Conference - Necessity of Interfaith Dialogue in Preventing another 7/7 at the LSE

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00 in Discussion Forums

Where: The London School of Economics (LSE), London

Poster

Conference - Necessity of Interfaith Dialogue in Preventing another 7/7 at the LSE

Summary

A conference organised on the first anniversary of the tragic events that took place on 07/07/05. The conference emphasised the necessity of (belief in) interfaith and intercultural dialogue in eradicating the root causes of terrorism, namely prejudice, alienation misunderstanding, suspicion, fear, animosity and hatred. The conference targetted both members of both Houses of Parliament and policy makers

Timetable	Speaker
Opening Remarks	Ozcan Keles, Dialogue Society
Speech	Asaf Hussain, Institute of LifeLong Learning of the University of Leicester
Speech	The Revd Fergus Capie, Inter Faith Adviser to the Bishop of Willesden in the Diocese of London
Video	Peace Through Education and Dialogue
Speech	Dr Thomas Michel, Vatican Secretariat for Inter-Religious Dialogue
Closing Remarks	Ilnur Cevik, editor of New Anatolian Daily Newspaper

The conference consisted of three speeches, a video presentation and opening and closing remarks. The first speech by Mr Hussain laid the contextual foundation of the event by looking at the root causes of terrorism and the habitat in which it flourishes. The second, by The Revd Capie, explained how those root causes can be eradicated by interfaith and intercultural dialogue in Britain in general and in London in particular. The third, by Dr Michel, was a case-study of the Gulen movement, a faith-based movement originating from Turkey, and the real results they had achieved through education and dialogue and its relevance in the fight against the causes of terrorism. The overall point made was that belief in dialogue as a necessity of faith helps prevent a person from falling prey to terrorist ideology.

Objective

Explore the underlying causes and nature of terrorism. Introduce clear ideas as to how interfaith dialogue, with the active participation of the Muslim community, can help eradicate the causes of terrorism in Britain.