Dr. Bernard Sabella speaks on "Current Challenges to Monotheistic
Religions in the Middle East" full story...
CRDC co-sponsors historic interfaith dialogue in Syria full story...
"A Culture of Peace in Syria" full story...
September Meeting Between King Abdullah of Jordan and US Rabbis leads to further dialogue More...
CRDC is pleased to present its 2005 Annual Report, available as a pdf here.
The Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) engages in practice, research and education concerning the contributions of world religions to conflict and to peace. The Center mobilizes resources of religion, diplomacy and conflict resolution to support more effective interventions in global problems. Its work ranges from grassroots work to policymaking, and seeks to develop and support more effective collaboration between religious and secular grassroots leaders and policymakers.
During the 2006 - 07 school year the CRDC collaborated with the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and the Martin Luther King Jr. DC Support Group to develop a middle school curriculum based on Martin Luther King Jr.'s Six Principles of Nonviolence. In Fall, under the supervision of Marc Gopin, a team of M.S. students was convened to begin the project. ICAR students Vanessa Brake, Jennifer Carpenter and Teo Keipi spent the school year developing the curriculum, interviewing colleagues of Martin Luther King Jr., meeting with middle school educators, and creating a website to house the content. The curriculum is an interactive web-based education program meant to excite, engage, challenge and teach middle school students how to employ the principles of nonviolence in real-life situations. The website will be launched early this summer, but for now you can view a powerpoint presentation of the project here.
On Tuesday, March 6, 2007, Dr. Zachary Karabell delivered a thought provoking presentation on “The legacy and future potential of peaceful coexistence of the three faiths” at the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at ICAR, GMU.
Dr. Karabell is the author of a new book "Peace be upon you: the story of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Coexistence."
Dr. Marc Gopin, the Director of CRDC, introduced Dr. Zachary Karabell to the audience at the beginning of the event, and he facilitated a question and answer session at the end of Dr. Karabell's presentation. The presentation was covered by Book TV/C-SPAN2 and may be viewed online at the following link:
http://www.booktv.org/history/index.asp?schedid=481&segid=7979
You may read more about Dr. Karabell and his book through the following links:
http://www.leadingauthorities.com/9041/Zachary_Karabell.htm
http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400043682
On Wednesday, March 7, CRDC hosted Professor Yehezkel Landau, who delivered a very interesting presentation on “Conflict Prevention Initiatives in Israel/Palestine – Reflections on past experiments and future alternatives.” CRDC Director, Dr. Marc Gopin, served as the respondent.
In the course of his presentation Professor Landau discussed the various initiatives that he has taken, particularly at the Open House Center [http://www.friendsofopenhouse.org/]. He also elaborated on the interfaith training programs for Jews, Muslims and Christians, that he coordinates at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut [http://www.hartsem.edu/centers/landau.htm#courses]. After the presentation the floor was opened for discussion.
Professor Landau is Faculty Associate in Interfaith Relations at Hartford Seminary. A brief bio may be read here.
Bearing witness to the destruction of this summer’s war between Hezbollah and Israel while fruitlessly--so far--working at interventions, has been devastating to me and countless others who have poured their lives and careers into Middle East peacemaking. Nevertheless, it merely confirms to me that one day more and more governments and philanthropists will begin to understand and embrace the work that is described below, and the kind of heroic people described therein. Read more...
CRDC Senior Research Associate, Ms. Hind Kabawat who lives in Syria and Canada, visited CRDC on October 17, 2006, and delivered a presentation on the last conflict in the Middle East, namely between Israel and the Hezbollah.
Dr. Marc Gopin introduced Hind, facilitated the ensuing discussion. A number of interesting questions and exchanges were raised in the course of the dialogue. In addition to students and faculty members of George Mason University, the presentation was also attended by H.E. the Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr. Imad Moustapha, and a member of his Mission in Washington, DC. Full Text...
Marc Gopin's article, Comprehensive Peace is the Only Kind of Peace to Save the Middle East, has been published by the Common Ground News Service. This latest piece from Dr. Gopin can be viewed on their website. Read more...
Samuel Doe, an internationally-recognized trainer and analyst in conflict prevention and peace build- ing, delivered a very in-teresting presentation concerning the apparent silence among Liberia’s civil society organizations and groups, and in particular the heroes and heroines who were so active and effective during the difficult war years. Samuel is currently the interna- tional consultant at the Evaluation and Strategic Coordination Unit of the United Nations Mission in Liberia. Read more …
Marc Gopin is interviewed by Dick Gordon of The Story, a new NPR show, on an extraordinary encounter in an Allepo, Syria mosque between himself, the Grand Mufti of Syria, and a young survivor of torture in Abu Ghraib, all before three thousand worshippers on Friday, June 2, 2006. Listen now ...
CRDC is pleased to welcome Dr. Yehuda 
Stolov, Executive Director of the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Encounter Association, for a presentation on his experience in peacebuilding in the Middle East on May 17th, 2006. More info...
King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan had an unprecedented meeting
with over 60 rabbis, in an event held September 21, 2005 at the Ritz-Carlton
Hotel in Washington DC. “It was a transformative event, for the
Jewish community and particularly the rabbis in the United States,”
said CRDC Director Dr. Marc Gopin. “It was the first time in history
that an Arab or Muslim Monarch had so honored their religion and their
culture.” King Abdullah had
requested an audience with a representative group of American rabbis
to discuss the future of the relationship between Judaism and Islam. The event was initiated by King Abdullah, sponsored by the Embassy of Jordan, and coordinated by the CRDC and Dr. Robert Eisen of George Washington University. A full report with more photos can be found here.
King Abdullah gave a speech entitled "Judaism and Islam: Beyond Tolerance," which is available as a pdf document here.
Following His Majesty's speech, Dr. Robert Eisen of George Washington University asked questions of the King, based on questions submitted previously by the rabbis present. An unofficial transcript of those questions, and the King's responses to them, is available here (pdf).
After the question and answer session, CRDC Director Rabbi Dr. Marc Gopin thanked the King, and presented His Majesty with a special edition of the Written Torah, known as the Hebrew Bible. The text of Dr. Gopin's thank you is available as a pdf document here. At the conclusion of the program, King Abdullah, rabbis, and invited guests enjoyed a kosher luncheon together.
For more information about CRDC events and activities, or to request to be added to our email list to be advised of events and activities, contact CRDC at 703-993-9402 or crdc@gmu.edu.