Arab League underlines upholding value of tolerance to build successful societies
CAIRO, Oct 18, (KUNA): Openness to others to understand one’s culture and dialogue with one another are within the values of tolerance and acceptance, which are indispensable elements for building successful societies capable of creativity, innovation and coexistence, Secretary General of the League of Arab States (LAS) Ahmad Aboul Gheit confirmed.
This was in his speech on Monday, at the “Tolerance, Peace and Sustainable Development in the Arab World” conference, organized by LAS in collaboration with the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, over two days, with the participation of Muslim and Christian religious leaders and several former ministers of culture and endowments.
He clarified that building coexistent societies is a shared responsibility among everyone, from family to schools to religious institutions, the legislative institution, the media and others.
Aboul Gheit warned of the danger of crises in the region and the resulting collapse of state institutions in several Arab countries, which gave way to chaos.
Interests
Groups and forces with their own interests took advantage of these situations to dismantle states and divide societies on sectarian or ethnic grounds, he explained.
Extremism feeds mainly on the dissemination of hatred and the removal of tolerance as a supreme human value from the lexicon of people, he said, pointing out that hate speech spread in an alarming manner, taking advantage of the ease provided by digital platforms in broadcasting news.
Another viewpoint, Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark underlined in his speech that the world needs peace, considering that science, sports and nature are elements that contribute to achieving peace.
He considered tolerance a necessity and not a choice, urging for instilling the value of peace among schools, media and religious institutions.
Tolerance is a way to break the long chain of evil in addition to being a sign of strength and self-control, he stressed.
He blamed the technological progress in the world for being the cause of tough feelings and thus diminishing the value of love as a result of much use of devices and machines.
The conference will discuss many main topics, including combating hate, spreading a culture of tolerance in religious discourse, its role in consolidating the principles of tolerance in society, the media’s impact in disseminating tolerance values, sustaining community peace, as well as reconstruction in post-conflict societies.