At Geneva event, UAE urges more dialogue in the world
Country calls for policies that promote tolerance, and dialogue between civilisations
The UAE has taken part in a panel discussion entitled, “Muslims in Europe: The Road to Social Harmony”, which took place recently at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, organised by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue as a side-event to the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The Chairman of the Geneva Centre’s Board of Management, Dr Hanif Hassan, Ambassador Boudjemaa Delmi, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN and other international organisations in Switzerland, and Ambassador Abdul Wahab, Chairman of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, pronounced the opening remarks and inaugurated the debate.
Solidarity with all victims
In his opening remarks, Dr Hanif Al Hassan highlighted the importance of showing solidarity towards all the victims of terrorism, the majority of which are of the Islamic faith.
He said solidarity is the best way to address the common challenges to both European and Muslim communities, namely terrorist crime, violent extremism and xenophobia.
Dr Hassan noted that all of the world’s religions are vehicles for peace and harmony, and he warned against the growing trend of distorting the message of Islam by nurturing the conflation of the Muslim faith with terrorism. He deplored media manipulation that provided violent extremists with unfounded religious legitimacy and unsolicited propaganda, and quoted His Holiness Pope Francis, who has also condemned the erroneous association between Islam and violence.
Dr Hassan concluded his remarks by stating that Muslim communities were being caught “between hammer and anvil”, facing, on the one hand, the imminent threat of terrorist groups, and, on the other hand, a growing trend of Islamophobia and the emergence of xenophobic populism.
Ambassador Boudjemaa Delmi said he deplored the growing confusion in the perception of Muslim communities in Europe, as well as the proliferation of provocative actions, stigmatisation and segregation.