By any measure you choose, anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe. But in Europe’s only Muslim country, Jews say they couldn’t feel more at home, reports Maya Shwayder,  Deutsche Welle. One-thousand Jews live in Muslim-majority Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 600-700 in Sarajevo. The community isn’t exactly growing, “[b]etween 2002 and 2012, there were 43 funerals and two newborn babies,” but is stable and there is very little anti-Semitism in the country. To get into Sarajevo’s main synagogue, you simply knock on the door: “there is no security guard, no metal detector, no pat-down and no intense questioning about who you are and why you are there.”

For complete article by Maya Shwayder, see: “ In Majority-Muslim Bosnia & Herzegovina, a Small Jewish Community Still Thrives.”

                                                                                                           Photo: DW/M Shwayder

Bosnia & Herzegovina is a beacon of hope for all who seek harmony when hatred prevails in the songs coming from various corners of our shared world.  A lesson is to be learned from Bosnia & Herzegovina. We are all Americans – Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, etc. and should also be reminded of the Global Citizen in all of us.

For more stories, see DiplomatArtist Category Archives: Cultural Diplomacy & Global Citizen.