Religious Freedom and the Arab Spring

25 PARTICIPANTS GATHERED in the air-conditioned conference room of the Erdman Center on the campus of Princeton Theological Seminary during the first week of July to hear from a panel of distinguished speakers on a number of topics pertaining to Islam and religious freedom. 

While most of those in attendance were from the US, the Witherspoon Institute seminar also included participants from Canada, Egypt, India, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and an Islamic studies instructor who has studied and taught in Saudi Arabia.

Lectures included, "Religious Freedom:  What it is, What it isn't " by Georgetown University's Thomas F. Farr and "Islam & Religious Freedom: Contrasting Europe and America" by Ed Husain, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.  Seminar leader Abdullah Saeed, the Sultan of Oman Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia, spoke on "The Costs of Barring Religious Freedom" and "Islam and Proselytization". 

While everyone had a compelling reason for attending the seminar, no one's presence was more timely than that of Yasser Khalil (pictured) of Egypt.  The 38-year old researcher and journalist, who participated in the January 25 revolution, said he flew more than 5,000 miles from Cairo to Princeton, New Jersey, to listen to new ideas about religious freedom he hopes to take back to Egypt, which faces an uncertain as future former President Hosni Mubarak stands trial on charges including corruption and ordering the killing of anti-government protestors.

Go deeper: Experts discuss the threats and promises of religious freedom.

A former senior editor at Al Masry Al Yawm newspaper, an independent daily in Egypt, Khalil said he found himself on the near empty streets of Cairo on the morning of Tuesday, January 25th, as an ordinary citizen about to take part in the first day of the revolution. 

He recalled heading over to the High Court in downtown Cairo with a colleague where a small group of demonstrators had gathered, and continuing on to Tahrir Square after more people joined the demonstrators.  He said they were joined  along the way by even more people as they ran to the Square, before fleeing from police and running to the Qasr al-Nil Bridge.  He said they then met up with members of the Alwafd opposition party who had gathered outside of the main offices of the ruling party for a large protest before eventually returning to area of the High Court.

On Wednesday, January 26, Khalil recalled joining demonstrators at a rally which crossed a downtown street, Abdel Khalek Sarwat, and ended near the Ataba Metro station in Cairo.  He said police started attacking protestors with tear gas and what he now believes were probably rubber bullets on a narrow street beside the metro station, forcing him to flee.