Can a Secretive Fraternal Order Bridge the Middle East’s Divides?

Inside a London Masonic lodge, a Kurdish Muslim, an Israeli Jew, and a Lebanese Christian have built friendships that politics and war might otherwise have made impossible.

A Muslim, a Jew, and a Christian walk into a lodge. It sounds like the beginning of an old joke. But here I am, sitting at a table at the heart of Freemasonry in central London, with three men who are masons.

Omaid is a Kurdish Muslim. Israel (or Izzy) is an Israeli Jew. Rami is a Lebanese Christian.

Under different circumstances, the three might never ha…