HARGEISA, SOMALILAND — Throughout history, relations between Muslims and Jews have moved across wide terrain: periods of peaceful coexistence and intellectual cooperation, commercial partnership and cultural exchange, as well as periods of conflict and mistrust. In today’s interconnected world, a growing network of Abrahamic, Muslim–Jewish, and interfaith organizations is working to widen the terrain of cooperation — fostering dialogue, promoting mutual respect, and reducing religious and political tensions across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Asia.

Writing from the Republic of Somaliland — where different communities have long practiced peaceful coexistence — Mohamed Abdi Hassan Seed, Founder of the African Abrahamic Movement and Co-Founder of the Israel–Somaliland Friendship Association (ISFA), offers a clear-eyed assessment of what these organizations have achieved, the significant obstacles they face, and the practical reforms that could strengthen their long-term impact. His analysis draws on direct experience building interfaith infrastructure across the Horn of Africa and beyond.

The most significant contribution of Abrahamic organizations, Seed argues, is the creation of safe spaces where Muslims, Jews, and Christians can engage in respectful dialogue — face to face, across lines that media and politics typically treat as impassable. Personal interaction, he observes, transforms perceptions more effectively than political debates, challenging stereotypes, correcting misinformation, and building the kind of relationships that create durable goodwill rather than fragile agreements.

Beyond dialogue, Seed highlights the quiet but consequential work of youth leadership development — investing in the next generation through leadership training, peace education, conflict resolution skills, and international exchanges. Academic and educational research, he adds, contributes to evidence-based policymaking, while some organizations have developed the credibility to facilitate unofficial dialogue between civil society leaders and policymakers when official negotiations are at an impasse.

Seed is equally candid about the obstacles that limit this work’s effectiveness. The most corrosive, he argues, is politicization: when organizations are perceived as advancing political agendas rather than genuine reconciliation, their credibility erodes and their convening power diminishes. Maintaining independence and transparency, he writes, is not a luxury but a prerequisite for remaining useful.

He also cautions against unrealistic expectations: dialogue alone cannot resolve every political conflict, and peacebuilding organizations should complement — not claim to replace — diplomatic negotiations, legal frameworks, economic development, and community reconciliation processes. The clearer organizations are about what they can and cannot do, the more effectively they can do it.

Seed’s recommendations are practical rather than aspirational. He calls for deeper engagement with schools, universities, mosques, synagogues, churches, community centers, and women’s organizations — recognizing that local ownership is what turns conferences into lasting change. He emphasizes expanding educational programs in religious literacy, shared Abrahamic history, and civic responsibility, and investing meaningfully in youth through scholarships, leadership academies, and peace fellowships.

On transparency, he is direct: organizations should maintain clear governance, financial accountability, independent oversight, measurable outcomes, and regular public reporting. Public confidence in interfaith work depends not only on the nobility of the mission but on demonstrable integrity in how it is carried out.

Abrahamic, Muslim–Jewish, and interfaith organizations have made real and significant contributions to promoting dialogue, reducing prejudice, supporting humanitarian cooperation, and encouraging peaceful coexistence. Their limitations — political polarization, constrained resources, misinformation, and security risks — are equally real. Long-term success depends on inclusive leadership, grassroots engagement, educational investment, transparency, and sustained collaboration across religious, cultural, and national boundaries.

Peace, Seed concludes, is not achieved through dialogue alone — but dialogue remains an essential foundation for mutual understanding and cooperation. And by embracing the shared ethical teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — justice, compassion, mercy, and respect for human dignity — these organizations can continue to play a constructive role in building more peaceful and inclusive societies, from Hargeisa to the wider world.