Edinburgh Shalom Festival is a wonderful aspiration and I'm proud that my city can host such an ambitious event.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival needs bridges, not boycotts, to produce peace

john mclellan

 

The late professor John Erickson, who was director of the Centre for Defence Studies at the University of Edinburgh, succeeded in putting the city on the map as a haven for peaceful coexistence by instigating the Edinburgh Conversations during the Eighties. They allowed senior military leaders and diplomats from Nato and the Warsaw Pact countries to come together in seminars alternating between Edinburgh and Moscow. Attitudes thawed, friendships were formed and peace prevailed at a time of heightened mistrust between the east and west.

Is it possible that Edinburgh could once again become a haven for peaceful coexistence: a safe space where people from parts of the world that we associate with conflict can come together and show the world that Scotland’s capital city is a place of harmony and tolerance?

I certainly hope so, which is why I will be attending the International Shalom Festival, an exciting part of this year’s Fringe, which runs until August 10 at Drummond Community High School.

The Shalom Festival focuses on the rich and diverse cultural traditions of Israel and Palestine. The organisers believe that shalom, or peace, can only be achieved if it is based on democracy and respect for coexistence.

More than 2,000 people attended the first Shalom Festival last year. This year the organisers are running the event for three days rather than one to allow for even greater attendance.

Scotland needs cultural bridges, not boycotts, allowing people of different traditions and backgrounds to understand each other better and to plan a shared future together, based on cultural coexistence and religious and racial harmony.

To this end, the festival will bring more than 30 performers or exhibitors to Edinburgh. Among them are Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Israelis, Palestinians, Bedouins and city-dwellers, who together will show what a peaceful future might look like when mistrust and hatred is replaced by dialogue and debate.

It’s a wonderful aspiration and I’m proud that my city can host such an ambitious event. Edinburgh may be far away from the conflicts of the Middle East but this August I hope the warmth of the people and the culture of that region will melt the mistrust of even the coldest hearts.