send him to kindergarten, they couldn’t find a school that was teaching what they were at home, so they decided to start a kindergarten.  They were young and didn’t think about the future as much, so they started a very small school in Ihab’s father’s yard. Two children joined. They brought in both a Jewish teacher and a Muslim teacher.  The community started to hear about them. In the beginning, it was hard, but slowly more children joined. By the end of the first year, 16 children were involved. They opened a second group the following year and a third group by the third year. Currently they now have nine kindergartens, an elementary school, and a community center which focuses on adults. It offers music and activities. They have more than 100 staff members. The schools are mainly in Jaffa and Galilee, but they have other teacher training programs.

They also talked about the many challenges. There is so much fear and anger, resulting in separation. Ihab talks about how you must always be aware. It’s not easy for people to change. People are stuck with their past ideology. They live in their minds, and they forget about their hearts and what connections them. People feel stuck so they argue and fight. Ora and Ihab are trying to express something new, something from their hearts. They learned to listen to one another. This is a dynamic movement. They invite people to remember that we are human first. God chooses all of us. We complete each other. Info: www.orchardofabrahamschildren.org