Last year on Oct. 4, Rachel Miner had a flight planned to Israel. She was going to see her two friends Yael Admi and Reem Hajajreh. Admi and Hajajreh had jointly planned a march for peace — Admi is a leader in an Israeli women’s peace organization and Hajajareh is a leader in a Palestinian women’s peace organization.
Miner felt uneasy about making the trip. As the founder and CEO of Bellwether International, a group that responds to genocides with humanitarian aid, she said, “I’ve traveled to a lot of scary places. I work in genocide communities, but for whatever reason, my spiritual intuition was to not go.”
Three days later, Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than a thousand Israelis, including women and children. Miner was supposed to stay at her friend Vivian Silver’s home. Silver was abducted by Hamas and later confirmed dead.
“I was beside myself, not really sure how they were going to build peace,” said Miner.
Miner told this story at a symposium held Thursday in West Valley City, called “Bridging Religious Divides: Women’s Role in Building Bridges.” Sponsored by Utah Global Diplomacy and Bellwether International, the event brought together women of different faiths to discuss what is women can do to cross religious divides and build peace.