RIYADH, 17 January 2004 — A well-known German Arabist and diplomat has said that dialogue with the Muslim world, rather than establishing a “balance of terror,” was the only alternative to the war on terrorism.
Addressing an inter-faith dialogue organized by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Dr. Gunter Mulack, commissioner for the Dialogue with the Islamic World at the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, also criticized the US which is championing the global war on terrorism.
“The arrogance of a super power is a problem for the world, as 80 percent of the people think that what the US is doing is wrong,” Dr. Mulack told the meeting. Other speakers included Arab diplomats and scholars.
The inter-faith dialogue, WAMY’s first, sought to bring representatives of different cultures on the same platform for an exchange of ideas on ending the confrontation between the Muslim world and the West.
Initiating the dialogue, Dr. Mulack said the current cycle of violence was the cumulative result of various factors — political as well as socio-economic. From the Western perspective, the war on terrorism was the offshoot of a US-led drive to bring down regimes engaged in producing weapons of mass destruction or threatening regional peace as well as the security of the United States.
From the Middle East perspective, it was the double standard of the US, its arrogant behavior in the conduct of diplomacy, and its tendency to dictate terms to the international community, he said.
The Arab world, he said, should try to get its acts together and address some of the pressing concerns in the region. Educational reforms were imperative since the world was moving toward a knowledge-based society. The Arab world should also take steps to expand the educational and employment opportunities for women so that they could play a useful role in society
Dr. Mulack also referred to the legal system of the Arab world and cited various studies that suggested judicial reforms in the interest of good governance.
Speaking on behalf of the Arab participants, Dr. Towfiq Qusaier, former secretary-general of WAMY, said that when the US needed the support of Muslims to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan, it had no qualms in seeking the help of the Mujahedeen. “Now that their mission has been accomplished, suddenly we have become terrorists.”
Dr. Ibrahim Al-Quaied, former assistant secretary-general of WAMY, said the US was practising double standards with its blatant support to Israel against the Palestinians. It also gave its unqualified support to some dictatorial regimes so long as they served the US interest. They were then dumped, he said, referring to what happened in Iraq.
Shaikh Jaafer Idris, president of American Open University in Washington and a former Sudanese diplomat, said the West has a problem in dealing with Muslims and others.
