[Islam-Online- Europe]

It might have started as a word, but certainly it ended in action. Not only a word, but many words, included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed by more than one hundred and fifty countries, did not succeed in keeping these rights in effect in most of the countries, if at all. The West and East, North and South are equal in this respect. We are one world with regard to anxiety and apprehension. This Universal Declaration did not stop the United States, till the present time, from trampling on the rights of its original citizens; or stop the Europeans from suppressing the Blacks and Asians as they have done for centuries. Signing the Declaration has not been a hurdle in front of the tribal and totalitarian regimes who continue to annul citizenship rights, dignity, not to mention belief and opinion.

All peoples, regardless of their political regime or economic level, have been indulged with the means of communication for personal privacy. The economic machine has violated the freedom of choice of human action without any fear from an aspiring competitor or a day in which earning one's living will be scarce as survival is for the strongest.

It was really amazing, in the night of the golden celebrations of the Declaration of Human Rights, as all seminars and parties, which were held to review the achievements, questioned the defect in the application. Despite the splendor of the Declaration of Human Rights' being adhered to by the whole world, applying the Rights globally derives at least grief, if not lamentation! Since that time, or may be a little earlier, the use of the word privacy increased in defining or applying the Declaration of Human Rights. And for many reasons, the questions intensified on the privacy of the Human Rights themselves, not only the privacy of application.

What do we mean by privacy?
The Magna Carta might be a good example to clarify what we mean by privacy in the field of Human Rights. The Magna Carta is the list of Rights given by the brother of King Richard the Lion Heart, to the nobles of English royal court. According to the global criteria nowadays, the Magna Carta is against human rights because it distinguishes among citizens, giving the nobles more rights than the others. However, according to the privacy of the European case during the Crusades, it is regarded as an achievement of rights that organizes human relations according to clear written rights to which nobles and slaves complied. Under the feudatory culture that prevailed in Europe at that time the Magna Carta bears its importance; not only as a historical one, but as a realization of Human Rights in the actual practice of arranging the nobles' rights and duties, in correspondence with and springing from the prevailing culture, in addition to the participation of the feudal class.

Thus, acceptance and activation came from the link between the rights and the prevailing culture in the society and in consideration of the privacy of this culture. Then came the reinforcement and development to reach a real achievement, by the people's participation, in the form of the Human Rights Address.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights itself has a similar type of privacy, directly due to the victories of the Allies in World War II and coincidental to the Marshall Plan for the economic revival of Europe. The Declaration has included, in text and application, the privacy of the Western European culture which was based on novelty and production. Therefore, the Declaration has adopted a system of the then prevailing values such as: absolute individualism, stereotyped citizenship, reasonable materialism. Then, the Declaration prevailed and became universal.

Why is privacy considered a prelude to settlement?
Privacy is still a most ill-used word. Almost every authority, regime, group or team used this word in contradicting forms to justify a behavior or adopted opinion. As we admit that, privacy remains to be the expressive word for the variety which is conditional for interaction with one's self or others. Then, rights will be meaningful, duties will have a place. Highlighting both of them, under this concept, means a desire for dialogue and cooperation more than isolation and being introvert.

In applying the Human Rights Address in the Arab World, the importance of highlighting the cultural privacy is clear; the address will settle in the traditions and daily behavior of the people, the elite and the public; with or without the authorities' consent. Privacy will recall the Arab culture, Islam and the deep civilization legacy. It will also allow for Islamic cultural participation, in particular - being the regional culture regardless of religion, to settle the basic values of the Human Rights: multiplicity, tolerance, dignity. This is a basic reference to the Arab world culture. Should the Rights' Address become deeply rooted, it would not be an exaggeration to allege that it will gain some holiness.

However, this does not mean that we adopt or agree with all the cultural legacy, the system of values and prevailing traditions. We bring up the discussion for its effect on enriching and settling the Address of Human Rights and dragging it from elite's meetings to the markets of the public. Privacy according to the previous understanding helps in removing the hurdles of primary denial for whatever is western or foreign, allegedly an invention.

Adding to that, privacy helps to curb political bidding, either from the authority or political groups or beneficiaries who misuse the term " Human Rights", either to intimidate the public from any foreign thing under the pretext of national security or blackmailing the authority to achieve close or far goals form the real needs of the people.

The best to be achieved by the privacy approach, in the context of Human Rights, is recognizing others and the belief in the importance of diversity and difference. Privacy means that there are some personal things; therefore, the rights of others should be respected, in addition to our joint human legacy.

Such an approach , we believe, is much better in activating Human Rights by annulling diversity and adding comprehensiveness on the rights and demands for all people everywhere. Simply, it does not deal with the people as stereotyped and similar, but as human beings where everyone has his needs, interests and rights. Human nature remains to be the joint factor among all.

How to settle?
What ever we have said will remain words till it turned to action. Towards activating the Address of Human Rights in the Arab World, we propose to start considering some topics including, for example:

Aspects of the Arab society privacy within the context of Human Rights.
Participation of the Islamic culture and Arab legacy in enriching the idea of rights and how to practice them, in addition to highlighting the diversity, interaction, respect for others and honoring human beings.
The cultural background and system of prevailing values in the West which hamper and motivate to settle and activate the Address of Human Rights.
Notes on the Universal Address of Human Rights that affect its settlement in the Arab society.

At any case, we are considering the words of the Chinese wise man "Loto" who said to his student before sending him to teach: "live with them, start with what they know, learn by practice, teach by watching, then you will know what it is they need to be given to them". Or we may be led by what Allah told to Prophet Mohammad: "We sent not a messenger except ( to teach) in the language of his (own) people in order to make (things) clear to them"(Surat Ibrahim, Ayat 4)