Moussa inaugurates civilizations conference
Regional, Culture, 11/27/2001

Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa Yesterday inaugurated the civilizations conference.

He said the notion on superiority of a certain civilization over others is only allegation that has got no legs to stand upon before history. In his speech at the conference entitled "civilization dialogue... continuity-not conflict", currently in session at the League premises in Cairo, Moussa said the impact of the Islamic civilization and the Arab culture on the Western culture throughout history is documented very well.

My call to hold this conference is aimed at discussing the steps to deal with the challenges encountering us, said Moussa, voicing hope that these meetings would not serve only as an occasion to exchange words but rather to agree on a programme of action.

He stressed the need to hold an inter-civilization dialogue in the AL premises on liberation of the concept of Islam in the west to encounter a recent campaign that is aimed at distorting Islam's image. The assault on the Arab civilization and the maltreatment of Arab citizens and students abroad prompted the League to discuss such developments, Moussa said.

He noted that the best thing is to mull over these issues and propose solutions and recommendations in a way to establish dialogue with foreign governments.

Several senior officials in Europe and many articles have contributed to distorting the picture of Islam in the west, he said, pinpointing that accusing all the Arabs as either terrorists or harboring terrorism is all wrong.

On whether the mass media are responsible for this, Moussa said that the mass media are not alone to blame but also some senior officials in Europe who sent clear-cut messages in this respect including the statements that "our civilization is superior to the Islamic civilization" and that "the Islamic civilization is less in rank than other civilizations".

The Arab League chief referred to US President George W. Bush's statements in defence of Islam, exhorting the citizens in the west to treat Muslims well.

Moussa expressed appreciation for the statements of President Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and others who made themselves very clear as to call for respect of other civilizations, particularly the Muslim civilization.

Moussa pointed out that "we have received reports that more than 5,000 Arab students are now subjected in the United States to investigations". He added that the League is standing against terrorists who use Islam as a cloak.

He said that "it would be a crime that some people use Islam as a pretext to commit crimes. They are not Arabs or Muslims and we all denounce their acts and practices.

On what the League would do about those terrorists and their misuse of Islam to fight what they dub as "atheists". Moussa said that "we'll frankly discuss this issue", adding there are some wrong matters in our societies just like any other society. "But we're not going to tolerate acts of terrorism and violence and the intimidation of communities", he affirmed.

Prince Al-Hassan Bin Talal, Chairman of the Arab Thought Forum, said the issue of anti-Islam discrimination and in particular the partiality against the Arab identity is obvious in several spots of the world. We are now sensing a false crack between Arab Islam and foreign Islam, especially in light of the painful appalling news reports we receive about the killing of Afghan Arabs, said Prince Hassan.

He affirmed that Arab Islamic civilization encourages man to think and contemplate, noting "our civilization was the first to appreciate and respect man's dignity".

Furthermore, Ghassan Salama, Lebanese Culture Minister, said in his speech before the conference that kicked off Monday that the theory of clash of civilizations is putting the internal infrastructure of most world countries at stake.

Previous Stories:
  Dialogue of Cultures Debated in Cairo   (11/26/2001)
  100 Arab thinkers discuss in Cairo the dialogue of cultures   (11/24/2001)
  Tolerance is key to peace and fight against terrorism, UN officials say   (11/17/2001)

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