October 30 , 2008

Religious Conference closes with promise of greater communication between religions

By wala' al bakri and manar shomaly

The Second International Conference on Christian-Muslim Relations 2008, with the theme "The Influence of Media and Education on Christian-Muslim Relations", finished its eighth session at Bethlehem University on Friday, October 17th with a panel discussion on religious coexistence.

During three days of presentations, the conference hosted hundreds of participants and saw many successful presentations. In the last session of the conference, Br. Peter Iorlano, Coordinator of Institutional Values at Bethlehem University, introduced the participants who presented their experiences of coexistence and dialogue through their careers.

"Faith-sharing between teenagers leads to teach them respect," said Dr. Michel Sansour, the principal of Freres College in Bethlehem. “Teaching teenagers the respect to develop the sense of responsibility and justice, make them listen to others and balance things out through critical thinking.

“We should not interfere in the other’s beliefs and I think that the difference in the mythology of teaching religions is the major challenge,” he continued.

Focusing on the nature of relations between Christian and Muslim students at schools, Mrs. Widad Khoury, the principal of Beit Sahour Public High School for girls, said that throughout her time in education she did not witness any discrimination between Christians and Muslims as they were interdependent with each other. Yet in recent years she has noticed some sensitivities and conflicts between the students. Also, she added: “As a member of the Ministry of Education, this year our aim is ‘Education for Ethics’ and these religious conflicts do not benefit us as Palestinians.”

Many participants from the audience suggested creating mixed classes between Christians and Muslims at schools in order to let the students realize that there are many similarities between both religions.

"It's a neutral place," said Dr. Paula Caridi, an Italian journalist who described her experience in living in Cairo among Christian-Muslim communities. She sent her son to Arab schools and found that Christian-Muslim relations were different from her own perceptions and also from European perceptions.

She said journalism attempts to explain the truth to the public and show that Palestinians are open-minded and always developing themselves, striving to achieve their own curriculum despite the absence of a Palestinian state. But unfortunately, all these attempts by the media are not very successful.

At the end, all presenters agreed on the need for knowing and understanding other cultures as in both cases these religious texts are the “words of God” and they have the same purpose, which is self- discipline.  

"Problems are our motive to continue our message,” said Fr. Jamal Khader, ending the last session in the religious conference.   He said Bethlehem University thanks all the participants, students, guests, faculty and staff who contributed in the success of this event, and he hopes to host a third religious conference next year.    

Bethlehem University is most grateful to the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), the Friends of Bethlehem University in England and Wales (FoBU-UK), Catholic Relief Service (CRS) - Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Office, and the Pontifical Mission in Jerusalem (PMP) for their generous support and co-sponsorship of this year's conference.