Rabbi David Rosen, International Director of Interreligious Affairs at the American Jewish Committee, spoke with HuffPost Live at Davos about the recent attacks in Paris, and condemned those who blamed the Muslim community for the act of terror.
“The guy who basically took on, who protected, most, many people who would have been victims of that was a Muslim,” Rosen said, referring to Lassana Bathily, who hid customers from a gunman at a Paris kosher market where he works.
“It’s obvious to anybody, any fair minded person, that the actions of these terrible extremists that have done such horrendous crimes do not reflect the vast majority of Muslims,” he added.
Rosen said there’s a “very clear double standard” when it comes to the Western world’s reaction to the Paris terror attacks versus the Boko Haram murders.
“The kind of coverage we give, or the kind of reaction we have, is very different,” Rosen said, noting he thinks “we are closest to that which are closest to us.”
Rosen also spoke to HuffPost Live about religious issues around the world, saying “secular” and “religion” shouldn’t be seen as “antithetical.”
“Religion is unhealthy without secular society because the most dangerous thing for religion is when it’s married to political power,” Rabbi Rosen said.
Rosen argued that while there are a growing group of atheists in the world, they’re still a small faction compared with religious and “spiritual” communities.
“The search for meaning and of a higher dimension to our existence is there, even in secular society,” Rabbi Rosen said, calling religion a “powerful and potent force.”
“Religion is essentially a vehicle for the upliftment of humanity,” he added.
Below, more updates from the 2015 Davos Annual Meeting:
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Guilherme Leal, Co-chairman of the board of directors of Natura Cosmeticos, talks about the B-Team’s efforts on climate justice.
Abousteit said she thinks there should be more women at Davos.
“I just think there should be a very hard quota, 50/50, to make sure there’s enough women there,” she said. “[Davos should] also give women a chance who are not in that position yet, that they couldn’t get to because there is a glass ceiling… give them a chance to get more visibility.”
Abousteit said making clothes isn’t about saving money.
“It’s not about the saving,” she said. “It’s about doing something that makes you happy.”
Nora Abousteit advocated for doing a job that you love.
“I studied what my passion was… but then I saw an opportunity at work that made my heart beat faster, and I pursued that, and it was always about a gut feeling,” she said.
She said working in a field she’s passionate about makes it easier to get through hard times.
Nora Abousteit, founder and CEO of Kollabora and the Kollaborator Network, said her company helps people “start making.”
Abousteit said she knitted the sweater she wore on HuffPost Live while she was on her honeymoon.
Abousteit she grew up crafting, knitting with her mother and welding with her father. She said she saw growth in people wanting to know the origins of their products and wanting the experience of production, which is what inspired her company.
“I realized there was a lot of potential, because a lot of young people were staring to make things,” she said.
