A conversation among strangers. A story shared around a table. This is often the raw work of peacebuilding. In the eyes of 麻豆传媒 professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer, the mechanisms of peace largely comprise these moments of human connection. Moments of honesty and vulnerability. Moments of newfound trust. And鈥攑erhaps improbably, yet undeniably鈥攎oments of joy.
The latter has long been a driver of Abu-Nimer鈥檚 career. Among the world鈥檚 leading peace experts, Abu-Nimer is inspired by what he calls the 鈥渏oyful moments鈥 when participants in peace dialogues begin to register commonalities despite their differences.
鈥淸Peace facilitators] can identify those moments with people when you work with them,鈥 shares Abu-Nimer. 鈥淵ou see the lights in their eyes鈥攖here is something that changes after two days of meeting the 鈥榦ther.鈥 [Participants] discover that [people from the other community] are human . . . and they are afraid, and they need security, and they themselves are as [equally] fragile.鈥
Abu-Nimer is a vanguard in the field of interreligious peacebuilding. Joining AU鈥檚 School of International Service (SIS) in 1997, he has pioneered faith-based and faith-sensitive frameworks for addressing global conflict. His methodologies have ushered in a paradigm shift within conflict resolution studies. Whereas peacebuilding traditionally focused solely on secular causes and solutions of conflict, Abu-Nimer鈥檚 work continues to prove the importance of engaging religious leaders in peace efforts.
In recognition of his instrumental contributions, AU has recently designated Abu-Nimer the inaugural Abdul Aziz Said Chair in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at SIS. The chair鈥攏amed in honor of Professor Abdul Aziz Said, SIS/BS 鈥54, SIS/MA 鈥55, SIS/PhD 鈥57鈥攈olds special meaning for Abu-Nimer, who worked closely with Said for many years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very meaningful for me to be the inaugural chair. On a personal level, this is something very meaningful, and professionally as well,鈥 reflects Abu-Nimer. 鈥淪aid was one of the founders of peace and conflict resolution. Both his work and his reputation extend . . . globally, and he has worked with thousands of students.鈥
SIS dean Shannon Hader lauds the Said Chair as a uniquely collective testament to Said鈥檚 legacy.
鈥淢ade possible through the generosity of numerous alumni, friends, and family, including Professor Said鈥檚 wife, Elena Turner, SIS/BA 鈥82, the Said Chair underscores Professor Said鈥檚 lasting impact on the AU community and global scholarship,鈥 says Hader.
鈥淧rofessor Said pursued peacebuilding as a collaborative undertaking,鈥 Hader continues. 鈥淎s the inaugural chairholder, Professor Abu-Nimer embodies this vision of his former colleague through his teaching, research, and practice of interreligious dialogue and nonviolence.鈥
A Journey Shared
Abu-Nimer first met Said in 1995. He had recently completed his PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University in Virginia two years prior and admired Said鈥檚 work. Already a peace legend at AU, Said helped formalize peace studies as a discipline and had recently founded SIS鈥檚 International Peace and Conflict Resolution degree program.
The two scholars quickly realized the potential for collaboration to write a new script for peacebuilding that recognized faith and spirituality as, in Abu-Nimer鈥檚 words, 鈥渁 constructive force, rather than an exclusive or destructive force.鈥
Growing up a Palestinian citizen of Israel, Abu-Nimer had witnessed the complexities of manipulating religious identity to justify violence and exclusion in a conflict context. He believed that root causes of conflict鈥攕uch as territorial borders or access to natural resources鈥攑roduce varying outward dynamics according to religious identity factors. Accounting for and engaging with these dynamics, he concluded, was critical to the peacebuilding process.
Abu-Nimer began his journey for peace during his undergraduate studies in Jerusalem. He was trained as a facilitator by Oasis for Peace (an Arab-Jewish village created in the late 1970s to promote equal and shared living between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in Israel) and co-led Arab-Jewish dialogues with students鈥攁 topic in the 1980s, he says, that 鈥渘o one would touch.鈥
Furthermore, as a PhD student, Abu-Nimer identified a glaring hole in the scholarship about peacebuilding and Islam.
鈥淚n the mid-nineties, somebody actually asked me to write a paper on Islam and nonviolence and peacebuilding,鈥 recalls Abu-Nimer. 鈥淚 struggled with that paper in 1993-94, and I noticed that the whole Library of Congress only had about five to ten resources on nonviolence and peacebuilding in Islam, but it had thousands of entries on . . . Islam, religion, and violence.鈥
Abu-Nimer wrote the paper, embarking on a new chapter in scholarly research. When he joined AU鈥檚 faculty in 1997, he found a mentor in Said and a home at SIS.
Both colleagues saw need for robust consideration of Islamic frameworks for peace. Together, Abu-Nimer and Said co-authored papers and launched a degree specialization program in Peacebuilding and Islam. As Abu-Nimer extended his study of peacebuilding applications to other divided society contexts, including Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, he and Said continued to exchange insights as friends and collaborators.
鈥淚 shared a journey with him for over 20 years since I joined AU,鈥 Abu-Nimer says. 鈥淲e worked together very closely, sharing many ideas and the values and views on building [programs] and supporting diversity and inclusion both in our own AU community and in conflicts around the world.鈥
Reflecting about the new Said Chair, Abu-Nimer adds: 鈥淚 feel both honored and also feel the responsibility to continue the work of the past in the shoes of Professor Said.鈥
Peacebuilding in Practice
In his new position at AU, Abu-Nimer is eager to further advance the development and adoption of faith-informed peace interventions. Abu-Nimer鈥檚 identity as a scholar-practitioner鈥攁n identity he feels AU uniquely supports for its faculty鈥攕peaks to his extensive involvement with global organizations and on-the-ground initiatives, including the International Dialogue Center (KAICIID) and the self-founded Salam Institute for Peace and Justice.
Since he conducts on-site programs in conflict areas, Abu-Nimer can bring real-world case studies into the classroom, such as a dialogue on peaceful living he conducted in Egypt between Coptic Christians and Muslims.
鈥淸SIS] students,鈥 says Abu-Nimer, 鈥渁re hungry for the mix between practice and knowledge, practice and research, practice and theory.鈥
Currently, Abu-Nimer is working on projects related to reconciliation and forgiveness, religion and diplomacy, and justice and nonviolence. His overarching goal is to empower peace workers鈥攏amely community members, policymakers, and students鈥攚ith the tools to leverage faith systems respectfully and pragmatically.
Looking forward, Abu-Nimer hopes to see more appreciation and recognition toward peacebuilding鈥檚 qualitative nature from governmental and non-governmental donors. Peace workers are often confronted with what Abu-Nimer calls the 鈥渦nfair question鈥 when it comes to evaluating efficacy鈥攁kin to demanding someone attribute their career success, for better or worse, entirely to the impact of their third-grade math teacher.
鈥淧eople will say to me, 鈥極kay, now, you worked in Iraq for 12 years. And now look what's happening in that area,鈥欌 explains Abu-Nimer. 鈥淵es, we did, but we were like the math teacher in the third grade. There were many other teachers who did not do our work. They [communicated] different messages.鈥
This challenge of capturing the contributions of peacebuilding motivates Abu-Nimer in his vision for the Said Chair. By ensuring both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are applied, peace workers will better recognize and value those critically important 鈥渏oyful moments.鈥 Abu-Nimer therefore envisions the chair as a platform in which the applications of nonviolence are 鈥渟upported, nurtured, and encouraged" jointly in practice and knowledge.
In honoring the ongoing legacies of two of AU鈥檚 most influential voices in peace studies, the Said Chair represents a focus on peace as a lived experience for all those it touches.
鈥淭he story [of peacebuilding] is not complete without you listening to the powerful stories of people鈥攈ow the peacebuilding work shifted, affected, or transformed their lives,鈥 says Abu-Nimer.
