How to enable positive energies through dialogue

On the 7th March 2019, our Executive Director Yehuda Stolov was invited at the United Nations in Geneva Switzerland for the conference on “Freedom of religion or belief, gender equality and the Sustainable Development Goals: Enabling positive synergies”. A good opportunity for Dr. Stolov to present the work of the Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA) and to engage with actors from different religions.

Michael Suhr, Special Representative on Freedom of Religion or Belief of Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Aud Marit Wiig, Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief from Norway, opened the session. The conference was moderated by Ibrahim Salama, Human Rights Treaties Branch, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Azza Karam, UNFPA/UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Yehuda Stolov introduced the work of IEA: “Our main task is to create and maintain many groups made of people from different religious backgrounds throughout the Holy Land. We are building bridges among communities and neighborhood. We have thousands of participants across Israel and Palestine”.

When asked about how to enable synergies, Dr. Stolov highlighted the importance of dialogue: “There are types of “dialogues” which actually include no dialogue – but series of monologues. What I would like to talk about is active dialogue, when participants share their depths, their beings, their souls… we believe in open and sincere conservations, with mutual respect, and without dictating to the other what to do or to think. It is important to talk and to listen to each other, with respect, and to share our own view in the same way”.

But as we all know, there are many conflicts rising in the region. Yehuda Stolov confirms “Of course, you do not ignore the disagreements. Again, the key is respect. Listening and learning from someone you disagree with is very enriching. You learn how to be able to interact with other views, and this makes you think and rethink yours”.

Like for the other speakers, Dr. Stolov stressed the key role of religions: “We aim for peaceful relationships made of mutual friendship and care. We do this by using religions as our main tool. As you know, religions can be a powerful tool that can be misused to create negativity, but it is also a powerful tool which could create positive and effective synergies”.

The other speakers of this event were:

-Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
-Kathleen Thein, Hindu Women Association, Myanmar
-Nahla Haidar, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
-Nasaruddin Umar, Grand Imam, Istiqlal Mosque, Indonesia
-Nontando Hadebe, Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, South Africa
-Simona Cruciani, UN Office on Genocide Prevention and Responsibility to Protect

This conference launched a one-year expert consultation process, to which Yehuda Stolov has been appointed to participate. The purpose of the process is to explore the positive synergies, dilemmas and obstacles that may emerge in this relationship, and to discuss and draw up indicative examples of possible future projects showcasing the positive synergies identified.