Religious leaders of various faiths in Lebanon recently put doctrinal differences aside to focus on peace and development in their communities. Although the country’s civil war ended more than two decades ago, strong divisions and episodes of violent clashes along religious lines still exist. The rare public gathering of local Sunni, Shiite and Christian leaders was a result of IREX’s One Community Project [7] and signaled a positive step toward peace for citizens of conflict-prone cities like Baalbak, Tripoli and Tyr.
“[The project] opens an opportunity for the finest dialogue [as] the problems between the Lebanese were never religious, but have always been purely political,” said Mufti Abdullah, a Baalbak (religious affiliation?) “[It] will help the Lebanese prove it and go back to the tolerant spirit they are reputed for.”
During the workshops, religious leaders discussed working for the common good of all people, regardless of faith. Participants also broke into multi-faith groups in order to better understand the issues affecting their communities and discuss potential projects to collectively address them. Differences of opinion existed —religious leaders in Baalbak stressed environmental problems, youth issues, and unemployment while those from Tyr preferred a focus on women’s empowerment, agriculture, and multi-faith recreation — but leaders were certain that they could collaborate together and be models of both tolerance and success.
“[We] are more than happy to help and participate in this project and count us in no matter what you ened up doing,” said Rabab al-Sader, head of the Imam Moussa al-Sader Foundation. “We trust the Christians of this city and we have been working together for years now.”
Several local news organizations covered the events in Tyr, including channel NBN, a primary source of information for Lebanese Shiites.
The One Community Project is funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor [8] and implemented by IREX and its partners, the ADYAN Foundation [9] and Nahar Ashabab [10].