How Religion Fosters Dialogue in a Time of Despair: University of Haifa Leads the Post-Oct. 7 Healing

CleanShot 2025 01 28 at 10.37.16

12:00 pm

Virtual Event

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Since October 7th, it has been all too easy to feel hopeless about the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Yet last Wednesday, a pioneering scholar at University of Haifa gave us a glimmer of hope.

In American Society of the University of Haifa’s latest webinar, Prof. Uriel Simonsohn, Head of the Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies, speaks to Dr. Chris Seiple, former Co-Chair of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Religion and Foreign Policy working group, about the Laboratory’s multifaceted efforts to harness the power of religion as an agent of positive change. Notably, Prof. Simonsohn recently gathered 20 prominent religious leaders from across the religious spectrum in Haifa to sign a groundbreaking statement calling for cooperation between faiths during this contentious wartime period in Israel.

With the Swords of Iron War persisting for more than 10 months now, the Laboratory for Religious Studies continues to remind us that rather than being viewed as an obstacle to peace, religion can serve as a catalyst for dialogue and mutual understanding in Israel and the entire region.