European Abrahamic Forum On the Way to Renewed Partnership or How to re-build European – Mediterranean Neighbourhood? Zürich 2016 European Abrahamic Forum “On the Way to Renewed Partnership” or How to re-build European – Mediterranean Neighbourhood? International Conference Zürich, 06 – 08 September 2015 Zürich 2016 EDITED BY Prof. Dr. Stefan Schreiner European Abrahamic Forum (EAF) - Zurich (Switzerland) - University of Tübingen Dept. of Comparative Study of Religions - Tübingen (Germany) - PRINTED BY Druckerei Maier GmbH Rottenburg a. N. (Germany) © European Abrahamic Forum (EAF) 2016 ISBN 978-3-00-052766-1 The present volume records papers presented to the 5th International European Abrahamic Forum Conference, which was held in Zurich in September 2015. At the invitation of the European Abrahamic Forum (EAF) and the Zurich Institute for Interreligious Dialogue (ZIID) – the former Zürcher Lehrhaus –, about thirty scholars and leading experts from a number of Middle East- ern/North African and European countries came together to continue not only to assess recent developments in the Arab Islamic World, but also to ask and discuss what impact all these developments in our European-Mediterranean neighbourhood have on the situation within European countries South and North of the Alps alike. At the same time, the conference marked the 10th anniversary of the founding of the European Abrahamic Forum (EAF) and was part of the programme of the Zurich Institute for Interreligious Dialogue / Zürcher Lehrhaus prepared and offered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its foundation. Thus, the conference provided the opportunity to look back, to review and evaluate ten years of efforts to promote trilateral inter-religious, cross-cultural encounter and dialogue, and to foster exchange of ideas, cooperation, and understanding between Muslims, Chris- tians, and Jews across the Mediterranean as said in the founding exposé. From its very beginning convinced that (a) the potential for a peaceful living together, based on mutual understanding, respect for the otherness of the other, and the awareness of shared responsibility, is implicit especially in the cultures deriving from the three monotheistic world religions, and, therefore, (b) dialogue and understanding between people of different religious commitment, different cul- tural background and/or different political orientation are possible, and (c) in view of the tensions and conflicts in our torn global village the uncovering of this aforementioned potential is of particular significance and needed, today more than ever, it was, and still is, the EAF’s foremost objective to serve the improvement of relations between Muslims, Christians, and Jews across geographical, cultural, and religious borders, through encounter and learning together as well as from each other, and to help paving the way towards better mutual understanding, peaceful co-existence, and living together. The purpose of this volume is, above all, to document the conference that took place some months ago. Recording papers presented to the last year’s conference, and reflections shared to introduce the respective sessions and, thus, outlining the many facets of the topic and illustrating the variety of approaches to it, the volume wants to offer also fresh, new insights into recent developments in the Middle Eastern/North Afri- can region and, thus, contribute to creating objective our European-Mediterranean neighbourhood. At the same time, the volume wants to invite the reader to pick up the thread and join the discussion on issues which deserve to be considered as seriously as carefully, because they are essential not only to understand the un- folding events in the Arab-Islamic world, but to remain being aware of whatever happens in one part of our European-Mediterranean neighbourhood, has an im- mediate impact on the other. We cannot change the geography. We remain neigh- bours, irrespective of whether we live on this or that shore of the Mediterranean. Therefore, the only question that counts is: How do we (re-)build and live this neighbourhood? VI Greetings Excellences, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends and Colleagues, On behalf of the European Abrahamic Forum (EAF) I have the honour and pleasure to welcome you here in the premises of the Zürcher Lehrhaus. At the same time, it is my wish to thank you very much for kindly having accepted the invitation to be with us these days, and I would like to express my appreciation of your presence at the opening session as well as at the conference table of this – Fifth – International European Abrahamic Forum Confer- ence to be held on this and the following two days. As mentioned in the exposé and invitation letter, this fifth EAF conference – in fact, the fourteenth in the line of the EAF’s (major) conferences and (minor) workshops – marks at the same time the 10th anniversary of the founding of our European Abrahamic Forum and is included into the programme, which the Zürcher Lehrhaus prepared for and organized to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its foundation. And I would like to add that it is the last time that we convene here in this charming pavilion under the roof of the Zürcher Lehrhaus. In a few months’ time, the Zürcher Lehrhaus will not only move from here, then having its domicile under another roof, but it also will widen the scope of its activities and, therefore, continue its work under a new brand. From January 2016 onwards, the Zürcher Lehrhaus will be called Zurich Institute for Interreligious Dialogue (ZIID). Our EAF, however, remains to be part of the ZIID’s activities. Allow me, please, a few remarks on the conference and its objectives. It was not for the first time that the developments in the MENA – Middle East/ North Africa region were put on the agenda of an EAF conference. Without going into details, I would like to recollect briefly the way that brought us to this conference table. As you remember, right from the beginning of the revolutionary changes that once were called – quite optimistically – the “Arab Spring,” but soon turned into a hot summer and stormy autumn, ending up here and there in a nightmare-like new strong winter, figuratively speaking, we tried to make and keep ourselves aware of what happened and continues to happen in our neighbourhood. Continuously, we tried to assess the unfolding developments. The first conference (workshop) focussing on the “Arab Spring” In View of the Changes – Reflections on developments in the Near East/North Africa region and their impact on the future EAF agenda, took place already in Mai 2011 here in Zurich, with IX its follow-up, quite prematurely titled In the Aftermath of the Changes: Problems and Future of Euro-Mediterranean Relations, a few months later in July 2011 in Amman (Jordan). The third conference, at that time focussing on the consequences of the changes, was held under the title Between Turmoil, Change, and Renewal: Religion and its Role in Re-shaping Post-Revolutionary Societies Chance or Threat to Build up Civil Soci- ety in Rabat (Morocco) in September 2012.1 To prepare for this conference, the European Abrahamic Forum invited to two more workshops, both under the headline Assessing Recent Developments in the Middle East. Whereas the focus of the first workshop, held in Amman in March 2014, and jointly organized and hosted in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) – Office Amman, and the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies (RIIFS) in Amman, was on the future of Christians and Christian-Muslim co-existence in the Middle East.2 The second workshop, held in Zurich in November 2014, tried to answer the question what is the impact of the developments in the MENA region not only on the countries and region involved, but also on Europe. Indeed, from today’s perspective, we had to learn that the so-called revolutionary changes that started in Tunisia and subsequently spread over much of the Arab Islamic world went far beyond their original regional context and scope: In some countries, we observe an accelerating process of what has been called (a) acceler- ating denationalization, a process that makes states not just fail, but fade out of history, and (b) increasing privatization of power. Countries and states – de facto no longer ruled by central governments – collapse and fall into pieces, i.e. into the hands of rivalling groups and/or factions. Not to mention the various civil and proxy wars like in Syria and Yemen. Internationally recognized borders are no longer respected. Self-appointed militant groups claim control and power, persecuting at the same time all those not belonging to their respective group, exercising violence and unprecedented crimes, particularly against dissenting others, religious minorities etc. These developments, however, do affect not only the adjacent neighbouring countries of those in turmoil like, e.g., Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, sweeping more and more into the maelstrom of unsolved problems. They have an increasing effect also upon those in greater distance, on the Northern shore of the Mediterranean, in Central and Western Europe. Along with that, the relationships between those living on the Northern shore and those living South and East of the Mediterranean dramatically changed, too, because: 1 Stefan Schreiner (ed.), Between Turmoil, Change, and Renewal: Religion and its Role in Re-shaping Post-Revolutionary Societies – Chance or Threat to Build up Civil Society (Pro- ceedings of the European Abrahamic Forum, vol. 4), Zürich / Rabat 2013. 2 Stefan Schreiner (ed.), Assessing Recent Developments in the Middle East – Shedding Light on Intercultural Relations (Proceedings of the European Abrahamic Forum, vol. 5), Zürich / Amman 2014. X Whatever happened, and continues to happen, in our European–Mediterranean neigh- bourhood has an impact on both sides, also on the situation inside European countries and societies, which are facing an unprecedented increase in ethnic-cultural, religious, and/or po- litical pluralization and diversification not least due to the growing migration movements for whatever reason.