IN the wake of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Spain and Turkey founded The Alliance of Civilizations, an organization designed to foster dialogue between cultures and religions and, quite clearly, to head off any anti-Islamic furor triggered by the bombings. In the event the Spanish were commendably measured in their response to the carnage that had been visited on their capital. The Alliance, however, came to be criticized as being merely a talking shop.
This week this changed when, at a two-day meeting in Madrid, 350 delegates from 63 countries, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, agreed to set up a UN-backed $100-million fund to finance films which, while being entertaining, are also designed to foster understanding and peace between cultures. Unveiling the initiative, Queen Noor of Jordan said that an initial $10 million of financing was in place. It was also revealed that partnerships had already been established with Hollywood production and distribution companies. At the same meeting another project — the Rapid Response Media Mechanism — was launched which is meant to reduce tension in times of cross-cultural crises by, according to Ban, furnishing “voices of reason to reporters and producers around the world.”
A third project has been announced by Qatar which is putting $100 million into the “Silatech” (“Your connection”) scheme to combat the “alarming” number of unemployed youths in the Middle East and North Africa. It is not hard to imagine this last plan is likely to prove the most immediately effective. Qatar is to be congratulated on its initiative.
Those, however, who are tempted to dismiss the other two projects as noble but impractical should wait. Some may find it droll that Hollywood studios, which have consistently peddled the very racial and cultural stereotypes the new Film Fund wishes to combat, have come on board. But this may just prove a turning point for the US studios who may now stop churning out their often-poisonous racist rubbish in which anyone with an olive skin and a headdress is a ruthless terrorist. Nor is the Rapid Response Media Mechanism without merit. At times of tension it will be good to have the still small voices of peace and reason represented by individuals with international stature and understanding.
What perhaps The Alliance of Civilizations might also emphasize is the fundamental respect that all communities owe to each other, as close or distant neighbors, on a small and fragile planet. The world needs to celebrate its differences and recognize how every culture and religion, as always throughout history, contributes to one another. Ignorance and lack of respect for others are what breed murderous bigotry, whether Germany’s Nazis, Bosnia’s Serbs or Al-Qaeda’s killers. One of the greatest and most overlooked dangers to this all-important respect is the misunderstood concept of multiculturalism. Mix together any number of bright colors and what you get is gray.
