Al-Azhar Al-Sharif held a symposium under the title “Emerging Peacemakers Forum” in Cairo International Book Fair in 2019, attended by Dr. Gehad Amer, a member of the Parliament and the president of Youth Commission in the Supreme Council of Culture, Dr. Muhammad Abdel-Fadeel, the director of Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism, Dr. Reham Abdullah, the supervisor of the Urdu language unit in Al-Azhar Observatory, and Yasmeen Ebied, one of the participants of Emerging Peacemakers Forum. This symposium came along with a series of symposiums and events held in Al-Azhar section in Cairo International Book Fair.
At the beginning of the symposium, Dr. Muhammad Abdel-Fadeel clarified that the idea of Emerging Peacemakers Forum was derived from the series of dialogue sessions of the elders of the East and the West that aims at creating a serious and meaningful dialogue among world youth as well as qualifying those world youth to address the world with civilized thoughts that help in spreading global peace and acceptance of others regardless of their religions, races, or colors. He pointed out that the selection of the forum participants had taken a whole year. In addition, the forum was not for entertainment at all and there will be a second version of the forum in Cairo.
On the other hand, the Member of Parliament, Dr. Gehad Amer clarified that diversity is the wealth of this nation and that serious dialogue, in the frame of diversity, lays the foundation of concepts that support peace building. She added that the open dialogue produces open-minded youth who are able to peacefully coexist with the others, that is why the forum is considered a successful and inspiring experience as it relied on a strategic planning and clear vision.
In the same context, Dr. Reham Abdullah confirmed that peace building cannot take place without a serious dialogue that removes all the misconceptions about the other, that why we carefully selected the participants in the forum with great consideration and transparent conditions without any favoritism or nepotism as they will carry a great responsibility in the future, which is leading a serious dialogue between the east and the west.
From her side, Yasmeen Ebied, one of the participants of the forum, said that before holding the forum, some participants thought that Al-Azhar Al-Sharif is only serving and caring for Azharis (its students) but my experience in the forum, with the attendance of other non-azharis, has proved the falseness of this thought. Al-Azhar offers its services to all people regardless of their religions or beliefs. In addition, our experience in the forum has taught us a lot of the bases of constructive dialogue and many ideas that enhance the principles of citizenship, peacemaking, and accepting others.
