Dear HumanDHS network friends
Please find below the Common Ground News Bulletin for 13-19 May 2008.
Kind regards
Brian Ward
Common Ground News Service
Partners in Humanity for constructive & vibrant Muslim-Western relations
13 - 19 May 2008
The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim–Western relations. CGNews-PiH is available in Arabic, English, French, Indonesian and Urdu.
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Inside this edition
1) Moroccans shun violent extremism by Vanessa Noël Brown and Andrew Kessinger
Vanessa Noël Brown, a David L. Boren Fellow in Morocco, and Andrew Kessinger from Search for Common Ground, argue that Morocco plays a role in Muslim-Western relations, not as the new front on terror, but as an ally in the fight against religious intolerance and extremism.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 13 May 2008)
2) Give US-Iranian theological diplomacy a try by Bishop John Bryson Chane
A two-time visitor to Iran, the Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, the Episcopal Bishop of the Dioceses of Washington, DC, offers his perspective on how US-Iranian relations might be established. Claiming that “politicians have been behaving childishly”, Bishop Chane affirms the need for a new kind of diplomacy to broker a peaceful solution between the two countries.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 13 May 2008)
3) The princess and the Facebook Girl by Lawrence Pintak
In light of the recent Facebook controversy in Egypt, Lawrence Pintak, director of the Kamal Adham Center for Electronic Journalism at The American University in Cairo, uses fairy tale narrative to explore the limitations on the press in the Middle East and North Africa.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 13 May 2008)
4) Sunni or Shi’a, we are all Muslim by Hisham Hellyer
Dr. H. A. Hellyer, a Fellow of the University of Warwick and a member of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, deconstructs a recent Doha Debate on Sunni-Shi’a conflict, suggesting that the real conflict lies elsewhere.
(Source: The National, 1 May 2008)
5) The “Babel Med Music” world music forum by David Siebert
Freelance journalist David Siebert considers how music is bringing people from around the Mediterranean together in Marseille.
(Source: Qantara.de, 2 May 2008)
1) Moroccans shun violent extremism
Vanessa Noël Brown and Andrew Kessinger
Rabat - Between Afghanistan and America, situated at the crossroads of Eastern and Western civilisations, lies a low-key ally in the fight against religious intolerance and extremism: Morocco.
Despite the headlines painting this region as the new front on terror, Moroccans object to their country becoming a base for western-focused extremism and are determined to prevent al Qaeda from securing a foothold in this corner of the Maghreb.
Although the country has witnessed a rise in violent extremism over the last few years – from the 2004 Moroccan-perpetrated train bombings in Madrid to the repeated suicide attacks in Casablanca – the public remains vigilant. In February, government authorities successfully dismantled an international network that had plotted to assassinate Cabinet ministers, army officers and members of the Moroccan Jewish community.
In addition to shunning violence strictly on religious grounds, Moroccans proudly embrace their unique culture of diversity – built on a long tradition of Arab, Berber, Muslim and Jewish co-existence.
Furthermore, Morocco has few qualms regarding its robust, historic ties to the West, having been the first country to recognize US independence in 1777. The feeling is mutual; Americans also have proven a commitment to promoting religious tolerance, economic development and solidarity between the two nations. Today, citizens on both sides continue to take an active role in furthering constructive, collaborative dialogue across the Atlantic.
One such initiative, the American-Moroccan Institute (AMI), was founded in 2003 to advance cultural, academic and economic ties between the United States and Morocco. AMI expands on traditional diplomatic efforts by facilitating discourse amongst academics, policymakers and civil society on a range of issues highlighting how Morocco – with its diverse traditions drawn from African, Amazigh, Arab and European cultures – shares values and common challenges with multicultural America.
Eradicating ideological-based violence is but one such shared concern; promoting pluralistic societies based on religious tolerance is yet another. In stark contrast to last year’s Holocaust denial conference in Iran – which increased tensions between Jews and Muslims worldwide – another reaffirming message of Moroccan-American solidarity against hate-driven ideologies and a renewed commitment toward respecting human dignity transpired last month.
In March, the AMI facilitated a partnership between the National Library of Morocco and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) for an exchange of archives related to Morocco’s reaction to the Holocaust. The exchange marks the first such formal accord between the USHM Museum and an institution in an Arab, Muslim-majority country.
In addition to granting public access to historical documents in universities and libraries across Morocco, the exchange also provides content to future USHMM exhibitions and promises to shed light on the positive role that Morocco played during World War II. Unbeknownst to many, King Mohammed V actively protected the kingdom’s Jewish population from Nazi-led calls of discrimination and deportation.
The 11 March signing ceremony, held at Morocco’s National Library in Rabat, was attended by the USHMM Director, Sara Bloomfield, the Moroccan National Library Director, Driss Khrouz, US Ambassador to Morocco, Thomas Riley, and Senior Advisor to King Mohammed V, André Azoulay.
Azoulay – a high-ranking Moroccan official who has spent decades promoting interfaith co-existence – publicly acknowledged that, though a Jew by faith, he deeply identifies with his country’s Muslim traditions. He went on to note that the same is true in reverse: namely, that Muslim Moroccan society has and will continue to embrace its Jewish legacy.
Amongst an often discouraging framework through which the world views interfaith relations, exchanges of this nature offer a glimpse into a mainstream Moroccan culture which celebrates its diversity, and in doing so, bridges the so-called East-West divide.
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* Vanessa Noël Brown is a David L. Boren Fellow in Morocco and graduate student at the Institute for Conflict Analysis & Resolution at George Mason University. Andrew Kessinger works for Search for Common Ground. Both are American Moroccan Institute members. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and originally appeared in Washington Post/Newsweek’s On Faith.
Source: Common Ground News Service, 13 May 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
2) Give US-Iranian theological diplomacy a try
Bishop John Bryson Chane
Washington, DC - Politicians in both Iran and the United States have been divisive, disrespectful, and inflammatory in their condemnations of each other, in effect increasing the likelihood of a US military intervention by the United States. As the Episcopal Bishop of the Dioceses of Washington, DC, who has travelled twice to Iran and found friendship and shared values with Iranian clerics, I think it’s time for religious leaders in both countries to take the initiative to find ways to seek peaceful solutions to the complex problems that have plagued US-Iranian relations for years.
Clerics on both sides believe that reconciliation must come from respectful communication. But such dialogue cannot occur in a vacuum, or in environments where people are demonising each other. The stakes are high in the Middle East, and the shrill and negative discourse of both countries’ political administrations will not ease the increasing tensions between our countries. We must embrace tolerance and sincere dialogue to reverse this trend.
I have been to Iran twice, the first time in 2006 at the invitation of former President Khatami. More recently, I spent five days meeting with academic and religious leaders in Iran who are very concerned about the possibility of a US military incursion against their homeland. While in Tehran and Qom, one of the holiest cities in Iran, we spent a great deal of time discussing the common religious values and themes shared by both Christianity and Islam. Our commonalities centred on issues of peace as well as the moral prohibition of developing and using weapons of mass destruction.
In addition to agreeing that politicians have been behaving childishly, my Iranian colleagues and I also think that the level of ignorance by Christians and Muslims about each other’s religions has been extremely unhelpful in extending positive dialogue between these two great monotheistic religions and our two nations.
A deeper understanding of both nations’ cultures, as well as a willingness to face the labyrinth of US-Iranian history, are necessary first steps.
Iran uses the development of nuclear energy and the implied fear of future nuclear weapons as a wedge issue in its relationship with the United States. In its defence, Iran says it is the only Persian, Farsi-speaking country in a region of Arab nations. Once a great power thousands of years ago and now an emerging player in the Middle East in the 21st century, Iran says its future is threatened by nuclear programmes and weapons in the region.
Iran can also look to the history of unwelcome involvement by the United States in its internal affairs. The covert overthrow of popular Prime Minister Mosaddeq in 1953, the propping up and support of the unpopular Shah, the US government’s military support of Sadaam Hussein in Iraq’s war with Iran, and the failure of the Clinton Administration to embrace the emerging moderate leadership of President Khatami (eventually leading to Khatami’s isolation by hardliners in his government) are all painful failures of US foreign policy.
At the same time, the United States has every right to be deeply concerned about statements made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about the Holocaust and the eradication of the State of Israel, as well as the verification of anti-personnel weapons manufactured in Iran and their use by Iraqi Shi’a militants against American troops. And the hostage crisis of 1979, when militant Iranian students took over the US Embassy, still exists as an open wound in the American psyche.
Much of Iran’s anti-Israel rhetoric can be attributed to deflected anger at the United States for violating known agreements about the parameters of establishing the State of Israel under the Roosevelt and Truman administrations and Israel’s development of nuclear weapons without the permission of the United States. The perceived bias of the United States in favour of Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has only exacerbated anti-Israeli feelings. (It must also be noted, however, that the largest concentration of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel can be found living peacefully in Iran.)
It is imperative that religious leaders from both countries, who are respected for their scholarship and “religious diplomacy”, continue their closely held and critically focused theological conversations unimpeded by visa restrictions too often imposed by the United States and Iran.
Likewise, members of the diplomatic corps on both sides need to acknowledge that they have been unable to broker a peaceful solution to the current crisis between our two countries and that it is time for some more creative solutions. A new 21st century understanding of Track II diplomacy, initiated through theological diplomacy, must go hand-in-hand with the formal diplomatic search for the peace that has always been at the centre of the Holy Books of both Christianity and Islam.
* The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, D.D. is the Episcopal Bishop of the Dioceses of Washington, DC. He was named one of the 150 most influential leaders in the District of Columbia by Washingtonian Magazine. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
Source: Common Ground News Service, 13 May 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
3) The princess and the Facebook Girl
Lawrence Pintak
Cairo - Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a beautiful princess named Rym. But this princess was sad, for the voices of her people were but a whisper. It was her fervent desire to hear singing in the land, to hear the town criers shout news from the highest parapets.
But evil forces conspired against this fair maid. Truth be known, in the king’s own entourage there were those who bowed obsequiously, yet secretly plotted to turn her dreams to dust.
Verily, at a gala feast, the princess proclaimed for all and sundry her Utopian dreams of “lifting the veil” from her subjects and creating “paths to understanding” between peoples. Yet among those spellbound by her soaring oratory sat a scribe sentenced to be dragged away to the dungeons for the bold act of speaking of dastardly deeds among the powers that be.
But in a neighbouring kingdom, there lived a dark and brooding lord who had no patience for princesses with wishes, and even less for men who wielded electronic quills against his swords of steel. His dungeons were crowded with those who raised their voices in defiance and, for a time, he counted among his inmates she who came to be known as Facebook Girl.
Standing in the electronic town square, this brave young lass proclaimed that the emperor had no clothes, and forthwith traded hers for prison garb.
Rulers of the surrounding lands sided with the dark prince. One day, they penned a royal charter that proclaimed “off with their heads” for any among the rabble with the temerity to question their benign rule.
The peasants were revolting. Especially those with television cameras and internet connections….
Unfortunately, as the latest Freedom House report underlines, the relationship between media and state in the Middle East and North Africa is no fairy tale. Not a single Arab country has a press classified as “free”. For every step forward, there is at least one step back. For every official committed to loosening the reins, there is a lawyer filing suit or a police thug with a blood-spattered baton. The rack may be history, but electric probes are today’s preferred instrument of persuasion.
The contrast between Princess Rym al-Ali, sister-in-law of Jordan’s king, and the plight of 27-year-old Esraa Abdel Fattah, Egypt’s “Facebook Girl”, succinctly sums up the contradictions inherent in the Arab world’s government-media relations.
Princess Rym, a former CNN correspondent, is on a quest to build the region’s first Arabic language graduate school of journalism. Facebook Girl, meanwhile, found herself being hustled off by Egyptian state security after creating a group on the popular social networking site that attracted 75,000 members and served as the spark for the country’s recent strikes against President Hosni Mubarak.
The contempt for – and fear of – the media on the part of many Arab regimes can be seen in the seizure of satellite uplink equipment, the blocking of websites, and a host of increasingly overt efforts to beat the media genie back into its bottle.
The new Arab Satellite Broadcasting Charter allows governments to pull the plug on offensive television channels. The Arab League claims that it’s aimed at politicised Islamic channels radicalising youth, but the Mubarak regime wasted no time closing down a London-based opposition channel, undermining that claim.
The charter is emblematic of the degree to which Arab governments are struggling to cope with the cacophony of criticism seeping into their countries through satellite television, the internet and SMS. Opponents no longer just rally, now they “twitter”. Banning television cameras is no longer enough when every cell phone is a potential weapon in the media war. Social networking sites where 12-year-old girls trade make-up secrets have become breeding grounds for revolution.
The media ripple effect creates waves of information, breaching the walls of censorship with which Arab leaders have so long defended their castles. Each new story about public discontent reinforces the last.
Yet beware, too, the white knights. Just ask Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj, finally released after six years imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, and Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who served 735 days in American detention in Iraq. No evidence, no charges, no trial in either case.
It is likely to be a long time before any Arab journalist lives happily ever after.
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*Lawrence Pintak is director of the Kamal Adham Center for Electronic Journalism at the American University in Cairo and publisher/co-editor of www.ArabMediaSociety.org . This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and originally appeared in Washington Post/Newsweek’s Post Global.
Source: Common Ground News Service, 13 May 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
4) Sunni or Shi’a, we are all Muslim
Hisham Hellyer
Oxford, England - BBC World recently aired the latest Doha Debate on the motion “The Sunni-Shi’a conflict is damaging Islam’s reputation as a religion of peace”. It’s a timely topic; and a very time-sensitive topic, because it is a question that can only be asked now. Not because the Sunni-Shi’a divide is a new phenomenon: it is an old, historical schism that emerged as a political division, which then became religious. But it is now that the political has really caused it to be so monumental.
I admit that, but I spoke against the motion in Doha, because the damage to Islam’s reputation is more about the sensationalism of the media, and focusing on Muslim violence in general, rather than Sunni-Shi’a violence. But the motion brought up another question for me: in the midst of the Sunni-Shi’a conflict that exists in some pockets of the Muslim world, what are we to make of what Islam is or what Islam is not?
Let us be clear: Muslims do not agree on everything. Sunnis have their four, recognised schools of law, and the Shi’a have their own tradition of establishing orthodoxy. Within both groupings, there is the concept of respect for differences of opinion, which are to be celebrated and cherished within each of the groups. In inter Sunni-Shi’a discussions, the concept takes a different tone. The differences are grudgingly tolerated, but with an important proviso: both groupings are Muslim.
The theologians of Sunni Islam long ago established that the “relied upon position” for Sunnis is that the Shi’a are in fact a Muslim community. That status of “relied upon” is a particular type of orthodox stance; one that is difficult to determine, owing to the diversity within Sunni Islam. But on this issue, it was established, and it has been part of the historical orthodoxy that so characterises Sunni Islam. On the Shi’a side, the same generally occurred: Sunnis might be mistaken, theologians said, and their views on Islam might be wrong, but they are still Muslims.
With the growth of the Wahhabi movement in the Najd of Saudi Arabia, tensions became more pronounced (not just for Shi’a, but other non-Wahhabi Muslims), but never to the point of extreme violence as we see now. Even the most puritanical of Wahhabi rulers did not ban Shi’a coming to Mecca and Medina on pilgrimage.
A few years ago, it became clear to the leaders of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan that the separation that Sunnis and Shi’a had mutually embraced was in danger of being abused by outside parties to justify violence, as had happened with Christians. Unlike Christendom, however, where truly religious wars took place – such as those between Christians and Protestants – the Muslim world took an unprecedented step. Seeing al Qaeda’s ideology as a threat to the co-existence of Sunnis and Shi’a in Iraq and elsewhere, Muslim scholars, both Sunni and Shia, came together to thwart that ideology.
Those scholars created a platform where hundreds of the most renowned scholars of the Muslim world, Sunni and Shi’a, including Abu Dhabi’s al-Habib Ali al-Jifri of the Tabah Foundation, decided “enough is enough”. They declared that Sunnis and Shi’a were Muslim, and that violence should never occur between them. It was a united platform to defeat the murderous nihilism al Qaeda was peddling. It was called the Amman Message (www.ammanmessage.com), and was signed in July 2005. Since then, hundreds more have signed the declaration online.
A couple of months later, al Qaeda declared an all-out war on the Shi’a of Iraq, unprecedented in Muslim history. A couple of months after that, it targeted Amman in a spectacular massacre of innocents. But it failed to stop the momentum. Many around the world signed the original Amman Message, and developed their own local versions. Political leaders in the Sunni and Shi’a worlds spoke clearly, whether from nominally Wahhabi Saudi Arabia or staunchly Shi’a Iran: the two may differ from each other, but they will not allow anyone, whether al Qaeda or anyone else, Muslim or non-Muslim, to pit Sunnis against Shi’a, or vice versa.
Personally, I am not particularly interested in whether Islam is defined as a religion of peace, or a religion of war, or anything else for that matter. What is important is that we get qualified and authoritative definitions. Many are trying to claim the authority to do that: American pundits, radical extremists, take your pick. But what we have to do is realise who already has that authority.
The definitions are elaborated by Islam’s own specialists: its scholars, theologians, jurists and spiritualists, who renewed their attitudes through the Amman Message and said to each other: “We may differ with each other, but those differences should never become the cause of violence.” Al Qaeda in Iraq responded by trying to impose their own religious authority.
For all of us, the choice is simple. Do we admit that violent radicals can define Islam by their murderous rampages? Or will we send a message to them that no matter how much they try – in Amman, in the Muslim world, in New York, in London, in Madrid, and beyond – criminal extremists will never have the authority to define anything?
I know what I say to them: “You will lose. Civilisation will win.”
The Doha Debates are archived at http://clients.mediaondemand.net/thedohadebates .
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* Dr. H. A. Hellyer is Fellow of the University of Warwick, a member of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and founder-director of the Visionary Consultants Group, (www.visionaryconsultantsgroup.com), a Muslim world-West relations consultancy. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org .
Source: The National, 1 May 2008, www.thenational.ae
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
5) The “Babel Med Music” world music forum
David Siebert
Bonn, Germany - Whoever walks through the streets of Marseille will hear languages and music from every corner of the globe. Only a few steps away from La Canebière, the city’s newly-renovated splendid main boulevard, you could mistakenly believe you were in North Africa. In the dark, narrow side streets, Arab shops are lined up one beside the other and music blares from loudspeakers.
Sami Sadak, a Turkish ethnomusicologist and artistic director of “Babel Med Music,” regards Marseille as the ideal staging ground for a world music festival.
“For centuries, Marseille has been the destination of immigrants from the whole of the Mediterranean region. No one lives in isolation here. People don’t think of themselves as French, Algerian, or Moroccan, but first and foremost as citizens of Marseille.”
In the four years since it began, the “Babel Med Music” has developed into the most important European forum for world music after WOMEX (World Music Expo) in the Spanish city of Seville.
For three full days at the end of March, the forum presented more than 100 producers, labels, and concert and tour organisers from around the world to an international audience. Each evening, the doors were opened to the general public. The program was a concert marathon with 30 bands previously little-known in Europe.
Represented were a wide variety of musical cultures ranging from traditional ensembles from Egypt and Greece to DJs. The Malian Mo DJ, for instance, offers new electronic mixes of traditional Arab and African music, creating an intelligent, African counterpoint to MTV.
The focus of the festival, however, lies with the Mediterranean region. “Countries like Turkey, with its unbelievably varied music scene, will continue to gain massively in importance,” says Helmut Bürgel, the artistic director of the Stimmen Festival in the southern German town of Lörrach and member of the selection jury of “Babel Med Music.”
“We would be punishing ourselves as Europeans if we couldn’t overcome the artistic divide separating us from Arabic culture,” claims Bürgel. “In just a few years, the encounter with Turkish and Arabic culture will be perfectly natural for us.”
The Lebanese-born trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf shows how this meeting of cultures can function. The classically trained musician stands out with his unaccustomed Arabic phrasing, and together with his jazz-fusion band, has attracted an enthusiastic following.
The site of the three-day music spectacle is the former port area of the “Docks de Sud.” All around, new buildings and gigantic office towers are being constructed. Marseille finds itself in the centre of the Euromed process, a program sponsored by the European Union that aims to intensify cooperation between Mediterranean states.
At the moment, the city appears to be an enormous, endless construction site. Three billion euros have been made available for new mega projects by France, the EU, and private investors. The Euromed envisages Marseille as the “gateway to the south” and a future economic hub. This is a great opportunity for Marseille. It is already applying for the title of “European Capital of Culture” in 2013.
Sami Sadak sees in “Babel Med” an “important catalyst for the rejuvenation of the city. Its many visitors strengthen the economy. And the city’s inhabitants can discover new, previously unknown music groups, who are often performing for the very first time in France!”
A highlight of the festival is the appearance of the flutist Mamar Kassey. In a round of discussions on production and working conditions for musicians, he told of his experiences in his native country of Niger. For years, he earned only 2.50 euros a month as a member of a dance ensemble.
Whether it’s the young hip-hop festival from Dakar, a world music label specialising in Tuareg kitsch, or the self-administered Italian grassroots music club network ARCI, the mood of the festival participants is optimistic.
As Le Monde recently reported, the world music scene, in contrast to the rest of the music industry, enjoys full concert halls. Pressings of world music CDs rarely exceed 20,000 copies, yet sales remain stable.
This is because alternative distribution channels are used. Specialty shops, independent initiatives, and ethnic communities play a very important role in popularising the music.
The local music scene, such as a women’s choir singing in the Occitan language, is also involved in the “Babel Med Music” forum.
“It is important that an international forum maintains roots in the region,” says Helmut Bürgel. “There are just as many people from Marseille attending the concerts as there are professional visitors from the music industry.”
Whether Marseille continues to be the ideal location for “Babel Med Music” remains to be seen. The inner-city re-development is rapidly altering the face of the city. Many of its poor inhabitants of North African descent are being forced to move. Instead, offices and luxury apartments are on the rise. Marseille is in danger of losing its reputation as a city with a multicultural identity.
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* David Siebert is a freelance journalist. This abridged article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org . The full text can be found at www.qantara.de .
Source: Qantara.de, 2 May 2008, www.qantara.de
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
Youth Views
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The Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are constructive, offer hope and promote dialogue and mutual understanding, to news outlets worldwide. With support from the British, Norwegian, Swedish and US Governments, the United States Institute of Peace, the National Endowment for Democracy and private donors, the service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the fields of conflict transformation and media production.
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