Calls for Islam-West dialogue

Thinkers, participating in the spring session of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, on Friday called for dialogue between the Arab-Islamic world and the west to settle conflicts.

Dialogue between the Arab and Islamic World and the West has become of paramount importance to settle conflicts, said the thinkers.

Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, a member of the Academy, said dialogue plays a key role in eliminating doubts and prejudices and averting human and material loss entailed by armed conflicts.

For Mohamed Farouk Nabhane, another member of the Academy, dialogue is a civilized behavior and a cultural action that enriches thought and fosters rapprochement among peoples.

Some thinkers, like Tunisian Mohamed Lahbib Belkhouja, adopted a skeptical stance regarding globalization. "Despite positive aspects of globalization, we have to avoid relying on it, as it makes of Islam a target of distortion by Western media and libeling Islam as preaching violence and terrorism."