On the occasion of the United Nations’ (UN) World Day of Social Justice, and within the Youth Solidarity Against Extremism project (YSAE), project coaches, core groups, and participants held a dialogue meeting with the pastor of the diocese of Baalbeck and Deir El Ahmar for Maronite’s, Bishop Hanna Rahma, and the mufti Sheikh Bakr Al-Rifaii with the participation of LOST’s founder, Dr. Rami Al-Lakkis on the role of religion and civil society in promoting a culture of tolerance and non-violence among youth. This event, which is one of seven events that will be celebrated by YSAE youth on different international days this year, took place at Tammuz Hall and was attended by a group of cultural, social, municipal, and youth actors.
Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, disability, etc. One great reason beyond the very socially and economically discriminated community in the area is religion. According to this, removing religious barriers and fears among different sectors would promote greater social networking, social cohesion, equality, and tolerance, and eventually more social justice. Starting from here, youth under YSAE’s framework aim at creating a ‘society for all’ to promote social justice at regional and national levels.
LOST’s founder, Dr. Rami Lakkis, opened the meeting with a speech in which he presented the projects undertaken by the organization with young people, which constitute 65% of the Lebanese population. “Our project begins with each of you, because you are the ones who contribute to building society. Your responsibility must not end with the end of the project. If each of you transmits these values and ideas to his surroundings, our society will improve and become better, but if you keep it to yourselves, there will not be any change in the reality that we seek to improve, and your role is to build a society in which love and peace prevail, and build countries”.
In his speech, Bishop Hanna Rahma talked about the value of social justice, which by its achievement we live in a safe and peaceful society, because practising social justice is a weapon to fight poverty, discrimination and violence. “International Day of Social Justice is an occasion to examine the conscience, and in depth of our human and social concepts and our understanding of the religion that binds us to the Creator”, stated Bishop Rahma. He added, “Jesus Christ taught us love, compassion, and tolerance, and I am sure that these principles do not differ among religions. All prophets called for these principles, and thus, humans do not differ from the inside”.
As for the Mufti of Baalbeck, Sheikh Bakr Al-Rifaii, he affirmed that all religions call for social justice, tolerance, and non-violence. “Tolerance is a behaviour and a way of life. Clerics should act as role models for the population, for people are spiritually affected by religion”, explained Mufti Al-Rifaii. He also thanked LOST and the donors for such projects, which gave an opportunity for young people to represent themselves away from traditional and societal pressure.
The dialogue continued for 3 hours, where youth and stakeholders had plenty of questions and ideas to present too. Kolizar Othman, 18 years, from Baalbeck said, “years ago my Muslim father got married to my Christian mother. I am 18 now and I never got to meet my uncles and aunts, because my parents were perceived as sinners to their parents and the society back then. Until when will we have our families and communities split under the name of religion or other extreme considerations?”
Fatima Houjairy, 17 years old from Ersal added, “clerics, whether in a mosque or a church, should play the same role in spreading a culture of love, tolerance, and acceptance between people and youth in particular”.
Moreover, Sulaiman Allam, 19 years old from Baalbeck shared, “I just want our stakeholders to see how they intend to have an impact on youth. This scene of a Sheikh and an Archbishop today is great, but we don’t want this to happen during occasions only. This scene should happen more often and become a way of living”.
The consequences of religious extremism over the years in the country were tragic. Yet, amidst all clashes, it is this generation’s responsibility to bring the goodness and tolerance that must persist to keep everyone bounded together. As a step towards social justice, this event was to celebrate diversity in our community and country. Having both Muslim and Christian clerics in an open dialogue with hundreds of youth was to prove that both religions were made to view one another through the lens of moral principles, and not through any other difference.
At the end of the event, Christian participants and stakeholders from Deir El-Ahmar cluster of villages announced that they will be holding a memorial prayer for their Muslim neighbour, the ISF Officer Jalal Chreif who was murdered a week ago, at their village church. This initiative was to show that Muslims and Christians of the area can live together in peace as ever, and that this is more than mere co-existence. They are similar people, sharing the same villages, customs and tolerance.
