JEDDAH, 13 December 2005 — For the fifth time since 2003 a forum will take place today that attempts to bridge the gap between “us” and “them”. The “us” is the Saudis, and the “them” is everyone else: Arabs, other Muslims, and non-Muslims. And this time the event will be broadcast on state television.
The official title for the fifth national dialogue forum is “Our Relations with Others: A Collective National Vision for Dealing With World Cultures” and it will start today at the city of Abha in the southwest of the Kingdom. This forum will try to achieve a united national vision to deal with different cultures.
Saleh Al-Hussayen, chairman of King Abdul Aziz National Dialogue Center that organized this event, said that the main topics to be discussed come from preparatory meetings that took place in different parts of the Kingdom in recent months.
He explained that the 74 forum participants would discuss the Saudi relationship with “the other” in religious, cultural, political and economic terms.
According to the Center’s Secretary-General Faisal ibn Muammar, the participants chosen by the center are well-known intellectuals, writers and academics that represent different social ideologies in the Kingdom. There will be several youth-oriented workshops for both sexes where students will be lectured about the concept of dialogue and methods for bridging the gap between cultures.
For the first time the Saudi government channel Al-Ekhbariya will broadcast the sessions live.
The center’s goals are to expand citizens’ participation through open discussions on national issues related to economics, society, culture and politics.
