On October 20, 2025 the Research Center for Religious Diversity received a special guest: Dr. Maayan Raveh, the Academic Director of the “Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies” at the University of Haifa in Israel.
The informal meeting in the premises of the research center was aimed at preparing a Memorandum of Understanding with the “Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies,” which will be signed in the coming days. In the evening, Dr. Raveh gave a lecture to students and members of FAU. Working under the title: “Interreligious Dialogue in Times of War: The Israeli-Palestinian Context,” she examined the role that interreligious dialogue plays amidst an ongoing conflict.
In her lecture, Dr Raveh demonstrated how religion serves as a source of identity, resistance, and moral authority, while also being perceived as a factor that often exacerbates conflict. Dr. Raveh also addressed the dilemmas faced by religious leaders who need to navigate theological commitments and political realities, as well as deal with the challenges of representation, power asymmetries, and the influence of global actors on local dialogue initiatives. The evening also aimed to open up pathways for creative -local- approaches to the conflict.