Bruno Hussar
Bruno Hussar | |
|---|---|
برونو هسار | |
Grave of Bruno Hussar in Neve Shalom | |
| Born | André Hussar 5 May 1911 |
| Died | 8 February 1996 |
| Citizenship | British, Egyptian, French, Israeli |
| Education | École Centrale Paris |
| Occupation | Priest of the Order of Preachers (from 1960) |
| Known for | Jewish-Catholic relations Christian Zionism Founder of Neve Shalom |
| Notable work | Nostra aetate Decretum de Iudaeis |
Bruno Hussar (Egyptian Arabic: برونو هسار, Hebrew: ברונו הוסאר; 5 May 1911 – 8 February 1996) was the founder of Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam ("Oasis of Peace"), an Arab/Jewish village in the no man's land between Israel and Palestinian territories, dedicated to coexistence. Hussar derived the name from the book of Isaiah (32:18): "My people shall dwell in an oasis of peace". Born in Cairo, he converted to Roman Catholicism while studying engineering in France. He was a genuinely 'transnational transcultural and multilingual' individual.
Before he founded the village, Hussar established the House of Isaiah in Jerusalem, a Jewish-Catholic ecumenical study center. He came to Jerusalem to establish this institution in 1952. For many years, he was also a leader and priest for the Hebrew Christians, a tiny congregation of Hebrew-speaking Catholic residents and Israeli Jewish converts to Catholicism.