Al Sharpton off to Holy Land

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he realized it is "time for real leaders to step beyond their bounds and sit down and talk about how we stop killing people that are innocent and civilians," Sharpton said at a news conference Tuesday in his Harlem headquarters.

Pressed for details, Sharpton said only that he plans to meet with religious leaders and victims of terrorism. He declined to specify how his trip is being funded.

Sharpton will be traveling with Rabbi Marc Schneier, president and cofounder of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who is known primarily for his books about Judaism's teachings on romantic relationships, particularly a bestseller called "Kosher Sex."

Schneier, who has been active in black-Jewish relations, is one of the few Jewish leaders to have met with the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader with a history of anti-Semitic comments.

The two rabbis sat on either side of Sharpton at the news conference and praised him for what they described as a gesture with broad implications.