Hundreds of Conflict Resolution Scholars and Peace Practitioners from more than 15 Countries Gathered in New York City

ICERMediation Conference Participants in 2016

On November 2-3, 2016, more than one hundred conflict resolution scholars, practitioners, policymakers, religious leaders, and students from diverse fields of study and professions, and from more than 15 countries gathered in New York City for the 3rd Annual International Conference on Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, and the Pray for Peace event – a multi-faith, multi-ethnic, and multi-national prayer for global peace. At this conference, experts in the field of conflict analysis and resolution and participants carefully and critically examined the shared values within the Abrahamic faith traditions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The conference served as a proactive platform for a continuous discussion on and dissemination of information about the positive, prosocial roles that these shared values have played in the past and continue to play in strengthening social cohesion, peaceful settlement of disputes, interfaith dialogue & understanding, and the mediation process. At the conference, speakers and panelists highlighted how the shared values in Judaism, Christianity and Islam could be utilized to foster a culture of peace, enhance the mediation and dialogue processes and outcomes, and educate the mediators of religious and ethno-political conflicts as well as policymakers and other state and non-state actors working to reduce violence and resolve conflict. We are honored to share with you the photo album of the 3rd annual international conference. These photos reveal important highlights of the conference and the pray for peace event.

On behalf of the International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation (ICERM), we would like to extend a warm thank you for attending and participating in the 3rd Annual International Conference on Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding. We hope you reached home safely and swiftly. We are so grateful to God for helping us coordinate such a perfect conference / meeting space and to you for your participation. This year’s conference, held on November 2-3, 2016 at The Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115, was a great success for which we owe a great deal of gratitude to the keynote speakers, presenters, moderators, partners, sponsors, pray for peace presenters, organizers, volunteers and all the participants as well as the members of ICERM.

Interfaith Amigos Pastor Rabbi and Imam

The Interfaith Amigos (R-L): Rabbi Ted Falcon, Ph.D., Pastor Don Mackenzie, Ph.D., and Imam Jamal Rahman presenting their joint keynote address

We are humbled by the opportunity to bring so many amazing people together, with such diversity in training, beliefs and experiences, and to facilitate an inspiring and educational conversation about interfaith dialogue, friendship, forgiveness, diversity, unity, conflict, war and peace. It was not only invigorating on a scholarly level; it was also inspiring on a spiritual level. It is our hope that you found the 2016 Conference to be as beneficial as we did and that you feel invigorated to take what you learned and apply it to your work, community and country to create pathways for peace in our world.

As experts, academics, policymakers, religious leaders, students, and peace practitioners, we share a calling to curve the course of human history towards tolerance, peace, justice and equality. The theme of this year’s conference, “One God in Three Faiths: Exploring the Shared Values in the Abrahamic Religious Traditions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam” and the outcomes of our presentations and discussions, as well as our prayer for peace with which we ended the conference helped us to see our commonalities and shared values and how these shared values could be harnessed to create a peaceful and just world.

Interchurch Center ICERMediation Conference Panel 2016

Insights from the Experts (L-R): Aisha H.L. al-Adawiya, Founder, Women in Islam, Inc.; Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ph.D., Judge Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and Director of the Global network for Advanced Research in Jewish Studies at New York University; Thomas Walsh, Ph.D., President of the Universal Peace Federation International and Secretary General of the Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation; and Matthew Hodes, Director of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

Through the Annual International Conference on Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, ICERM is committed to building a global culture of peace, and we believe that all of you are already contributing to making this a reality. We therefore need to work together now more than ever to realize our mission and make it sustainable. By becoming a part of our international network of experts – academics and professionals – who represent the broadest possible views and expertise from the field of ethnic and religious conflicts, conflict resolution, peace studies, interfaith and interethnic dialogue and mediation, and the most comprehensive range of expertise across nations, disciplines and sectors, our collaboration and cooperation will continue to grow, and we will work together to build a more peaceful world. We therefore invite you to sign up for the ICERM membership if you are not yet a member. As an ICERM member, you are not only helping in preventing and resolving ethnic and religious conflicts in countries around the world, you are also assisting in creating sustainable peace and saving lives. Your membership in ICERM will bring various benefits to you and your organization.

ICERMediation Prayer for Peace in 2016

Pray for Peace Event at the ICERM Conference

In the coming weeks, we will send email to all our conference presenters with an update on the review process of their papers. Presenters who have not yet submitted their full papers should send them to the ICERM office by email, icerm(at)icermediation.org, on or before November 30, 2016. Presenters who wish to modify or update their papers are encouraged to do so and resubmit the final version to the ICERM office following the guidelines for paper submission. Completed/full papers should be sent to the ICERM office by email, icerm(at)icermediation.org, on or before November 30, 2016. Papers not received by this date will not be included in the conference proceedings. As part of the conference outcomes, the conference proceedings will be published to provide resources and support to the work of researchers, policymakers and conflict resolution practitioners. As the keynote speeches, presentations, panels, workshops and pray for peace event highlight, our 2016 conference proceedings will contain a balanced model of conflict resolution – and/or interfaith dialogue- and it will take into consideration the roles of religious leaders and faith based actors, as well as the shared values within the Abrahamic religious traditions in the peaceful resolution of ethno-religious conflicts. Through this publication, mutual understanding between and among people of all faiths will be increased; sensitivity to others will be enhanced; joint activities & collaborations will be fostered; and the healthy, peaceful and harmonious relationships shared by participants and presenters will be transmitted to a wider, international audience.

As you noticed during the conference and the pray for peace event, our media team was busy videotaping the presentations. The link to the digital videos of the conference and the pray for peace presentations will be sent to you immediately after the editing process. In addition to that, we hope to use selected aspects of the conference and pray for peace to produce a documentary film in the future.

2016 ICERMediation Conference at the Interchurch Center NYC

Participants at the ICERM Pray for Peace Event

To help you appreciate and retain the memories and highlights of the conference, we are happy to send you the link to the 3rd Annual International Conference Photos. Please remember to send your feedback and questions to the ICERM office at icerm(at)icermediation.org . Your feedback, ideas and suggestions on how to make our conference better will be highly appreciated.

The 4th Annual International Conference on Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding will be held in November 2017 in New York City. It is our hope that you will join us next year in November 2017 for our 4th Annual International Conference which will focus on the theme: “Living Together in Peace and Harmony”. The 2017 conference synopsis, detailed description, call for papers, and registration information will be published on the ICERM website in December 2016. If you are interested in joining our planning committee for the 4th Annual International Conference, please send email to: icerm(at)icermediation.org.

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and look forward to meeting you again next year.

With peace and blessings,

Basil Ugorji
President and CEO

International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation (ICERM)

Share

Related Articles

Religions in Igboland: Diversification, Relevance and Belonging

Religion is one of the socioeconomic phenomena with undeniable impacts on humanity anywhere in the world. As sacrosanct as it seems, religion is not only important to the understanding of the existence of any indigenous population but also has policy relevance in the interethnic and developmental contexts. Historical and ethnographic evidence on different manifestations and nomenclatures of the phenomenon of religion abound. The Igbo nation in Southern Nigeria, on both sides of the Niger River, is one of the largest black entrepreneurial cultural groups in Africa, with unmistakable religious fervour that implicates sustainable development and interethnic interactions within its traditional borders. But the religious landscape of Igboland is constantly changing. Until 1840, the dominant religion(s) of the Igbo was indigenous or traditional. Less than two decades later, when Christian missionary activity commenced in the area, a new force was unleashed that would eventually reconfigure the indigenous religious landscape of the area. Christianity grew to dwarf the dominance of the latter. Before the centenary of Christianity in Igboland, Islam and other less hegemonic faiths arose to compete against indigenous Igbo religions and Christianity. This paper tracks the religious diversification and its functional relevance to harmonious development in Igboland. It draws its data from published works, interviews, and artefacts. It argues that as new religions emerge, the Igbo religious landscape will continue to diversify and/or adapt, either for inclusivity or exclusivity among the existing and emerging religions, for the survival of the Igbo.

Share

Conversion to Islam and Ethnic Nationalism in Malaysia

This paper is a segment of a larger research project that focuses on the rise of ethnic Malay nationalism and supremacy in Malaysia. While the rise of ethnic Malay nationalism can be attributed to various factors, this paper specifically focuses on the Islamic conversion law in Malaysia and whether or not it has reinforced the sentiment of ethnic Malay supremacy. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country which gained its independence in 1957 from the British. The Malays being the largest ethnic group have always regarded the religion of Islam as part and parcel of their identity which separates them from other ethnic groups that were brought into the country during British colonial rule. While Islam is the official religion, the Constitution allows other religions to be practiced peacefully by non-Malay Malaysians, namely the ethnic Chinese and Indians. However, the Islamic law that governs Muslim marriages in Malaysia has mandated that non-Muslims must convert to Islam should they wish to marry Muslims. In this paper, I argue that the Islamic conversion law has been used as a tool to strengthen the sentiment of ethnic Malay nationalism in Malaysia. Preliminary data were collected based on interviews with Malay Muslims who are married to non-Malays. The results have shown that majority of Malay interviewees consider conversion to Islam as imperative as required by the Islamic religion and the state law. In addition, they also see no reason why non-Malays would object to converting to Islam, as upon marriage, the children will automatically be considered Malays as per the Constitution, which also comes with status and privileges. Views of non-Malays who have converted to Islam were based on secondary interviews that have been conducted by other scholars. As being a Muslim is associated with being a Malay, many non-Malays that converted feel robbed of their sense of religious and ethnic identity, and feel pressured to embrace the ethnic Malay culture. While changing the conversion law might be difficult, open interfaith dialogues in schools and in public sectors might be the first step to tackle this problem.

Share