PEACE with Penny SEASON 4: Penny S. Tee Interviews Yehuda Stolov of Interfaith Encounter Association, November 8, 2022

At PEACE with Penny we had the pleasure of speaking with Yehuda Stolov of Interfaith Encounter Association or IEA. The IEA provides hope and works to build bridges between Jews, Muslims, Christians and others, based on tradition and culture without any political agenda. The IEA was founded 21 years ago, has 119 groups, hosts 4300 Events and Encounters and has 4000 people participate each year. From the Upper Galilee to Eilat, are you surprised to hear that Israelis and West Bank Palestinians meet on a regular basis? Within the groups, participants have meaningful exchanges which bring them closer to each other. Prejudice, hostility and suspicion are transformed into direct relationships, mutual respect and friendships.

Dr. Yehuda Stolov is the executive director of the Interfaith Encounter Association. He has lectured on the role of religious dialogue in peace-building throughout the world, including Jordan, India, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, North America and Europe. He also has published many papers on related issues.

In 2006, he was awarded the Immortal Chaplains Foundation Prize for Humanity, which honors those who “risked all to protect others of a different faith or ethnic origin”; and in 2015 he was awarded the IIE Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East.

Dr. Stolov was a member of the International Council of the International Association for Religious Freedom and a member of the steering committee for the United Nations Decade of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace. He holds a Bachelors and Master of Science in Physics and a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is married and father of three children, living in Jerusalem. It’s safe to say he is a busy man

Thanks to our PEACE with Penny listeners and if you would like to listen again or to any of our previous interviews, you can find them on our YouTube Channel or at PennySTee.com under Podcasts.

May You Live in Peace, שלום and سلام.