Rabat – The Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs has received the second edition of the American Peace Caravan, bringing together religious leaders of all Abrahamic faiths for a three-day conference in Rabat.
The meeting, which features the participation of Pastor Bobby Gene Roberts, Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig, and Imam Mohamed Magie, is taking place from October 24 to 26.
In cooperation with the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, a think tank based in the United Arab Emirates, several imams, pastors, and rabbis from all over the world have reunited to build an environment of dialogue and understanding.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Moroccan Minister of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Taoufiq, and President of the Forum for Peace Organization, Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, stressed the importance of religious leaders in espousing the values of peace and in the protection of minority rights.
The event highlighted the urgent need to hold such gatherings in a time marked by rising extremism and religious violence.
The conference is the culmination of Marrakech Summit held last January, where Muslim scholars from over 120 countries and clergy men from different religious groups gathered to announce the Marrakech Declaration, which reaffirmed the principles of the Charter of Medina for the protection of non-Muslims living in Muslim-majority countries.
In aspeech, Bin Bayyah said that “the Abrahamic American Peace Caravan initiative in the United States represents a realistic and realizable response to what the Marrakech declaration calls for.”
According to the organizers, the caravanwill run a number of workshops, panels, and brainstorming sessions on the following topics: mutual visions among followers of different religions and their impact on peace; challenges facing co-existence; the pivotal role of promoting peace in religious sermons in mosques, churches, and synagogues; the role of religion in public life; and the utilization ofthe values ofthe Marrakech Declaration.
