Haven of tolerance

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A RENEWED call for peace, dialogue, tolerance and cooperation was echoed in Madrid as Spanish King Juan Carlos met the representatives of 19 Arab states to inaugurate Casa Arabe, or the house of Arabs, in the heart of Madrid.

Established as a joint Spanish-Arab initiative to solidify ties between Arabs, Muslims and the West, with special emphasis on Arabs and Spain, Casa Arabe is headed by Gema Martin Munoz, a prominent Spanish professor of Arab and Muslim studies. It aims to promote in-depth knowledge of Arab and Muslim culture to counter the negative stereotypes propagated across the West.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, a popular European figure in many cultural and political quarters across the Arab world, says Casa Arabe should built on the common shared patrimony of Al-Andalus. "We need to rid ourselves of the negative ideas, stereotypes and pre-judgments that stir differences and animosity between Arab countries and the West," Moratinos said during the opening of Casa Arabe on Friday.

Other participants, including Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal echoed the same call for dialogue and tolerance. Both Arabs and the West, Al-Faisal said, made significant contributions to collective human heritage. Today, he added, both Arabs and the West need to respect and celebrate the diversity of contributions of the past and aspire for more contributions in the future.

Al-Faisal said there was no reason whatsoever why Arabs, Muslims and the West cannot build on the inspiring heritage of Al-Andalus. "There is no reason why tolerance and peaceful co-existence... that existed then, should be replaced with extremism and xenophobia today... We need to go back to tolerance," Al-Faisal said.

The opening of Casa Arabe was also an opportunity for present delegates to discuss political developments in the Middle East. There too, calls for peace and dialogue were reiterated for peace between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of the two-state vision, a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian-US standoff and an end to ethnic violence in Iraq.

Several bilateral meetings were held on the sidelines of the gathering, including a meeting between Syrian and Iraqi foreign ministers Walid Al-Moalem and Hoshiar Zebari.

Assistant Foreign Minister Fatema El-Zahraa Etman headed the Egyptian delegation