Paris, France—The "Dialogue & Alliance" Cooperation Circle held its monthly interfaith meeting on "End Racism. Build Peace”—the theme of the International Day of Peace 2022.
Requests to participate in the meeting online came from 26 countries. In addition, 16 persons came to the meeting at the Espace Barrault conference center in Paris on September 18, 2022.
The moderator was Dorian Gravrand from the French chapter of the International Association of Youth and Students for Peace (IAYSP), an organization that is affiliated with UPF.
The first reading, taken from the Hebrew Bible (Joshua 1:7) was commented on by Rabbi Dov Lellouche from the Synagogue of Livry-Gargan, a suburb of Paris.
The second reading, Sura XLIX.9-13 (the private apartments), was chanted and commented on by Imam Abdel Rahim Belhoussain, a member of the International Academy of Islamic Studies (IAIS).
As a short musical break, a music video was played of the song “Peace in the World,” interpreted by the singer, dancer, and composer Prince Zeka (https://youtu.be/mn2EXJs2Yeg).
The third reading, the Preamble of the Constitution of UNESCO, was commented on by H.E. Doudou Diène, UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia (2002 to 2009).
The meeting concluded with a question-and-answer session and some short explanations by Jean-François Moulinet, coordinator of the "Dialogue & Alliance" Cooperation Circle, on the five UPF Principles of Peace.
P.S. The recording of this program is available on the UPF-France YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/svOiamnuAmc.