As tourists of many nations enjoy themselves on the beaches of this beautiful Red Sea resort city undeterred by recent terrorist bombings, global leaders are meeting nearby at the World Economic Forum to chart a course for peace and prosperity across a troubled region.
“There is no denying that one can still hear echoes of the Book of Exodus and the Qur’an,” Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told the 1,200 forum delegates in an inaugural address which underscored the shared values of Christians, Jews and Muslims that have been all but forgotten in these turbulent times. “Here lies the Sacred Valley and the Burning Bush atop Mt. Sinai. Upon this land, heaven and earth converge. The Prophet Moses spoke to God, and received the Ten Commandments here. Across this land traveled the Virgin Mary and the Prophet Jesus, fleeing tyranny as they sought the shelter and safety of Egypt. Only a short distance from where we gather today, and at the foot of Mt. Moses, lies the monastery of St. Catherine shrouded in serenity for 1,400 years. Indeed, Sinai speaks much about human history and the Middle East.” Against this historic legacy, Mubarak felt the forum should help us celebrate our differences.
Many of the forum delegates expressed optimism that the Middle East’s younger generation will be important contributors in solving the region’s many problems. Prominent among them was Saudi Princess Lolwah Al Faisal, the forum co-chair, who also addressed the delegates in a speech that was punctuated by thunderous applause.
With regal demeanor, elegantly dressed in an embroidered abaya, the Saudi princess told forum delegates that the younger generation now was the most important component of society, and that rather than viewing it as a problematic bulge in population, it should be viewed as the region’s greatest asset for progress. “Sixty million people in the region are under 25-years-old. I see this youth bulge as an asset in which the region needs to invest through education,” she said.
Her sentiments were echoed by a bright 24-year-old Moroccan senior student architect Hind Ottmani. Talking to Arab News on the forum’s sidelines, she said the youth of the Middle East had a huge responsibility to bring about peace. She said young people weren’t carrying the baggage of prejudice so they had a different perspective of the most complex issues. The dynamic young woman also noted that the problems of youth in one country are similar to those in other countries. “This immediately removes differences and dissolves boundaries,” she said.
Although Hind expressed satisfaction that the forum was involving young people in its deliberations, she said too many decisions still were being made by people with little or no idea about the problems young people in the Middle East face today.
The young Moroccan, who is also the head of the Rotaract Club’s International Committee in Rabat, said such meetings were an important step in the process of problem resolution. “To the outside world, the forum may look irrelevant. They may think such conferences are nothing but a sheer waste of time because at the end of the day, there are nothing but speeches and recommendations that nobody bothers to implement, but this human interaction is important in order to understand the problems even if it doesn’t result in a solution.”
Others expressed concerns about that issue. “Dialogue is important,” said Organization of Islamic Conference Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, “but unless there is a mechanism to enforce, it will peter out.”
At the C-100 session yesterday, Ihsanoglu said he was disappointed by the lack of concern in the West over the cartoon controversy when Muslim leaders sought to address that issue. It resulted in counterproductive mob actions across Europe, the Middle East and the subcontinent.
Former CNN anchor Riz Khan, who will help launch Al-Jazeera’s new English channel very soon, was swamped by well-wishers and fans at the forum with congratulations on his new biography of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, prompting the seasoned television personality to blush repeatedly. “I had a tough time writing that book,” he told Arab News, “because Alwaleed is a jet-setting businessman and he is always traveling.”
For Egyptian journalists, the big story was among the audience. And they went to town with it. There was a huge race among Egyptian journalists as to who would break it first. Reuters got the honors. The big news was the first appearance at a big public event of the fiancee of Gamal, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s son.
Khadija, who became engaged in March, sat between Gamal and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit in the front row at the opening event. Khadija, as the Reuters report pointed out, is about 20 years younger than her 42-year-old fiancé. She has kept out of the public eye and Egyptian newspapers have published only one photograph of her. “She chatted casually with press photographers,” gushed Egyptian journalists. “Big deal,” was an instant response from a Westerner who found the whole thing rather odd.
Although security was tight at the conference center where the forum is taking place, at the beautiful Naama Bay area a little farther, the scene was relaxed with thousands of people enjoying the sun, sea and sand. More than a dozen languages mixed with strains of Western music and the pulsing rhythm of Middle Eastern drums, seasoned with the scent of coffee, tea and shisha smoke wafting from the “majlises” scattered along the beachfront, creating a harmony much like the future envisioned by the WEF delegates. Perhaps Sharm El-Sheikh is an appropriate place for a vision of such a shared future to begin.