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Davos:
The Present Significance on the Future
Setting
an agenda for change and reforms
A
variety of solutions were proposed during the debates, emphasizing on
the common humanity and the effectiveness of working together to build
a better world. |
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Each
year, the World Economic Forum invites political, religious,
academic and social leaders to its Annual
Meeting in Davos for serious discussions about key issues on the
global agenda. This year it was focused on the Middle East, its ills
and solutions to be adopted to cure those ills. The major sickness
of the Middle East, as agreed by the Arab leaders and the Western
participants in the Forum, turned out to be terrorism or Islamic
extremism. A variety of solutions were proposed during the
debates, emphasizing on the common humanity and the effectiveness of
working together to build a better world.
Since
1971, these meetings have usually taken place in Davos, Switzerland,
while the meeting was moved once to New York as a show of support
for that assaulted city after the attacks of 11 September 2001.
Holding the meeting in Jordan this year, in the midst of all the
political and strategic havoc and especially after the war against
Iraq, has its imperatives and by convening this meeting the World
Economic Forum organizers hoped to bring the “spirit of Davos”
to the Middle East.
Some
of the proposed reforms are: first, to Accommodate Israel in the
region; second, Bring an end to the (so called) extremism among
Muslims. As a result, the Arab states will get the full support of the
U.S. and of its allies to implement democratic and social changes in
the Middle East. |
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The
Amman meeting was intended to allow the Western delegates to voice
their concerns about the rise in Islamic fundamentalism; a feared
support of the masses towards alleged militant groups such as the
al-Qaedah in Saudi Arabia, the Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine
and Syria and the Hizbullah in Lebanon. The silver lining of holding
the summit in Jordan, with the participation of world key figures
like Colin Powel, U.S. secretary of state and Kofi Anan, the U.N.
Secretary General as well as of the leaders in the Middle East, was
to focus on the need to develop the Arab world by setting an agenda
for change and the need for reform afresh. Some of the proposed
reforms are: first, to Accommodate Israel in the region;
second, Bring an end to the (so called) extremism among Muslims. As
a result, the Arab states will get the full support of the U.S. and
of its allies to implement democratic and social changes in the
Middle East.
Prince
Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, Chairman King Faisal Center for Research
and Islamic Studies, Saudi Arabia, commented on moves to reform
Saudi Arabia’s political and social system. The Prince explained
that the broad consultations on reform that the Saudi Arabian Crown
Prince has launched follow a pattern of change that has been going
on since the Kingdom was founded more than 70 years ago. He said
that he expects Saudi Arabia to have an elected legislature
"within a few years."
During
an interview with the BBC radio’s 'Hard Talk' on June 30th 2003,
the Prince insisted that there were no reason for an agenda for
change and reform to be announced. He added that the Saudi
Authorities were doing the maximum to instill reform in the
conservative society and that it will take its time. Insisting that
it was impossible for the Saudi monarch to reform the country within
a few months of pressure from the external world, the Prince said
that he did not understand the need to bring more “democracy”
and freedom of speech to Saudi Arabia when in the same time the U.S.
for example is pressing the Saudi authorities to arrest anyone who
speaks against the U.S. or speaks in favor of Mujahideens and Osama
Bin Laden’s group, al-Qaedah.
A-
Culture of peace
The
Middle East must replace the culture of hate with a culture of peace. |
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According
to the Davos conference in Amman, education remains the key point to
creating a culture of peace. Senior government leaders from the
Middle East, the US and the EU agreed on this and the conference
concluded that the Middle East must replace the culture of hate with
a culture of peace, which is said to be one of the prospects for
resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and making peace between
Arabs and Israelis.
Nabeel
Shaath, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority,
agreed with Silvan Shalom, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Israel who said: "Let us educate our
children to understand each other and live with each other."
With both the Israelis and the Palestinians accepting the
international community’s peace plan, the Roadmap, for resolving
the conflict between them, "now is the moment," Shaath
concluded. "We tried conflict. Conflict did not change
anything. We have to live side by side. Now is the opportunity. The
world is ready; we are ready; the Israeli people are ready; our
neighbors are ready. Let’s get to it and not spend too much time
haggling."
Did the conference prepare the leaders of the Middle East to educate
the Arab masses not to hate Israel and the U.S. for its support for
the Jewish state? It appears that one of the central aims of the
conference held in Jordan as the Arab leaders pointed out that the
Israel-Palestinian conflict should be dealt with immediately.
Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Marwan Jamil Muasher said
that the greater participation of civil society in building a
culture of peace in the Middle East was salient. Muasher agreed that
civil society can play a greater role in consolidating peace; “but
first, there has to be a political solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. He added, "We need a
political process and we need it fast". Muasher advised both
sides not to dwell into history, but to look to the future. “Both
the Israelis and Palestinians need to make a break with the past,
Israelis must accept that "peace will not come without the
total end of the occupation," while the Palestinians must
understand that "peace will not come without the end of suicide
bombings, if we cannot face these basic facts, then there is no
hope,” said the Minister.
Ahmed Maher El Sayed, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, told
participants that "the culture of peace recognizes the rights
and the suffering of others and empathizes with them." He was
critical of the Israeli military’s actions against Palestinians in
retaliation for suicide bombings. Recalling Egypt’s decision to
make peace with Israel in 1978, Maher El Sayed said: "We
achieved peace with Israel because each side recognized the rights
of the other. It was as simple as that." William Burns, US
Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, said that there is a
"strategic opportunity" to forge peace in the Middle East.
The international community’s Roadmap for peace, the end of the
war in Iraq, and new efforts to boost trade, investment and economic
reform in the region has created favorable conditions. He told
participants that US President George W. Bush would be a fully
engaged partner in the peace process. For his part, George A.
Papandreou, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, and Chairman of
the European Union Council of Ministers, called for partnerships
among all interested parties-- under "a dialogue of
cultures"--to forge lasting peace in the Middle East. He said
that Europe is ready to share its experience in making and building
peace with its partners in the region.
B-
Women Issues
Part
of the social reforms that West intends to bring to Saudi Arabia,
for example, is the need for women to drive--in a country where the
religious authorities have a final word in regard to several issues
related to individual daily life. The Western world intends to bring
an end to the segregation of the sexes in the Saudi society by
forcing the monarch to give more jobs to women; however, Prince Al-Turki
insisted that 32 percent of the Public sector’s work force were
women.
The
West wants to see more check and balance regarding charity
organizations… This is part of the fears of the western world, and
in particular the U.S., of funding terrorism-sponsoring groups. |
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The
West wants to see more check and balance regarding charity
organizations and donations which are distributed in the Muslim
world. This is part of the fears of the western world, and in
particular the U.S., of funding terrorism-sponsoring groups. There
is an intense pressure on Saudi in particular to impose a ban on
donations to Muslim organizations world wide. While the Saudi
authorities said it would control the outflow of capital to Muslim
organizations world-wide, it however cannot prevent individuals and
even companies or powerful Islamic associations within the country
from donating in the spirit of alms giving—a religious obligation
in Islam.
For
his part, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Qatar, recounted his country‘s recent
constitutional reforms. Each country has to be internally strong to
be internationally strong, he said. Since taking office, the Emir of
Qatar has focused on democratization, bolstering the economy,
education, and healthcare. "Democracy is important for the
stability of the region," said Sheikh Hamad. "We started
it because we believe in it." But, he warned, it will take many
years for democracy in Qatar to mature.
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