Mubarak: War does not solve problems and peace is the genuine option
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 5/21/2002

Egyptian President Mubarak said wars do not solve problems and that peace is the genuine option before the world.

Mubarak said there is a clear distinction between the legitimate right of resistance, the occupation of land and intimidating peoples.

In an address read out on his behalf by Prime Minister Dr. Atef Ebeid at the opening session of the fourth International Islamic Conference in Cairo, the President asserted that dialogue among different cultures and civilizations was the only means of achieving peace in the region.

"Past experiences provided ample evidence that wars don't resolve disputes and that dialogue is the only viable means of uprooting evil tendencies in our world," he said.

The President explains that the conference is convened amidst crucial international circumstances hatched by the disastrous September 11 attacks on the US last year.

He added that these attacks produced all sorts of adverse stereotypes and inaccurate assumptions about Islam, simply because the perpetrators were Muslims.

"The whole world ignored the Muslim world's strong condemnation of these attacks which contradict the essence of Islam,' he said.

He added that these attacks encouraged many countries, which knew very little about Islam, to judge the religion by the acts of few extremists.

"Since its revelation 14 centuries ago, Islam promoted tolerance and peace, but some media propagandists have focused on the activities of some misguided muslins in recent years to link Islam to terrorism," he said.

He added that this slaughter on Islam overlooked the salient fact that many of these activities were motivated more by desperation with unfair political and economic conditions than -religious considerations.

The President said the conference should build on successive efforts aimed at redressing these inaccuracies by projecting the true image of Islam as a religion that advocates tolerance, coexistence, dialogue and cooperation among different civilizations.

He stressed that all heavenly religions promote virtue, peace and goodness and could never be a source of evil.

He also criticized whoever uses religion as a disguise to serve ulterior political motives.

But having said that, it's also important to distinguish between terrorism and legitimate resistance to achieve freedom, he said.

Mubarak also indicated that Islam recognizes cultural and religious diversity among different peoples, adding that it promoted cooperation and inter-faith dialogue.

This diversity should be a source for interaction and integration among different civilizations, he said.

Mubarak also affirmed that better understanding is the only way to deal with prevalent generalities, misconceptions or prejudices about certain culture, religion or community.

The President also highlighted the fact that Islam is opposed to the clash of civilizations theory because it's inconsistent with its general Tenet of interaction and cooperation with others.

I feel certain that the similarities and points of convergence between different civilizations and religions outweigh the dissimilarities.

We are required to focus more on these similarities to reach common grounds, he said.

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