On June 28, 2025, the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) held its Global Webinar titled “Paths to Peace: Exploring Inter-Religious Cooperation and Conflict Transformation.” This powerful conversation gathered voices committed to justice and peace amid global and regional crises, with a focus in the Middle East (and the on-going genocide in Gaza and the escalation of war). As part of the WSCF International Program on Middle East Peace, Cooperation, and Dialogue (May–December 2025), the webinar brought together faith-based insights and critical perspectives to challenge dominant narratives around conflict, empire, and coexistence. With the participation of Phillip Peacock and Nayla Tabbara, two globally respected leaders in justice and interreligious dialogue, the event created space for bold theological reflection and a call to collective action rooted in dignity, justice, and resistance to oppression.
Marcelo Leites opened the webinar by framing it as the start of an international journey for peace and justice in the Middle East. He highlighted WSCF’s commitment to forming young people and being a prophetic voice against injustice. Denouncing the genocide in Palestine and global complicity, he stressed the importance of truth-telling and ethical responsibility. He closed with a call to raise our voices with courage and faith.
The first speaker, Phillip Peacock, WSCF Senior Friend and Executive Secretary for Justice and Witness at the World Communion of Reformed Churches, examined how global violence, particularly in the Middle East, is deeply rooted in the historical legacies of colonialism, imperialism, and identity politics. He highlighted key moments such as the Balfour Declaration, 9/11, and October 7, 2023, as events that revealed the underlying structures of empire and the manipulation of narratives like terrorism and peacekeeping to maintain control over people and resources. Peacock argued that peace without justice often serves the interests of the powerful, while the oppressed ache for justice that challenged imposed peace. Turning to theology, he critiqued how religion had sometimes justified violence but also offered tools for resistance. He envisioned peace not as a fixed goal or passive process, but as an active, life-affirming project rooted in justice and nonviolence. Drawing on the imagery of the cross and the leadership of women in grassroots struggles, Philip called for a countercultural understanding of peace, one that resists empire and embraces solidarity, dignity, and the fullness of life for all.
The second speaker, Nayla Tabbara, president and co-founder of Adyan Foundation and Adyan Europe, challenged the concept of peace as a term co-opted by empire, arguing that after Gaza, peace and even hope had become triggering when disconnected from justice and collective liberation. Drawing on Philip Peacock’s framing of Gaza as an “apocalypse” that unveiled deep systemic corruption and global hypocrisies, she stressed the need to reject the tools of the oppressor and instead cultivate new, liberating frameworks. Reflecting on her experience as a Muslim theologian and co-founder of Adyan, she spoke of years of interfaith work in Lebanon aimed at coexistence, while acknowledging that Gaza marked a turning point demanding a deeper reckoning with structural oppression. Tabbara emphasized the urgency of decolonizing not just political systems but also theology, science, and consciousness, and highlighted how global solidarity came not from Western powers but from Indigenous and oppressed communities. She called on faith leaders to embody values of dignity, justice, and equality at all levels, concluding that this is not a time for cautious dialogue but for bold, collective action rooted in moral clarity and a shared commitment to dismantling all forms of oppression.
Both presentations were followed by a round of questions from participants to the speakers. The closing reflection was in charge of Serena Tiburtini, WSCF Global Program Coordinator for Peacebuilding and Regional Secretary of WSCF Europe. The event was moderated by Melissa Bridi, Regional Secretary of WSCF ME and WSCF Global Program Coordinator for Youth Ecumenical Leadership.
