Funk Family Upstander Speaker Series: Mohammed Al Samawi and Justin Hefter

Join this inspiring conversation with two young men who are dedicated to bringing people together across lines of difference to promote dialogue, cooperation, and change. The conversation will take place on the online platform Zoom. A link to join will be sent to registered guests via email one hour before the start of the program. Please register for one ticket per device used. Register here.

In 2015, Mohammed Al Samawi, an interfaith activist from a Shiite Muslim background, found himself trapped in the city of Aden, Yemen. The target of death threats from al-Qaeda squads, Al Samawi knew his life depended on escaping the city. That’s where Justin Hefter, along with three other young people in the U.S. and Israel, came in.

Growing up in Yemen, Mohammed Al Samawi was raised to view Christians and Jews as his enemy. While he was a student at university, a trusted professor shared a copy of the Bible with him. It didn’t take long for Al Samawi to study the text and wonder if his hate was unjustified. He began connecting with young people of other religions on social media and attending interfaith conferences, where he met the people who would ultimately help save his life, including Justin Hefter. When Al Samawi’s life was at risk, Hefter and others reached out across social media platforms to politicians, activists, diplomats, and anyone else who might be able to help to secure Al Samawi’s safe passage out of Yemen and eventually to the United States.

But the work did not end there. Both Al Samawi and Hefter continue their interfaith work today – Al Samawi as the founder of The Abrahamic House, a multifaith incubator with a mission to build sustainable interfaith learning and action, and Hefter as a co-founder of the AMEL Project, an organization that trains the next generation of human rights activists in countries across Africa and the Middle East.