About 5 years ago, in the midst of the Intifada and suicide bombings, some of the leaders of  main religions of Jerusalem came together for a  very unique press conference.

No, they did not call for peace. Nor did they offer a joint prayer for those who had been injured or killed. They could barely bring themselves to shake hands with each other.

The issue was the proposed march through the holy city by a group of homosexuals, lesbians and their supporters. The leading clerics – Muslim, Christian and Jew – were appalled and demanded the cancellation of the walk.

The calls fell on deaf ears. In fact, the walk has also taken place every year since then. And we all thought that we would not see such a sign of religious unity again, at least until after Israel had won the world cup.

Wrong!

This time, the rallying cry has not been to do with “settlement building”. Nor unsupervised excavations by the Wakf in the Old City. Not even the divisive management of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. No – we are talking about rain, or rather the lack of it.

It is mid November, and barely a drop of water has fallen in Israel this month. In fact, a heatwave is predicted for the next few days. The Kinneret, a main water resource, is running dry. Desalinization will only become fully effective in about 3 years. The country has a major problem.

So, several religious leaders – Jew, Muslim and Christian – came together last Friday for a joint prayer session. It took place in an Arab village, just outside Jerusalem.

Will it work? Will it be more successful than the previous act of unity? It will take a brave person to predict the future.

However, the event itself can be seen as one small drop in helping to make the garden of coexistence grow, despite the terrible environment. Long may their efforts continue.