Ecumenism Brings Arabs Together in Cairo to Confront Hate Speech
Professor Michel Abs
The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)
The regional conference “Countering Hate Speech to Promote Human Dignity and Living Together,” held in Cairo on October 4 and 5, was not merely a passing academic gathering. Rather, it was a distinctly Arab moment centered on a pressing question: How can we protect people from words that begin with exclusion and end by tearing society apart and igniting violence? The conference brought together researchers, religious leaders, and experts from several Arab countries in a gathering that reflected the breadth of shared concerns and a common aspiration for a safer and more cohesive future.
The conference was the outcome of the pioneering role played by the Middle East Council of Churches in transforming dialogue from a slogan into an institutional practice and an ongoing program. The Council did not limit itself to diagnosing hate speech; it created an Arab space for examining its religious, social, legal, educational, and media roots, as well as the role of digital platforms and artificial intelligence in spreading or limiting it. From Cairo, it became clear that confronting hatred does not mean eliminating differences, but rather managing them through dialogue, respecting human dignity, embracing diversity, and safeguarding the right to live together.
The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) also played a central role in the conference’s success. It hosted the opening in its offices, in the presence of its president, Rev. Dr. Andrea Zaki, and provided institutional and financial support that made the gathering possible and effective. This hosting reflects the organization’s long experience in community dialogue, strengthening citizenship, and building bridges of communication among the various components of society. The cooperation between the organization and the Council demonstrated that major challenges cannot be addressed from a single perspective, but require partnerships bringing together churches, researchers, civil society, media, and educational institutions.
What distinguished the conference was that it was a genuinely Arab gathering. Researchers came from across the Arab world—from the Mashriq (Levant) and the Maghreb, the Gulf and the Nile Valley—bringing diverse experiences, yet united by one conviction: that Arab peoples, despite their religious, cultural, and political diversity, long for unity, renewed fellowship, and social cohesion capable of protecting them from projects of fragmentation. In the discussions, diversity was not a cause of division, but a source of enrichment. It created space to listen to the suffering and concerns of different societies and to search for a common language that restores the human person to the center, before identity.
This process culminated in a visit by all the participants to His Holiness Pope Tawadros II at the papal headquarters in Cairo. He listened to a presentation on the conference’s themes and recommendations and, in an extensive and noteworthy address, emphasized love as a practical force for confronting hatred and building a society in which people can live together despite their differences. The meeting carried profound significance: the dialogue that began in research halls expanded to include spiritual authority, affirming that social peace requires enlightened thinking, moral will, and institutions that believe in the human person.
The conference also enabled listening to become commitment and allowed ideas to move from the conference hall into schools, religious platforms, the media, and digital spaces. Responsible speech is not a luxury; it is a safeguard for civil peace. Compassionate language is not weakness, but the beginning of repairing what divisions have broken in our Arab societies today.
The conference did not stop at exchanging perspectives; it concluded with recommendations set out in the “Cairo Charter” for countering hate speech and protecting human dignity. Its value lies in the possibility of transforming it into a practical reference for shaping new Arab policies for civil peace: integrating education in dialogue and acceptance of diversity into curricula, developing responsible media discourse, building partnerships between religious and civil institutions, confronting digital incitement, and establishing Arab mechanisms for monitoring, coordination, and the exchange of expertise. In this way, the Charter can move from being an ethical document to becoming a framework for protecting societies from fragmentation and violence.
Therefore, this conference should be understood as part of the Middle East Council of Churches’ sustained effort to promote a culture of dialogue, rather than as an isolated event. The goal is not a society without disagreement—that is impossible—but a society that knows how to disagree without hatred, criticize without demonizing, and defend its beliefs without insulting the beliefs of others. The “Cairo Charter” is therefore important as a step toward building an alternative discourse that bridges divides and restores trust and social capital, leading to a healthy, stable, harmonious Arab society capable of transforming diversity from a source of fear into a source of life.