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Arabs Urged to Fight Anti-Muslim Campaign
CAIRO, Nov. 27 (News Agencies) - Arab League chief Amr Moussa urged intellectuals meeting in Cairo Tuesday to fight what he called an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim campaign "detonated" by the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Moussa, convening the first Arab League conference aimed at countering an alleged defamation campaign against Arabs and at averting a clash of civilizations, also urged Arabs to study errors they have made, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Arabs and Muslims have been the target of hatred at different times throughout history, but recent "theories on the clash of civilizations" have helped spread views that stir up such animosity, Mussa told the opening session.
"Are the supporters of theories on the clash of civilizations seeking an enemy?" Moussa asked more than 75 intellectuals gathered here.
"Are we approaching a phase of racial or religious discrimination against Arabs and Muslims? It's a question for which Arab researchers and institutes must find an answer," he added.
Moussa was referring to a book published in the 1990s under the title "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order," by Samuel P. Huntington, a Harvard University professor.
The book's thesis is that there is an increasing threat of renewed conflicts between the modernist West and countries dominated by centuries-old traditions.
"What's more, the events of September 11 detonated a series of practices and positions which harm" Arabs and Muslims in certain countries, Moussa said.
The United States has singled out Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect behind the September attacks, without publicly announcing the evidence it has against him.
Since then, the United States, Britain, France and other countries have been drafting or enacting tougher anti-terrorism laws and other regulations that critics say make it easier to violate the rights of Muslims and Arabs.
The United States has also issued tighter visa restrictions targeting Muslim men from 25 countries and ordered the "voluntary" questioning of 5,000 Middle Eastern men who entered the country in the last two years.
Moussa, along with other leaders in both Arab and Western countries, were outraged by remarks in late September attributed to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that western civilization was "superior to Islam."
Faced with a backlash, Berlusconi later apologized for his remarks.
Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal warned that "terrorism is from now on associated with the Arabs" and urged Arabs to "work with perseverance to counter Islam phobia."
The Arab League also urged Arabs to look inward. "What are our errors?" Moussa asked.
The Lebanese culture minister, Ghassan Salama, also sounded a note of self-criticism.
The Arabs must try to strike up a dialogue with other civilizations based on "recognition of the other, recognition of his right to be different and acceptance of the possibility of being influenced by the other," he said.
The conference, entitled "The Dialogue of Civilizations: An Exchange and Not a Clash," was to end Tuesday with the adoption of an action plan "to counter the campaign of defamation which we are targeted by" since September 11, Moussa said.
These recommendations will be submitted to Arab heads-of-state at their next summit in March in Beirut, though some unspecified recommendations were to be applied immediately.
A fund has been set up to finance implementation of the action plan, with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan being the first to contribute with a gift of one million dollars, officials said.
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