A proposal for establishing an inter-religious council at the United Nations was the focus of discussions at the conference hosted by the Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) last week.

The conference, 'The World at a Turning Point: A Global Vision of Peace and Good Governance', gathered a number of Muslim and Christian religious leaders as well as scholars, educators and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

Participants appeared in agreement about Muslim-Christian cooperation and dialogue and the desire to live in peace.

To IIFWP founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon – also the founder of News World Communications Inc., a media company that owns the Middle East Times and UPI - the world is at a turning point and the challenge was to transform "human minds, hearts and concepts".

It is for this reason that IIFWP proposed the establishment of an inter-religious council at the United Nations – a proposal adopted by the Philippines that expressed readiness to submit it as a formal resolution to the 58th General Assembly of the United Nations in September.

"The UN, as currently structured, cannot fully benefit from the spiritual, moral and social vision that comes from religion. This situation weakens the UN as it seeks to carry out its most crucial mission," Moon said.

The proposed inter-religious council would thus include religious leaders and "people of conscience and wisdom".

"It should not be competitive and manipulating in order to steal power and leadership."

But many urged the audience to look at the root of the violence in the Middle East and much of the world: US support of Israel and the link of Islam to terrorism.

"These [peace and religious harmony] are necessary and important principles we should all work for. But nice slogans are not enough," said Sheikh Muhammad Kanaan, president of the Higher Sunni Religious Court in Lebanon.

He said if the United States had been "a fair state," it would have formed a committee of experts to "study the real situation in Palestine and Jerusalem".

"But justice is missing and the oppressed ones are counter-reacting against their oppressors. That's why there was confrontation," he said. "America today is forcing the Arab and Muslims to be silent and to recognize the Israeli state."

Muhammad Habash, a Syrian parliamentarian and director of the Islamic Studies in Damascus, called for establishing a "strong Muslim-Christian front in the region that would be able to create and protect peace".Courtesy of United Press International.