Reshaping Violent Religious Narratives in Irbid

Jordan |

Young people and city actors collaborate to identify how religion is manipulated to incite hate and extremism in Jordan.

In Irbid, the Local Prevention Network (LPN) – a prevention and resilience unit composed of representatives from different municipal governmental departments – conducted research to understand youth grievances and how religious scriptures are intentionally misrepresented to perpetuate violent narratives.

Young people led the research, while the LPN helped construct the questions and supported the analysis. A key finding was that the problem was in fact widely recognised by the community: 75% of respondents believe that misconceptions of scriptures were a key contributor of violence and that addressing gaps in understanding would lead to greater social cohesion and peace.

Following the research, the group organised and performed a play dramatising the negative consequences of religious misinterpretation, which was attended by over 70 people.