The BA Witnesses the Inaugural Meeting of the Middle East Council of Religious Leaders - Religions for Peace
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Alexandria—
The Inaugural Meeting of the Middle East Council of Religious Leaders - Religions for Peace, was held at the BA on Monday, 14 July 2008. Participants were religious leaders in the Middle East; Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunis, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates.
At the outset of the meeting, Ambassador Ali Maher welcomed the participants, on behalf of Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, and the Honorary President of Religions for Peace. Ambassador Maher stated that the establishment of the Middle East Council of Religious Leaders - Religions for Peace is a significant step towards promoting the culture of peace among states and peoples. He also referred to the role played by the Council to reach a just solution to the Palestinian cause and praised the endeavors of the religious leaders, participating in the meeting, in strengthening the values of co-existence and described them as beacons for humanity.
Dr. Ali El-Seman, the Secretary-General of the Committee for Dialogue among Religions at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Egypt, stressed that the message to promote dialogue among religions did not reach the public yet, and added that this is the real challenge that should be addressed by the Council. He maintained that there is no such thing as conflict between religions and what is happening now is a sheer conflict between political leaders, who use religion to achieve their own targets.
His Beatitude Michel Sabbah mentioned, in his introductory remarks, that undoubtedly dialogue is still missing among people and that in order to promote values of dialogue and understanding, educational curricula internationally need to be amended in order to introduce values of peace and dialogue among all concerned parties. He added that “the other” is usually viewed as an enemy, a notion that need to be changed, so that “the other” would rather be seen as a brother and friend. He affirmed that all religions urge peace and reject violence.
Dr. William Vendley said that Religions for Peace work on local, regional, and international levels to advance common action among the religious communities for peace. He added that the geographic scope of the Council include member states of the League of Arab States, as well as Cyprus, Iran, and Turkey. He also mentioned that the Council will include representatives from the three Holy Religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
On the meeting second day, Tuesday, 15 July 2008, Dr. Serageldin will give a lecture entitled “Wealth, Poverty and Exclusion – Economic Challenges to Peace in the Middle East”. Geir O. Pedersen, Former UN Undersecretary General, Lebanon, will also give a lecture entitled “Religions in Partnership for Peace in the Middle East: Perspectives from an International Observer”. Another session to respond to challenges for peace will follow.