Rev. El Shafie meets with Members of the U.S. Congress and thought-leaders to advocate for persecuted religious minorities
Following on the heels of his well-received op ed published by The Hill, Rev. El Shafie travelled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Members and staff of the United States Congress to discuss the important work of One Free World International.
Majed reconnected with Former Congressman Frank Wolf, author of the landmark International Religious Freedom Act. The law promotes freedom of faith as a foreign policy objective of the United States as well as established the Ambassador for international Religious Freedom at the State Department and the Commission on International Religious Freedom. Rev. El Shafie and Mr. Wolf, who has also recently traveled to Iraq, had in depth conversations about how best to help and protect Christians and Yazidis as well as other persecuted minorities around the world.
Majed met with the office of Representative Trent Franks, Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Following up on his conversation with the Congressman from earlier in the year, Rev. El Shafie provided an update on the organization’s work and in particular the assistance being provided to women, girls and children who have escaped the clutches of ISIS.
Representative Randy Hultgren, Co-Chair of the Lantos Commission on Human Rights, welcomed Rev. El Shafie to his office on Capitol Hill to talk about the plight of Christians and Yazidis. In addition, they discussed how the Commission and OFWI could partner to raise awareness and encourage action to help the most vulnerable minorities around the globe. Rev. El Shafie testified before the Commission in 2012 on challenges facing religious minorities in South Asia and looks forward to having an opportunity to appear before the Commission in early 2018.
Rev. El Shafie met with Congressman Tom Garrett, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittees that handle Global Human Rights and Terrorism. The Congressman provided an update on Congressional activity on religious freedom and his work in September securing refuge in the U.S. for nine citizens of Sudan persecuted for their faith as well as his actions free pastors arrested for their mission work. It seemed fitting the two took commemorated their meeting with a photo in front of the statue of Thomas Jefferson located just outside the entrance to the House of Representatives. Interestingly, when designing his own tombstone, Thomas Jefferson, a man of many accomplishments, chose to be remembered for only 3 things: Authorship of the Declaration of Independence, Establishment of the University of Virginia and the Statute of Religious Freedom.
During his mission, Majed met with other officials on Capitol Hill and at the State Department including the Offices of Religious Freedom and Senator Jim Inhofe as well as Fox News.
Honored to meet @MajedElShafie, a global #HumanRights advocate who was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death in #Egypt because of his Christian faith. pic.twitter.com/DklVZPcRpG
— Tom Garrett (@RepTomGarrett) November 15, 2017