The Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist, Tawakkol Karman, delivered the opening speech at the international conference on “pacifism and non-violence in contemporary Islam” hosted by the UK University of Manchester.

In the meanwhile, Tawakkol Karman emphasized that violence is not a problem related to Islam or Islamic societies, explaining that it is a transgenerational phenomenon and that all societies with their different religions and ideologies have witnessed groups and trends inciting violence.

Karman considered that the attempt to attach violence to Islam is a targeted propaganda that became popular after the September terrorist events. 

This is a racism promoting the cycle of terrorism and counter-terrorism between extremist groups Western powers had had a hand in supporting and establishing as a means to confront communism during the Cold War years, she noted. 

The Nobel laureate emphasized that it is for two reasons not in the interest of humanity to denigrate religions with violence as a result of historical experiences of their followers: this claim is untrue, and such perception has an impact that could seriously damage the human march due to the fact that religions have a great influence.

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To listen and watch the speech, click here