Peacebuilding through Dialogue
AWR, Cairo, September 4, 2014
Farah wrote “The year 2014. A very dark page in the history of the Arab region. ISIS on the rise, more than 2000 people killed in Gaza, the civil war in Syria still ongoing, the stories we hear and the pictures we see can make us doubt whether there is still hope. However, after having spent a week in Dhour Chweir, Lebanon, I have regained my trust in the world.” How she regained trust in the world is explained here.
FDCD Banner
Source: Farah de Haan
The thirty youth worked on a message to the world that Arab-West Report and the Center for Arab-West Understanding fully support. Some excerpts from the message are:
“Peace does not magically happen. It is a time-consuming and hard process, which demands human attention and involvement. A process that begins when we start acting on and believing in our hopes for a better future. A process that begins when we turn a new page and try to leave behind the coldness of our violent history. When we start listening to each other and open our minds.
Identity Session
Source: Farah de Haan
This requires effort and dedication. Let us be ambitious and dedicated and keep trying to reach our goals, no matter the obstacles. Let us keep believing in ourselves and in our power as humans to make the change we want to see in the world.”
“Knowledge is the road to understanding and with understanding comes acceptance, respect and trust. It will teach us to live in harmony, that the language of love and humanity is stronger than war and hatred. Trust needs to be planted in the youth and the new generations since their beliefs and hopes are the future of peace promotion.”
The Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue (FDCD) in Lebanon has done a great job in bringing these youth together and showing them that hate and violence can be overcome. We much appreciate they gave Farah de Haan and 29 other youth a chance to participate!
With this, “we can insist on accomplishing our mission; believe and promote the richness of diversity through mutual understanding and respect. Trust is not a privilege but a necessity that needs to be built on. One step from me and one step from you. Together we can share a love that unites us as one big diverse family.”
Cornelis Hulsman
Editor-in-chief Arab-West Report
Emerging Perspectives on Intercultural and Interreligious Relations
Dialogue Across Borders is a database of summary translations of Arabic newspaper articles with references to their sources about intercultural and interreligious relations, focusing primarily but not exclusively on Muslim-Christian relations. The database also contains articles with editorial analysis and interviews on the subject.