European parliamentary delegation-forum on dialogue and diversity

European Parliamentarians and representatives of various spiritual and intellectual tendencies and members of the civic society in Syria on Wednesday stressed importance of dialogue and understanding among Mediterranean countries on one side and north-south countries on the other as a first step for establishing peace in the world.

In an extensive forum of dialogue held at Mar Moussa al-Habashi Monastery, 80 KM north of Damascus, head of the European parliamentary delegation Mrs. Piatrice Patrie said that Europe and Syria were bound not only by geographical proximity and economic relations but also by long historical and human ties which proved that this region cannot but live on the idea of dialogue and tolerance.

Mrs. Patrie, who was accompanied by Head of the European Mission in Damascus M. Frank Heske, added in this interactive dialogue that "Sep. 11 incidents had created hated expressions like the 'clash of civilization' and 'contradictions between the Eastern and Western civilizations'...but this is a source of regret and has to be denounced because the East and the West are integrated in their civilizations and agree on the call for openness and democracy as stated by the teachings of Islam."

She added that partnership between the two banks of the Mediterranean "enjoys great priority as it stresses on joint common grounds and values of coexistence and point out to the common roots between the East and West." The European MP saw that European democracy couldn't fit Arab societies "as this democracy emerged from within the European societies...so exporting this democracy is futile because every society has its own peculiarity. Instead, there should be focus on common values like peace, tolerance, respect of human dignity and equality between men and women." She called for giving special priority to interaction among societies through activating civic assemblies in both sides and not to confine relations to the economic aspects, adding that this issue has been noticed in the articles of the EU-Syrian partnership association which hoped it would be signed soon.

The European MP pointed out that Syria over the past few months has been under attack in European media, and said that this campaign didn't rely on recognizing the real situation in the Middle East. "European media is to blame for this weakness as they only speak about catastrophes and violence and ignore positive sides in general," she added.

For her part, European MP Anilli Jianmaki stressed on the importance of mutual East-West recognition and enhancing the role of tourism as a means of encouraging interaction and dialogue among peoples.

Other European MPs also talked about the exchange of expertise and opinions and mutual understanding.

For his part, Reverend Paolo Dalollio who resides in the Monastery talked about rapprochement among different cultures. He also spoke about an educational program among the young generation all over the world titled "Path of Ibrahim" to encourage pilgrimage to the holy places in Syria, Palestine and Turkey.

For his part, Syrian Member of Parliament, Mohammad Habash, stressed that Islam calls for cooperation among all peoples of the world. He criticized extremism both in Eastern and Western societies as it only leads to more isolation and disputes.

He added that the Islamic world "highly appreciates calls for dialogue of civilization, and at the same time we denounce those calls which talk about conflict as a way for resolving problems." The MP called on the Europeans to strike a balance between their relations with the Palestinians and Israelis in a way that helps the Palestinians restore their rights.

Sheikh Yasser Hafez, the Mufti of Nabek, called for more dialogues and discussion with European delegations, underscoring the idea that Islam urges for dialogue as the basis for human unity and cooperation of civilizations. Sheikh Jawdat Said delivered a speech in which he spoke about the common European and Arab roots as manifested by history.

He emphasized that human interaction is the only means for preserving human dignity, adding that the "seeds of democracy has persisted to exist ever since Prophets were sent to the peoples calling for virtue and noble deeds."