Regional Conference Opens in Cairo: Countering Hate Speech to Promote Human Dignity and Coexistence
You can find some photos at the end of the text.
The sessions of the regional conference organized by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), in partnership with the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS), begun in Cairo.
The conference’s opening session started with a welcoming word delivered by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs.
Then, two presentations were delivered: the first one by Dr. Abdul-Hussain Shaban, was entitled “Hate Speech: A Vision of Its Essence,” while the second, one by Dr. Samir Morcos, was entitled “Hate Speech: A Coercive Act and a Hateful Society.”
Afterwards, Dr. Lubna Bayouk presided over the first session, which was held under the main theme “The Value-Based and Religious Framework for Countering Hate Speech.”
During the session many researchers presented papers addressing various topics and themes.
Dr. Shawki Attieh presented the first research paper, entitled “Us and Them: Hate Speech as Both an Influencer and a Product of Lebanese Demographics.”
In the second research paper, Dr. Lubna Tarabey addressed the topic “Religious Values and Their Potential to Combat Hate Speech: An Anthropological Approach.”
The third research paper was presented by Dr. Heba Sharoubim under the title “Hate Speech: Why Does It Emerge and How Does It Fade Away?”.
For his part, Father Dr. Michal Kanbar addressed the topic “From a Culture of Coexistence to a Culture of Living Together in Light of Shared Values and the Experience of Peacebuilding.”
In his turn, His Eminence Sheikh Rabih Kobeissi presented a paper entitled “Towards a Christian-Muslim Approach to Promoting Human Dignity and Living Together.”
Dr. Abdel Karim Najem then spoke about “Pluralism as the Foundation of Human Society and the Preservation of Dignity.”
The first session concluded with a research paper presented by Dr. Al-Taher Ben Yahya, entitled “Religious Hatred: Its Remote Causes and Current Impacts.”
