Middle East Action Team
Perhaps nowhere are the threats to religious communities more visible than in the Middle East. The absence of religious freedom and government protections have led to genocide of religious minorities and massive displacement across much of the region. For any lasting peace to be secured on a regional or even local level, religious freedom is crucial. The ability to live together with those of another faith, or even those who share a different interpretation of your own is necessary. We are working to address the ideas that are driving violence and to strengthen communities to preserve pluralism where it is at risk.
Director: Jeremy Barker
Members: Miles Windsor, Lena Abboud
Associated Scholars: Salah Ali, Farahnaz Ispahani, Ahmet Kuru, A. J. Nolte, Charles Ramsey, Nilay Saiya,
Listen to the Middle East File podcast: an interview series hosted by RFI’s Middle East Action Team.
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Cornerstone Forum
The 2022 International Religious Freedom Summit, hosted in Washington, D.C., and the 2022 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief, hosted by the United Kingdom presented an important opportunity for governments, religious leaders, survivors of persecution, advocates, and civil society organizations from around the world to grapple with religious freedom challenges and opportunities globally
But more critical than the act of convening is the impact this engagement has on the practical experience of the people for whom this right is at risk.
Nigeria is in the eye of the storm for insecurity and persecution, where the rights of minorities — including Christians — are violated with reckless abandon. Nigeria is now a country where being a Christian is synonymous with martyrdom. Beyond the few figures reported in Western media, issues of religious freedom in the country are real and grave. The issues are complicated because of palpable fear, political correctness, lack of an agreeable response from leading Church figures and at times, fear of elimination. Beyond the physical violence, there are all kinds of discriminatory and marginalizing legal and non-legal instruments used to exclude Christians from access to power, including infringements on the right to freedom of worship. Although freedom of religion is enshrined in Section 38 subsection 1 of the 1999 Constitution, the precarious nature of being a Christian in Nigeria leaves no one in doubt that such constitutional provisions are merely on paper.
Religious freedom and gender equality are principles that are not only equally vital, but intimately linked. The world needs both, if it is to respond effectively to the numerous challenges facing humanity. It needs the hope and strength of spirit that faith can impart. And it needs in much fuller measure the phenomenal reservoirs of insight, innovation, and capacity found in the women of the world. Critical, then, is learning, with ever greater precision, how these foundational ideals are translated into practical, lived realities in countless local contexts.
The Center is a facilitation organization for conflict transformation. We are not a religious organization. We are made up of people of all faiths and none. But we enter conflict transformation at the point of religious identity. Religion can function to inspire people to very grotesque dehumanization and violence, or unexpected transcendence of histories of pain and hatred. We have four objectives: to remove religion as a driver of violence, to empower religious peacebuilders, to increase the capacity of peacebuilders, and to integrate these peacebuilding efforts into formal diplomatic and government efforts.
Past Events
RFI Videos
An Interview with Miles Windsor, Senior Manager for Strategy and Campaigns for RFI's Middle East Action Team & His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in London.
This interview is part of a series of short interviews seeking to understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the Middle East, with particular attention being paid to vulnerable communities such as refugees, IDPs, and religious minorities.
Jeremy Barker, Director of RFI Middle East Action Team, interviews Mikhael Benjamin, Program Manager for CAPNI: For Humanitarian Aid in Iraq, about impacts of COVID-19 in the Middle East.
Jeremy Barker, Director of RFI Middle East Action Team, interviews Ayman Abdel Nour, President Syrian Christians for Peace, about impacts of COVID-19 on work in Syria.
Jeremy Barker, Director of RFI Middle East Action Team, interviews Neman Ghafouri, Founder of Joint Help for Kurdistan, about impacts of COVID-19 on their efforts.
