Gratitude for friendship

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Tehmina Akbar and Amy Waldman are members of a Milwaukee-area group of Jewish and Muslim women who have built friendships across religious divides.

For years, their local chapter of The Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom has championed interfaith community. But after Hamas attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 and Israel began bombing Gaza, tension stirred among members, even leading to the shutdown of their group chat.

Eventually, friendship overcame difference: Group members began offering one another words of comfort.

The key, Waldman said, is the trust the women have built. Knowing "their heart is in the right place," makes it easier to bring up something hard, said Waldman, who is Jewish.

"We're still in the eye of the storm," said Akbar, who is Muslim. "You have to be able to say, OK, I can sit down at the table with these 20 women and disagree with them."

Both women understand a group in Wisconsin engaging in civil dialogue won't entirely change an issue that's stymied the Middle East and, to some degree, the world. But if they want things to be different for future generations, both women said, they have to start building bridges.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gratitude for friendship