Online lecture

Ziad El Sayegh
CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST:
CHALLENGES AND CHOICES

Monday, April 28, 2025, 7 pm Athens time

The next event of the “Time for action” series for 2025 will take place on Monday, April 28, 2025, at 7 pm Athens time (EEST). Dr Ziad El Sayegh, Executive Director of the Civic Influence Hub (CIH) of Lebanon, expert on Public Policies, Migration and Refugees, will present the topic “Christians in the Middle East: Challenges and Choices”. The lecture will be in English with live interpretation into Greek, and it will be moderated by Dr Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Director of Volos Academy. The link for attending via the Zoom platform is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83117000837 .

The situation in the Middle East is not a conflict between Jews and Muslims only; it affects also the Christian communities that live in the region, and which are in fact the oldest Christian communities all over the world. We need to approach honestly and fearlessly the critical dynamics around the geopolitical challenges in the Middle East. The purpose is to foster peace based on justice, inclusive governance, democratic accountability, and active citizenship. The lecture will highlight the main theological and socio-political arguments aimed at shaping a just and inclusive regional future, in which Christians should play a constructive role.

Ziad El Sayegh holds a PhD in Public Diplomacy and International Relations. He holds Masters in Philosophy and Theology, a diploma as a Mediator in Diplomatic and Political Relations and International Conflicts from AYM (UK), and Certificate in Labor Policies and Social Protection (ILO/WB). He is a Senior International Fellow at the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut (AUB) since November 2024. He is an expert on Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon and Middle East Peace Negotiations Process, on Syrian Refugees, on Labor Policies and Social Protection. He has done specialized studies on the Palestinian and Syrian Refugees issue in Lebanon, on Middle East Peace negotiations, and on labor and social protection issues. Ziad El Sayegh has published several studies on public policies, mainly on refugees and migration, Christian – Muslim Dialogue, religious freedom, Arab thinking and citizenship. He is co-author of the books “We Choose Abundant Life: Christians in the Middle East: Towards Renewed Theological, Social, and Political Choices” (2021), “October 17 Uprising: Squares and Testimonies” (Arab Center for Research and Policy Study, 2022), “Médiations et Migrations” (L’Harmattan, 2019), “The Religion Freedom with Civic Religious Dialogue in Lebanon” (Adyan Foundation - Dar Al Farabi, 2017).