PARIS, April 25, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The inter-faith dialogue in the West sometimes takes the form of a “cross-examination” for Muslims as it centers on security premonitions, a French female Muslim activist has said.

Though firmly believing in inter-faith dialogue as an Islamic principle and a synonym to the French “fraternity” cornerstone, Merhrezia Al-Obeidi is highly critical of the police-like question-and-answer dialogue.

“When I attend seminars I feel as if I’m being cross-examined by police,” she said, calling herself “Mrs Answer”.

Inter-faith dialogue often diverges from its core message to subjective and irrelevant topics, noted Obeidi, who has authored several books on the subject.

“They sometimes opt for analyzing the character of the Muslim interlocutor like his/her leanings and whether s/he belongs to a certain organization. They even categorize us as good and bad Muslims,” added the hijab-clad activist.

Obeidi, deputy head of the European section in the World Conference of Religions for Peace, criticized some French Jewish and Christian leaders for limiting dialogue to what they call “liberal Muslims,” who do not necessarily represent mainstream Muslims.

She warned that the jump-to-conclusions approach and stereotypes derail any effective dialogue.

“I once had an interview with Radio France Internationale and the presenter introduced me as a member of the [Algerian-banned] Islamic Salvation Front simply because I was wearing hijab and had Algerian roots,” she recalled.

Pundits have recently said that Euro-Islamic dialogue is just “hypothetical” as it is basically driven by security and political interests and not by a sincere desire to make it a success.

But Obeidi said the inter-faith dialogue has become an axiomatic fact in multi-cultural, multi-ethnic France.

“But this reality was met with fears and suspicions from the Europeans for many historical reasons,” she added.

The Muslim activist maintained that the dialogue with the other should not take a patronizing or derogatory tone.

“Being a Muslim does in no way mean that I shouldn’t listen to the other,” she said.

On her future plans to boost inter-faith dialogue, Obeidi said she is co-championing a “fraternity convoy” with Christian and Jewish clerics.

“We will meet schoolchildren and citizens across France, taking the ‘fraternity’ slogan as a springboard for dialogue,” she told IOL.