The seminar, held under the theme: Unity in Diversity: Religions against injustice, had the seminar participants who were drawn from the University of Zimbabwe, Arrupe Jesuit University, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Ahlul Bayt Foundation of Zimbabwe, the Zakaat Fund of Zimbabwe, Istiqama Foundation of Zimbabwe, Ahlul Bayt Islamic Guidance Council of Zimbabwe, Humanist Society of Zimbabwe, the Rastafarian Movement, The Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association and university students, condemned in the strongest terms the genocide perpetrated by the Zionist regime in Israel against innocent Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank that has escalated since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Palestine in 2023.

The Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the university of Zimbabwe, Professor Fainos Mangena urged religions to speak for the oppressed people of Palestine who are facing daily bombardments from Israel. He said religions should make people to tolerate each other, promote social cohesion vital for the promotion of peace and to foster justice for the people.

In a speech read on his behalf by Mr Hamid Bakhtiyar, the Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy of Iran in Zimbabwe, Dr Mohammad Mahdi Imani Pour, the director of IRI Council for Religious Policy and Coordination of the Inter-religious Dialogue said religious leaders have a duty to speak on behalf of the suffering people of Palestine.

He said the Palestine People, who suffer from daily Israeli bombings, are saddened by the International Community’s inaction towards their suffering.

By utilizing religious teachings, Mr Imanpoor said, leaders can disseminate messages of peace and empathy globally and draw attention to the existing problems.

Mr Hamid Bakhtiyar, the Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy of Iran in Zimbabwe, said religious leaders have a central role to play in shaping the moral and ethical direction of societies. He said religious leaders have a duty to speak out against oppression and the injustices the Palestinian people are being subjected to by Israel. Religious leaders have to advocate for the rights of all individuals, despite the backgrounds.

Dr Hossein Latifi from the Islamic Republic of Iran said the pursuit of dominance, particularly when erroneously linked to identity, can precipitate either warfare and perpetual conflict or master-slave relationships. He said this is linked to the historical dominance of one community by another, or one country by another. Dominance has seen traditionally powerful communities/ countries dominating the less powerful and enforcing their rule or influence over them.

The Secretary for Education in the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association, Mr Peter Sibanda called for a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as in other global hot spots. He said what is happening in Palestine is pre-mediated genocide by Israel.

Mr Oparaku Chimgozirim from Arrupe Jesuit University said that to promote everlasting peace between Palestine and Israel, the Roman Catholic Pope undertook Four simultaneous visits to Palestine and Israel in 1964, 2000, 2009, and 2014. He said the Roman Catholic Church has been calling for the peaceful and non-violent resolution of the Palestinian/ Israeli conflict. The Pope's message of tolerance, compassion, and understanding has resonated with people of all faiths, and his efforts to promote dialogue and mutual respect have been widely praised. 

Mr Tauya Chinama, the vice President of Humanists Zimbabwe, said the International Court of Justice’s delay in delivering a full judgement on the application brought before it by South Africa against the genocide in Palestine being perpetrated by Israel is a sign of double standards by the same court. He said the Western countries that are labelling freedom seeking movements like Hamas as terrorist groups are more terrorists themselves as they are sponsoring and supporting the terror being waged by suppressive and oppressive countries like the United State of America, Israel and her other allies.

Sheikh Abdullah Makwinja, the president of the Ahlul Bayt Islamic Guidance Council of Zimbabwe said if nations of the world can embrace the African concept of Ubuntu, most conflicts bedeviling the world today would not be happening.  Ubuntu is an ancient African word rooted in Humanist African philosophy and can be roughly translated as “humanity to others”, or “I am because we are”.

He said the South African Court action against Israel at the ICJ that caught the world by surprise, was an act of humanity.

Professor Tabona Shoko from the university of Zimbabwe said the African Traditional Religion which is the indigenous religion of Zimbabwe, promotes social justice through the observance of laid down societal norms and practices which are enforced by traditional community leadership. He said indigenous religions are viable assets for peace and conflict management.

The participants adopted the following resolutions in a communique that was issued and adopted at the end of the seminar:

• declared belief in the value of religious and cultural diversity as a resource for the enrichment of the human society; hence we invite all individuals and societies to respect differences and use dialogue instead of cohesive methods to resolve differences that may arise
• condemned the desecration of religious sacred spaces, themselves an important component of what constitutes a human being, we the world community condemn such insults to religious sanctities and we expect that the right to religion for religious people be recognized, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• declare support for joint projects and initiatives that aim to promote peace, solidarity and social justice; and thus request all relevant institutions and organizations to cooperate in this direction
• committed to strengthening religious and cultural cooperation between different communities in order to promote understanding and mutual respect
• emphasized the importance of religious diversity as part of the cultural and spiritual wealth of human society, and we believe that unity in diversity, instead of differences can lead to the creation of a more just and interconnected society

Resultantly, we

• condemn in the strongest terms the genocide perpetrated by the Zionist regime in Israel against innocent Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank that escalated since 07^th of October 2023. We believe that such actions do not promote peaceful existence.
• decry the wholesale barbaric bombardment of homes, hospitals, refugee camps, religious institutions and schools resulting in unwarranted deaths of women and children in Gaza at the hands of the murderous Israeli regime, making Gaza the world’s most unsafe place for women and children
• denounce the injustice that the Palestinians are subjected to by the occupying regime of Israel since the Nakba in 1948
• condemn the double standards applied by the Western world in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948
• applaud world powers that support Palestinians in their demand for justice and freedom
• salute the courage, determination and resistance to occupation by the oppressed Palestinians, demonstrated since the 07^th of October 2023
• acknowledge the efforts by the brave Israeli citizens that are against the occupation of Palestine and advocates for peace and justice

We therefore undertake to,

• advocate for peace and justice in the world and exhort all world faiths to condemn atrocities in Gaza and across the middle east
• call for immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza to enable reconstruction in Palestinian societies
• challenge misinterpretations of religious texts and traditions to promote peace and harmony not only in Palestine but also amongst different peoples throughout the world
• increase awareness of the plight of Palestinians and those variously oppressed through advocating and organizing solidarity events (seminars, workshops, conferences and discussions) in the different institutions and religious gatherings