Voices of Dissent

In the politically turbulent Middle East & North Africa, religious minorities are too often marginalized, oppressed, and completely ignored. But an upcoming event in San Francisco seeks to illuminate how these groups have more in common than conflict. Bridging divides between culture and spirituality, “Faith Beyond Borders: Voices of Dissent” will connect and build solidarity between Middle Eastern/North African Christians, Jews and Muslims with shared experiences of political and faith-based persecution.

Presented by JIMENA, the forum will feature several young adult speakers from Arab countries and Iran, who have lived through major upheaval, played influential roles in political movements, and have been forced to flee their respective homes on account of their beliefs and actions. They will come together to provide insight into the perspectives of their communities, which are seldom heard in mainstream media or public discourse.

Participants include: Hadeel Kouky, a Syrian Christian former political prisoner who was detained for providing medical assistance to demonstrators; Karmel Melamed, an award-winning journalist, noted human rights and LGBT advocate and Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, an Egyptian activist

The convening will feature a panel discussion moderated by Dumisani Washington, senior pastor of the Congregation of Zion in Stockton. An interactive question and answer forum will also explore the unique struggles, commonalities and issues facing religious minorities in the Middle East and North Africa as well as ways to build solidarity and mutual support between groups. This event will open an opportunity for dialogue between voices that rarely have a platform for meaningful and candid interaction.

The event is open to the public and people of all religious and cultural backgrounds are encouraged to attend, share ideas and learn how to support one another as allies for religious pluralism and equality, from the Bay Area to the Middle East.


Thursday, May 29 at 7:00pm

290 Dolores St, San Francisco

Free, but please RSVP dyanna at jimena.org