Beirut: The Interfaith Green Iftar Is Hosted By Lebanese Vegans Social Hub
Salam and peace be upon you! I am thrilled to share my experience as a speaker at the Interfaith Green Iftar event held last week in Beirut, Lebanon.
“Interfaith Green Iftar / Vegan Plant-Based / Zero-Waste” event was part of a global initiative by Studio 89, which aims to create a sustainable future by encouraging its members to take local action and adopt a global perspective. The initiative was hosted by organizations worldwide in several cities, including Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Manchester and London in the UK, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Toronto in Canada, and Milan in Italy.
In Beirut, the Interfaith Green Iftar event was hosted by Lebanese Vegans Social Hub, a non-profit community center that offers a safe space for both vegans and non-vegans to learn, connect, and indulge in delectable vegan cuisine.
The social hub is also a café that hosts arts and culture events as well as environmental and social justice-focused events and workshops.
The event kicked off at 6h pm with a warm welcome from Vanessa Hayek, the manager of Lebanese Vegans Social Hub and a passionate animal rights activist. She introduced the concept of the social hub, founded by Lebanese Vegans NGO. All proceeds from the café and boutique are dedicated to food-based activism campaigns, street activism, relief efforts, and billboard, radio, and television advertising campaigns. Additionally, the hub offers free consultations with their vegan dietitian.
Hayek expressed gratitude to all the guests for joining. She then introduced Fawzia Jaffan, an animal rights activist and the leader and manager of the Vegan Islam Initiative of the Middle East Vegan Society. Jaffan presented a speech on animal rights in Islam. She introduced me too, Roland Azar, from Choose Compassion and the Middle East Vegan Society. I spoke about zero waste and animal agriculture's environmental impact.
The first speech was by Ms. Fawzia Jaffan, a vegan and advocate for animal rights. She is the Director and Manager of the Vegan Islam Project at the Middle East Vegan Society.
In her speech, Fawzia highlights the significant role of animals in Islam and their importance in Islamic history and stories. The Quran instructs Muslims to consume "halal" and "tayyib", where halal means permissible or allowed, and “tayyib” means pure and good-natured.
Fawzia emphasizes that Prophet Muhammad demonstrated compassion not only toward humans but also towards animals. He taught us that animals should be treated with dignity and care, as they are part of God's creation. In one of his "hadiths", he said that an act of kindness towards an animal is equivalent to an act of kindness towards a human being. In contrast, cruelty towards animals is as terrible as cruelty towards humans. In addition, he has taught us that those who are kind to animals are also kind to themselves.
Fawzia chose to advocate for voiceless animals, as the Quran states that saving a life is like saving all people. To conclude her speech, Fawzia urges everyone to be kind to themselves and adopt a vegan lifestyle.
After that, the attendees engaged in a conversation about the tense exchange and issues related to veganism and animal rights.
The next speech was mine. I'm an animal liberation activist and contributor to "Lebanese Vegans' awareness campaigns." I am the founder of the influential online awareness platform "Choose Compassion" and a blog writer for the Middle East Vegan Society.
For my part, I discussed the impact of waste on the environment and the importance of taking action. I explained that the Earth's average temperature is rising alarmingly due to greenhouse gases emitted by humans. This warming trend leads to rising sea levels and melting glaciers, affecting humans, animals, wildlife, land, air, and water. Maintaining ecosystems is critical for supporting life diversity, including animals, birds, insects, and plants. A detailed overview of animal agriculture's negative environmental impact was presented. I discussed how a vegan diet could help fight global warming by reducing our carbon footprint and even fighting world hunger. Studies have suggested that if all food crops were fed directly to humans instead of animals, around 70% more food could be added to the world's supply, theoretically feeding an additional four billion people. I also provided practical tips on living a zero-waste lifestyle and reducing single-use plastics in conversation with the event participants.
It's Iftar time.
The Lebanese Vegans social hub crew prepared a delicious vegan feast, including Fattouch, Mdardara, Hommus, Berghoul 3a Banadoura, rice with vegan meat, date balls, Jallab drink, and apricots with chocolate served as dessert. The food was incredibly satisfying, and we all enjoyed it. Fawzia invited those who wished to pray to a designated room.
The event was a huge success. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting various people while appreciating the inclusivity and diversity of attendees from different backgrounds and beliefs. I firmly believe that events like these are essential to raising awareness and creating positive change in our society.
I want to express my gratitude to Studio 89 and the Lebanese Vegans social hub for organizing this fantastic event and inviting me to take part in it. I also want to thank all the supporters who made this event possible. Last but not least, I extend my sincere thanks to all the attendees and those who followed the event online. You are all incredible!
To learn more about Interfaith Green Iftar, Studio 89, Lebanese Vegans social hub, or any of the speakers or organizations mentioned above, please visit their websites or social media pages. If you're interested in hosting or participating in a Green Iftar event in your city, please contact Studio 89 for more information.
Until next time,
Peace out!