24 - 30 January 2002
Issue No.570
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 January 2002 Issue No.570 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
In praise of compromise
Gamal Mubarak, head of the Future Generation Foundation (FGF), hosted a fund-raising dinner on Friday to support his non-profit organisation, which channels donations to train and educate selected university graduates, reports Dahlia Hammouda.The event's guest of honour and keynote speaker was former US President Bill Clinton, who called on more than 1,000 guests to embrace a world free of terrorism and help build a peaceful Middle East with an open mind.
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak topped the list of attendees at the gala held at the Air Force House in Heliopolis. The guests also included Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, a host of government ministers, ambassadors and leaders of the foreign and Egyptian business communities.
Clinton told the gathering that "the most important role any of us ever gets to play is that of a human being."
Appealing to the guests, he said, "We can't have a global economy in our global society with human development programmes without a rejection of terror and violence. We have to overcome our differences and build the common future based on our shared values."
He said as much as he supports the current efforts his government and its president and allies are making in combating terrorism, he thinks some of the most important things remain to be done once the current conflict is over. "For we live in a world without walls, where we have torn down barriers.. and spread information; if there is opportunity everywhere, there is vulnerability everywhere," he said.
That is why, Clinton told his audience, "special attention must be paid to the estranged relationship between the Islamic world and the West."
Clinton praised the FGF for its efforts to build young minds by helping men and women attain the knowledge and training they need for the future, indicating that Egypt and the Arab World are facing the challenge of fighting the forces that lurk in the dark and stand in the way of progress.
"Muslim nations that are modernising are the enemies of extremism, not Islam," he said.
In an apparent criticism of how some Americans in the wake of the 11 September attacks view Islam as a violent religion, Gamal Mubarak said, "Ignorance breeds terror, but also prejudice and misconceptions."
He said Arabs and Muslims have been perceived as intolerant, violent people. "But we know this is not true," he said. "Islam is a subtle part of each of us."
Speaking of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Clinton said, "We have to make compromise a beautiful word, not a dirty word, in the Middle East. It must be seen as a source of honour, not shame; strength, not weakness."
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page