Dutch wisdom placates Arabs and shows international dialogue can help

Re: OIC statement on Kashmir hurting interests of 150 million Indian Muslims

Islam and the West

05 Jun 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

Dutch wisdom placates Arabs and shows international dialogue can help

By: Jamal Al-Awadhi   Following the announcement to televise a film produced by the rightist Parliament member Van, which the Arabs and Muslims says insults the Holy Quran, the government of Netherlands proved that it is more wise and able to positively deal with any potential reactions in the Muslim communities.   The Arabs and Muslims were projected to react to the film, based on the fact that freedom of expression in the Netherlands or any other part of the world doesn't intend to insult other ideologies and religions.   Many Muslims and Arabs were satisfied with the Dutch government's declaration that it is not responsible for the film's content and its strong denunciation of the film, which it says calls for violence. This was also predicted to trigger more violent reactions by the Islamic communities in Europe and Muslims worldwide.   Islam respects all the divine religions, and throughout the Islamic history, no Muslim dared to disgrace the prophets Jesus and Moses or others revealed in the other three divine books: the Old Testament, New Testament and Book of Psalms.   At this point, such events make the world more violent amid the currently dire situations, and therefore there is an urgent need for conducting broad international dialogues and activating the role of international organizations, particularly the ones having effective slogans such as those concerned with dialogue between religions and cultures.   Until now, the businesses practiced by the various international organizations worldwide doesn't seem to be in line with their slogans since these organizations remain silent without reacting to what happens in the world of today.   The risk of fomenting conflicts over race and religions has a great role in the human destructions and catastrophes the world has been exposed to throughout the various stages of history. Such acts may justify to the simple Muslims what the extremist Islamists do against the western interests in the region, which consequently leads to destabilizing the region and generating more extremist youths who favor extremism in order to protect Islam from its enemies.   Those who practice such violent acts and promote violence, extremism and conflicts between nations are Fascists who should face fair trials. Their acts have nothing to do with the freedom of expression, which we are struggling to protect and demand that our government must lift any restrictions on it.   But, the human freedom doesn't mean insulting the ideologies of others. As Muslims, we don't want to hear that Judaism or Christianity is insulted. Also, we don't see ourselves as real Muslims unless we respect other religions. It is a call for dialogue and understanding while the right and the left can only meet at the middle point where dialogue exists as the only means for enhancing peace and harmony among nations. http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1160&p=opinion&a=3  Jamal Al-Awadhi is Editor-in-Chief of Yemenonline.info  Source: Yemenonline.info

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Syed Asadullah