Protestors disrupt Mennonite Muslim dialogue

Muslims and Mennonites in dialogue at Conrad Grebel University College in May.

North American Mennonites and Iranian Muslims gathered May 28–31 at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont. for an inter-religious conference, co-sponsored by the college and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario.

This was the third academic conference in an ongoing dialogue between the two groups, and this time, proved to be highly controversial.

The opening public session was disrupted by protestors objecting to the meeting with representatives from the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom, Iran. After demonstrators shouted down the first panelist, the Iranian academics were whisked away under police protection and the session was closed down.

Activists maintain the institute has links to human rights abuses in Iran, including atrocities against women, and liken graduates to Nazi Germany’s Hitler Youth.

Protestors shut down the first session of the inter-faith meeting with shouting, forcing police to intervene.

Even before the event took place, CBC Radio aired a debate between MCC Ontario executive director Arli Klassen and Payam Akhaven, a professor of international law at Montreal’s McGill University, who charged the Mennonites with being “naïve” for believing dialogue was possible.

“To some degree we’re probably being used; but God has opened doors, and we would be unfaithful if we refused to go through them,” conceded Klassen, in another interview. “We continue in our belief that dialogue is always better than ignoring or stifling conflict . . . As always, in any complex conflict, peacemakers need to find ways to make space for conversation with multiple parties.”

The conference continued without further incident, with scholars presenting papers on seven aspects of spirituality. Muslim scholars challenged the Christian insistence that God is both one and three. Christians challenged the Shi’ah belief that Jesus and Mohammed (whom Muslims view as prophets) and the Twelve Imams (historical spiritual leaders) are infallible in their teaching and can intercede for humans with God.

MCC has a 15-year history of involvement in Iran, beginning with earthquake relief. A student exchange program began in 1998 between the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute and MCC. Through this program, North American Christians live in Qom, where they learn about Islam and Iran. Meanwhile, scholars from the Imam Khomeini Institute come to Canada to study at the Toronto School of Theology.

Reflecting on the protest, Klassen said she was disappointed that “people who came to Canada for freedom didn’t allow it here.” She noted, however, that she didn’t want to be judgmental because the protestors had “stories of suffering in Iran, powerful stories that shouldn’t be silenced.”

But in a letter to the editor of The Record, the Kitchener–Waterloo daily, one protestor suggested the conference did just that. Mahdi Tourage, a visiting professor of Islam at Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., claimed demonstrators were refused the opportunity to ask questions of the presenters.

Officials from MCC and Conrad Grebel dispute these claims, insisting protestors circulated inaccurate information about who would be participating in the conference and tried to prevent Iranian scholars from receiving visas.

—from Meetinghouse reports, MCC and Conrad Grebel University College releases, canadianchristianity.com report