November 19, 2020

Seeking Truth in a Land of Lies: A Pathway to Peacebuilding and Reconciliation

By Martin Accad and Tim Brys We previously wrote that Lebanese society is defined by sectarianism. This marriage of religion and Middle Eastern tribalism leads most Lebanese to think and live according to the dictates of their sectarian (tribal) leaders, whether they be Sunni, Maronite, Druze, etc. The 15 years […]
October 14, 2020

Sectarianism: the unhappy marriage of tribal and religious identity in Lebanon

by Martin Accad and Tim Brys Whereas peacebuilding is generally viewed as a noble vocation, there are many who question the legitimacy and purpose of interfaith dialogue, notably in Evangelical circles. But what of places where religious belonging overlaps with sectarianism and where sectarianism represents the frontline of conflict? Lebanon […]
October 1, 2020

Are we Closer to a Peaceful Middle East? Politics, Abraham, and the Good Samaritan

By Nabil Habibi The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recently signed a peace deal with Israel. The deal is of great importance economically and politically. In more than one sense, this might be the first actual peace, “warm peace” (a peace which goes beyond the political level to an actual […]
September 14, 2020

Christians and Muslims Praying Together: Compromise or a Sign of Hope?

By Tim Brys, Martin Accad and Brent Hamoud When COVID-19 hit Lebanon in February 2020 bringing the country to a near standstill, the team at the Institute of Middle East Studies was challenged to rethink its peacebuilding initiatives in light of new social-distancing realities. This was quite difficult for programs […]
April 30, 2020

Interfaith Solidarity this Ramadan

By Martin Accad My two young children (10 and 8) gathered around us a few days ago. My wife and I were going to have a heart-to-heart with them. Though we had so far decided to spare them the feelings of financial insecurity, we felt it was time to have […]
April 2, 2020

COVID-19: Sovereignty without resurrection is just opium

by Caleb Hutcherson A mu’azzin calls people to pray at home, rather than coming together to pray. A church cancels its Sunday services, moving to online broadcasts. A seminary pivots to online instruction, temporarily closing in-person classes. In ordinary times, any of these local changes would barely make the news. […]
March 19, 2020

Love in the Time of Pandemic: A Metaphor of Global Solidarity

By Martin Accad Lebanon this academic year (2019-2020) has so far reaped three “pandemics:” the collapse of our political system, the collapse of our economy, and the collapse of our public health. Who could have predicted that we would use these words in a single sentence? As someone who grew […]
February 27, 2020

Aristotle, Accad and Golden Means to Christian-Muslim Interaction

By Brent Hamoud People are intuitively innovative, but religion is a realm where innovation can easily lag. Faith convictions have a history of taking lines in the sand and turning them into crevasses in concrete, especially regarding Christian-Muslim relations. Over the years many ideas have been inspired but not enough […]