UPCOMING EVENTS
Training seminar on Interfaith dialogue
Brussels
In the current climate whether on political, socio – economic or theological grounds, there has been a great emphasis on inter-religious dialogue on local, national and international levels. The whole ethos of interfaith work has expanded from mere discussions on similarities of belief onto more pragmatic dimensions of urban poverty, charity, welfare and sports but to name a few. Yet as students and youth of the society, we need to understand the reasons, aims, benefits, and harms to interfaith work and to the extent we can get involved. Yet, it is more of a challenge as Muslim students and youth living in a multicultural society to hold an Islamic identity on one hand, and on the other, to hold essential dialogues with atheists, agnostics, Christians, Hindus and any other religious denomination. As Muslims, it is our minimal duty to show, highlight, and explain the understandings of Islam. The essence of interfaith dialogue is a chance to express the viewpoint of Islam without compromising our beliefs. At the same time, it allows us as Muslims to exchange ideas and dispel misconceptions of Islam, while getting to learn other beliefs and opinions. It has become imperative for FEMYSO to consult and appoint people to deal with the remnants of interfaith dialogue in order to keep track of what is happening. These people need to be equipped with the knowledge and understanding of the cause of interfaith dialogue so that the carried message and policy is not misconstrued and duplicated in a wrong manner by others. FEMYSO organises a weekend seminar with the participation of experts, academics, youth and student leaders to discuss, outline, debate and create a discourse on interfaith work.
To educate and train the participants about issues related to interfaith dialogue.
To draw a common policy for FEMYSO and its affiliates regarding the interfaith dialogue.
To compile best practise documents which outline the interfaith policies that FEMYSO can follow when carrying out interfaith work
Brussels Talks
Brussels
After several years of hard work, FEMYSO has become a well known organisation in the European scene. As there is a need in Europe for a voice of Muslim youth, FEMYSO wants to participate in a more structured way to the debates and discussions regarding the challenges of the day from its perspective. With this in mind, FEMYSO has decided to organise, always in cooperation with a national or international organisation a series of round tables which will deal with topics of actual interest. Those round tables will be documented properly. A publication will be prepared with the speeches and a conclusion with suggestions of actions and activities will be formulated by the organising FEMYSO department. By that the discussion is not finished after the end of the conference, but a sustainable impact can be made, according to the distribution of the documentation. By that the benefit is not staying only with the participants, but can be spread via the distribution of the documentation.
Aims
· To offer different perspectives to national and international decision-makers and other relevant organisations interested in these issues.
· To present and discuss the view of Muslim youth in the European society in a structured and sustainable way
· To build through discussions and evaluations an identity of European Muslim youth
· To make a dynamic and responsible Muslim voice heard concerning important questions and problems related to the European society
· To participate actively in exchanging experiences and good practices between researchers, political representatives, activists and members of the civil society.
· To document the speeches and discussions of the round tables in an appropriate and appealing way
· To publish those documents, to be distributed on a wide scale and thereby increase the impact of the different topics raised, enable the transmission of ideas and the ongoing complexity of debates.
Suggested Topics
· Citizenship from a minority perspective
· Forced marriages
· Domestic violence
· Climate change
· Ethical economy
· Etc.
Conference on Terrorism
Future Debates on European matters and general policy on youth and radicalisation
Brussels
Conference on terrorism: its roots, duties of member organisations, civil society, of politicians, business men… results would be the base of a concept paper of FEMYSO that member organisations would start to implement in their work. FEMYSO will invite specialists on the topic, politicians and open to everybody. Double impact:
- on Muslim and non Muslims
- to publish proceedings, guidelines, recommendations…
- in collaboration with the Austrian EU presidency or the Belgian OSCE presidency and also be linked to CoE "all different – all equal" campaign.
Seminar "Inter-religious Dialogue meets Fundamentalism"
Greece
A seminar on the challenging theme “Monologue or dialogue – inter-religious dialogue meets fundamentalism” will be held in Greece from the 16th – 23rd September 2007. It will focus on the question of fundamentalism and extremism, trying to address a rather difficult topic: while it is easy to dialogue with those who are willing to dialogue, dialogue must also reach out to those who are sceptical or against dialogue. To realise this event we are working together with our partners FEMYSO, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), and the National Youth Council of Greece (ESYN).