Citizens from 200 countries live and co-exist peacefully in UAE
The first Alliance of Civilisations Forum was concluded here Wednesday with emotional call for promoting and fostering interfaith and cross-culture dialogue.
Having a high-profile presence in the meeting, the United Arab Emirates considers the concept of the "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative as one of the most important global initiatives of recent years.
"We offer our sincere thanks to the Governments of Spain and of Turkey for having launched this initiative, and we pledge our full support for the alliance and its objectives," said UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and community Development, Abdul Rahman Al Owais in an address he delivered at conference.
He said the promotion of dialogue between cultures and between faiths "is something to which we must all pay attention, if we are to hope for a peaceful world, where tolerance, rather than bigotry, prevails, and where misunderstandings based on ignorance are removed".
"For us in the Emirates, tolerance, of different faiths, different cultures and different races, is fundamental to our way of life and the world as a whole. People from nearly 200 countries live and co-exist peacefully and harmoniously together within our borders. Peoples of all religions, Muslim, Christian, Hindu and others, practice their faiths, side-by-side.
''Indeed, in our capital city of Abu Dhabi, one of the largest mosques is immediately adjacent to the Catholic Cathedral, the Coptic Cathedral and the Anglican Church symbolizing our respect to all faiths and commitment to inter-faith understanding," he stated.
"That is how we wish it to be. That basis of tolerance and dialogue is an essential part of the religion of Islam," he added.
He said through tolerance and dialogue comes understanding - and a recognition that a stereotyping of other cultures and other faiths can only lead to misunderstanding and a breakdown in harmony.
"Part of our understanding and of the way in which we practice tolerance in these matters is that we recognise that people of each and every culture, each and every faith, hold certain things dear to their hearts.
''As a corollary, we believe that it is incumbent upon us to ensure that persons who claim to be a part of other cultures and other faiths do not deliberately set out to cause offence, or to poke fun at those aspects of culture and belief that are so important to others, which might inflame public opinion and of further creating distrust and animosity.
''While we recognise, and value, the right to the freedom of expression, it is our view that there is a need for a greater acceptance of responsibility in the way that freedom is used, particularly by the mass media," he stated He said such freedoms should not be used to permit and to justify the publication of inflammatory material that can not only lead to a deepening of misunderstanding between cultures and faiths, but also to violence and death.
He pointed out that the promotion of dialogue and understanding, indeed the promotion of an alliance of civilizations, can only hope to be successful "if we all exert continuous and sincere efforts to build bridges, rather than to divide, to foster friendship, rather than hostility, to explain, rather than to disseminate views designed to deepen misunderstandings." "We in the United Arab Emirates will continue to play our part, both at home and elsewhere, in the pursuit of the goal to which we all aspire - a greater belief in the concept of global community and of the unity of mankind. We look forward to working with others in the effort to reach that goal," he stated.
"We hope that this meeting will succeed in laying down a framework for continuing activity that will allow concrete steps to be taken towards our shared goals, with such a framework being designed to encourage and facilitate the participation of each and every state that is represented here," he concluded.
The two-day international gathering was opened by Spanish Spanish Prime Minister Jose Rodriguez Zapatero and addressed by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It brought together political leaders, the media, corporate and film industry executives, and grassroots and civil society leaders. Created in 2005 at the initiative of Spain and Turkey and under UN auspices, the Alliance seeks to tackle fear and suspicion, bridge divides and overcome prejudices and polarizations between Islam and the West. (WAM)
Having a high-profile presence in the meeting, the United Arab Emirates considers the concept of the "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative as one of the most important global initiatives of recent years.
"We offer our sincere thanks to the Governments of Spain and of Turkey for having launched this initiative, and we pledge our full support for the alliance and its objectives," said UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and community Development, Abdul Rahman Al Owais in an address he delivered at conference.
He said the promotion of dialogue between cultures and between faiths "is something to which we must all pay attention, if we are to hope for a peaceful world, where tolerance, rather than bigotry, prevails, and where misunderstandings based on ignorance are removed".
"For us in the Emirates, tolerance, of different faiths, different cultures and different races, is fundamental to our way of life and the world as a whole. People from nearly 200 countries live and co-exist peacefully and harmoniously together within our borders. Peoples of all religions, Muslim, Christian, Hindu and others, practice their faiths, side-by-side.
''Indeed, in our capital city of Abu Dhabi, one of the largest mosques is immediately adjacent to the Catholic Cathedral, the Coptic Cathedral and the Anglican Church symbolizing our respect to all faiths and commitment to inter-faith understanding," he stated.
"That is how we wish it to be. That basis of tolerance and dialogue is an essential part of the religion of Islam," he added.
He said through tolerance and dialogue comes understanding - and a recognition that a stereotyping of other cultures and other faiths can only lead to misunderstanding and a breakdown in harmony.
"Part of our understanding and of the way in which we practice tolerance in these matters is that we recognise that people of each and every culture, each and every faith, hold certain things dear to their hearts.
''As a corollary, we believe that it is incumbent upon us to ensure that persons who claim to be a part of other cultures and other faiths do not deliberately set out to cause offence, or to poke fun at those aspects of culture and belief that are so important to others, which might inflame public opinion and of further creating distrust and animosity.
''While we recognise, and value, the right to the freedom of expression, it is our view that there is a need for a greater acceptance of responsibility in the way that freedom is used, particularly by the mass media," he stated He said such freedoms should not be used to permit and to justify the publication of inflammatory material that can not only lead to a deepening of misunderstanding between cultures and faiths, but also to violence and death.
He pointed out that the promotion of dialogue and understanding, indeed the promotion of an alliance of civilizations, can only hope to be successful "if we all exert continuous and sincere efforts to build bridges, rather than to divide, to foster friendship, rather than hostility, to explain, rather than to disseminate views designed to deepen misunderstandings." "We in the United Arab Emirates will continue to play our part, both at home and elsewhere, in the pursuit of the goal to which we all aspire - a greater belief in the concept of global community and of the unity of mankind. We look forward to working with others in the effort to reach that goal," he stated.
"We hope that this meeting will succeed in laying down a framework for continuing activity that will allow concrete steps to be taken towards our shared goals, with such a framework being designed to encourage and facilitate the participation of each and every state that is represented here," he concluded.
The two-day international gathering was opened by Spanish Spanish Prime Minister Jose Rodriguez Zapatero and addressed by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It brought together political leaders, the media, corporate and film industry executives, and grassroots and civil society leaders. Created in 2005 at the initiative of Spain and Turkey and under UN auspices, the Alliance seeks to tackle fear and suspicion, bridge divides and overcome prejudices and polarizations between Islam and the West. (WAM)
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