Ladies and Gentlemen
I am greatly honoured to be with you On behalf of jury of the Ibn Rushd Prize for Free thought of the year 2022. To present the joint award this year to one of its winners, Dr. Saad Salloum.
You know that the Ibn Rushd Foundation seeks to promote the centrality of the human condition, the individual citizen in the state and society, the belief in tolerance, free thought and objective debate, and the support and dissemination of free democratic thought, democracy and creativity in the Arab countries and by shedding light on the pioneers of civilization that have contributed and by granting the initiators of intellectual change their right to the fore and in forming opinion and awareness in the masses, individuals or organizations who have contributed to democracy and freedom of speech in the Arab world.
It is an annual award given by the Ibn Rushd Foundation for Free Thought in Berlin since 1999.
The Ibn Rushd Prize for Free Thought for the year 2022 was awarded jointly by Dr. Saad Salloum, an academic and expert in religious diversity issues in Iraq, and head of the Masarat Foundation, and Dr. Nayla Tabbara (Lebanon), an activist in the field of freedom and interfaith dialogue and president of the Adyan Foundation.
Both are distinguished academics and experts in issues of cultural diversity and freedom of thought in the Middle East.
Allow me to talk a little bit about Dr. Saad Salloum, who received the award for his efforts that contributed to the promotion and protection of religious freedoms, resistance to sectarianism and discrimination, and support for the recognition of diversity in order to build a peaceful society.
Dr. Saad Salloum was born in Baghdad, PhD in International Relations, Assistant Professor of Political Science, College of Political Science at Al-Mustansiriya University.
ACTIVITIES :
Co-founder of Christian-Muslim Dialogue Initiative,
The Iraqi Council for Interfaith Dialogue ,
The National Centre for Countering Hate Speeches,
The Institute for Religious Diversity Studies in Baghdad
The Institute for Diversity Journalism in Iraq .
He is the chairman of the MASARAT Foundation for Cultural and Media Development, an institution specializing in diversity and interfaith dialogue.
BOOKS :
He is the author of 18 books on various issues of diversity, the most prominent of which are:
1.Minorities in Iraq
2.creative diversity
3.Policies and Ethnicities in Iraq: From the Ottomans to the Present
4.Unity in Diversity
5.Yazidis in Iraq
6.Protection of Religious, Ethnic, and Linguistic Minorities in Iraq Freedom of religion and belief of minorities
- Iraqi Media and Religious Diversity Issues
- The End of Diversity in Iraq
- Returning to Sinjar
10 Ongoing Genocide
11.Identity Dynamics
PRIZES :
1.He was awarded the Stefanus Alliance International Award / Oslo 2018 for his efforts in defending issues of freedom of religion and belief in Iraq and the Middle East,
- The Chaldean Patriarchate award for his book (Christians in Iraq: Comprehensive History and Current Challenges),
3.Kamel Shia’a Award for Enlightenment Culture for his entire intellectual work.
Dr. Khazal Almajidi
9 / 9 / 2022 – Berlin
