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Speeches
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T. Hamad: World Interfaith Harmony Week
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
We need to adapt a new belief, that the center of life is heart, not our heart, but God’s heart, who loves and cares for everyone as parents care for their children. Of course, not everyone has a religious or spiritual view of life, so we must also recognize the rights of these people and work in harmony with them to the extent it does not violate basic principles of God. That is why we must also motivate and encourage people to develop the spiritual side of their essence, in order to be truly human.
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E. Glaubach-Gal: Interfaith Climate Change
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
This paper attempted to touch on research about interfaith activities and peacebuilding in the present reality. It focused on offering valuable conceptualizations on peacemaking through interfaith dialogue organizations as peace building actors. The goal is to reveal methods and explore new dynamics that have the potential to enhance interfaith dialogue and promote peaceful coexistence among people and nations.
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M. Jenkins: The Role of the Religious Leader in Peacemaking
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Faith leaders who are guided by the love of God are crucial in leading the path to peace. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that he grew to understand non-violence through Gandhi, who was influenced by Tolstoy. He also says he was greatly influenced by Jesus and his teaching that we must love our enemy. But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends.
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O. Al-Mallakh: The Monotheistic Family’s Common Book
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Let us gather around this book of David in the spirit of interfaith cooperation, exalting in the love of God. Here in Jerusalem, surely we will find courage to embark on the road of understanding and collaboration among the members of the family of Abraham. Let us start reading it together. Let us teach the Psalms/Tehillim/Zabur to our children, to the leaders of the next generation, so they know that we are not strangers to each other. We are kin, the children of Abraham who found favor with God the Almighty.
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J. Montville: The Roots of Religious Extremism
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
I would like to take part in a wider conversation in which Jews and Muslims—separately and together—offer each other their versions of peace’s meaning for careful and thoughtful consideration. The outcomes of these conversations might supplement the debate about the Middle East conflict and its proposed political solutions with new alternatives. Better still, this conversation might generate organically Jewish and Muslim motivations for putting an end to hostilities.
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M. Braybrooke: No Future Without Forgiveness
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
It is easy to talk about forgiveness, but I know how difficult it is even in ordinary life. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it is for those whose loved ones have been killed or tortured, but the only hope for healing and lasting peace is for us to mirror the forgiveness of God.
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S. Ben Ami: The Sacrifice of Isaac
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
As responsible parents, how can we lead our beloved sons and daughters to the rituals of slaughter? As really responsible parents, we should throw away the differences of our religions, nationalities, races, colors, and all boundaries. We must stop sacrificing our children. Our responsibility as religious leaders and as children of God is to be the conscience of our people and nations.
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S. Zakhem: The UN and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Jews and Arabs are both Semites. They have one earthly father and the same Heavenly Father. They belong to one global family under God. It is about time they sit and talk and agree to live in peace and in brotherhood. Palestinians should forgive the past and seek peace with their cousins the Jews; and the Jews should end their occupation of the Palestinian territories and treat the Palestinians with the dignity that every human being deserves.
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R. Cohen: The Arab Spring: Myth or Reality?
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Perhaps by future developments in Arab countries there can be a rise to power of real liberal political forces, compromise seekers, real peace seekers, and only if a political upheaval could occur in Israel bringing to power a government with the will and ability to end the policy of occupation and settlements, only then is there a real chance of advancing the peace process.
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M. Balcomb: Religion as an Obstacle to Peace?
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
As we are here in Jerusalem, perhaps it is fitting that the final metaphor or symbol for hospitality could be the reopening of “The Tent of Abraham.” Just as according to Jewish legend Abraham and Sara pitched their tent on a crossroads and kept it open on all four sides as an indication of hospitality to all comers, may our efforts here construct a new tent of welcome!
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A.J. Sajid: Common Moral Grounds for the Common Good
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Unity, diversity, and hope. We have seen that history has not ended and civilizations have not clashed even after September 11, 2001 and Gulf War I or II. Institutions, nations, groups, and all decent individuals must work together and shape the modern world as peaceful place. It is our collective responsibly to give the hope and make this happen.
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M. Frenschkowski: Peace in the Near East
- Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The impact of religion on peace and conflict, on violence and the dynamics of peacemaking is highly charged with ideologies, with many uncertainties and difficulties. What can academic science, in particular what can the field of Religious Studies contribute to the ongoing processes of struggling for peace?