Blog Posts for Lisa Saffron

Faith and sexuality

Lisa Saffron — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:06:08 -0700

True to our mission, Radio Salaam Shalom (www.salaamshalom.org.uk) brings Jews and Muslims together to celebrate, debate and share issues that shape our daily lives. One of the questions we use to start a dialogue is - 'what are you most proud of about being Jewish or Muslim?' For me the answer is clear - I'm most proud of my Jewish community's acceptance of my lesbian sexuality. Now sexuality is ...

1001 years of history - the story of Jews in Bristol (UK)

Lisa Saffron — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:31:12 -0700

“Bristol: ethnic minorities and the city. 1000-2001”. Written by Madge Dresser with Peter Fleming, this book covers a thousand and one years of the history of ethnic minorities in the port city of Bristol, UK. Madge is a Reader in History at the University of the West of England and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Much of her career has dealt with questions of national identity, ...

Radio Salaam Shalom’s latest podcast - Moazzam Begg, Noa, Arabesq and Media4Diversity

Lisa Saffron — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:47:19 -0700

Radio Salaam Shalom’s studios buzzed with music and chat as Carolyn, Farhan, Danyal and I created Podcast 12, the latest Jewish-Muslim programme. Fresh from a private session with ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, Danyal talked about the unexpected dialogue dividends. Moazzam is one of nine British Muslims who were held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detainment ...

The Trouble with Islam Today

Lisa Saffron — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:23:51 -0700

I highly recommend Irshad Manji’s book, The Trouble With Islam Today.She writes the book as an open letter to her fellow Muslims, challenging them to join her in Operation Ijtihad (read the book to find out what this is). She throws in a call to non-Muslims as well, urging us to be careful of the racism that comes from over-compensating. This book is an inspiration to reaffirm our ...

Listening to the Tune in Dialogue - February

Lisa Saffron — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:14:24 -0800

Have a look at my Listening to the Tune in Dialogue blog - you'll find out about my latest activities and thoughts. I hope you'll be inspired to add a comment and share what you've been doing. Read about my lessons in compassion, what Irshad Manji has to stay about coming out, an interesting dialogue tool for talking about Gaza, the Media4Diversity seminar in Prague and what Hitler's soul says ...

Creating a Positive Vision

Lisa Saffron — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:58:31 -0800

On the 22nd January, 30 people came to a meeting in Bristol (UK) to hold the people of Israel and Palestine in their hearts during this time of terrible conflict. Called by 3 friends (2 Jews and a Quaker), the purpose was to infuse public opinion with compassion. Why? Because we cannot even think of changing minds without first opening hearts. We believe the 9.5 million people living in ...

NaNoWriMo 2008

Lisa Saffron — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:05:21 -0700

What a good Idea this NaNoWriMo contest is! I'll do my best and see what happens.

Listening to the Tune in Dialogue

Lisa Saffron — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:52:43 -0700

For the last year, I've been involved with Radio Salaam Shalom, an internet radio station promoting Jewish-Muslim understanding and dialogue. I've had the privilege of interviewing inspiring peace activists, many working to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians. I've just set up a blog where I'm posting these interviews for anyone to listen to. Go to Listening to the Tune in Dialogue

The transformative power of writing a novel

Lisa Saffron — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:57:00 -0700

I used to make myself ill with rage. I didn’t and still don’t agree with the establishment of a Jewish state and I especially object to Israelis claiming to speak in my name. By focussing on stories of injustice, inhumanity and violence, I became irritable, tormented and self-righteous. In 2004, after years of outraged activism, I was in danger of slipping into apathy and powerlessness as ...

Checkpoint

Lisa Saffron — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:24:57 -0700

I'm a new Red Room author with my novel, Checkpoint. It's set in Israel and occupied Palestine covering the years 2002 to 2006. Checkpoint is my way of sharing my understanding of this tragic conflict with people interested in a more balanced view than you would normally get from listening to the news. My mother-in-law once said, "why can't they get on with each other? It's supposed to be ...