Statement Of H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu Secretary General Of The Organisation Of The Islamic Conference, At The International Conference On Islamophobia

Date: 08/12/2007

The International Conference on Islamophobia, Istanbul, Turkey December 8 – 9, 2007 Mr. Mustafa ǑZKAYA General Coordinator of the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World, Distinguished Scholars, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to begin by welcoming you all to this International Conference on Islamophobia in this historic city of Istanbul, situated at the cross roads of continents and cultures where the West meets the East in a sublime harmony and concord and where tolerance and cultural coexistence are exemplified. I would like, at the outset, to thank our illustrious and distinguished participants for attending this very important meeting, the first of its kind, which gather in the same place the representatives of the NGOs of the Islamic world. We stand to immensely benefit from their expertise and wise council. Today’s meeting is much needed and in fact long overdue. The topic you are about to discuss is highly important and galvanize the concerns and the preoccupation of the Muslim world and beyond. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the Union of the NGOs of the Islamic world for rising to the challenge posed by Islamophobia. I say this because I strongly believe that Islamophobia has become so rampant and dangerous that it cannot be addressed effectively if it is left to the governments only. Academics, journalists and media personalities, poets, writers, authors, artists and all others with creative bent of mind have to take a pro-active role in countering defamation of Islam and Islamophobia. The NGOs and the civil societies can excel in this domain and be most effective tools in reaching the grass roots and raising awareness of the dangerous repercussions of this phenomenon. Distinguished Participants, Islamophobia is quickly becoming a malaise with dangerous dimensions. If it is allowed to go unchallenged or undeterred, it will pose a grave threat to world peace and security and will endanger people of all faiths and cultural beliefs. Muslim world’s Governments and the OIC alone cannot address this daunting challenge. This task needs the collective will and the participation of all, including political leaders, officials, intellectuals, media personalities, and particularly NGOs and the civil societies at large. Many Muslim and non-Muslim NGOs and academic centers in the western countries have been conducting many praiseworthy initiatives to monitor and combat this phenomena through different projects in the recent years. We are grateful to them. Active cooperation with the NGOs is one of the important goals of the new visions and policies of the OIC. Recently Foreign Affairs Ministers of the OIC Member States have passed a resolution enabling NGOs to cooperate with the OIC institutions. Combating Islamophobia and humanitarian relief work are two main areas where we would like to benefit from. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, The causes of Islamophobia are many and rooted in historical animosity. Reports of Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations indicate that Islamophobia is so widespread that it may be more prevalent and dominant than racial abuse. Some Western medias’ frequent portrayal and misrepresentations of Islam and Muslims have been one of the most persistent and virulent sources of prejudice against Muslims. It is now considered as the prime disseminator of Islamophobia in the contemporary climate. It is extremely rare for a day to pass without seeing or hearing some news headline selectively focusing on violence involving Muslims, be it in Iraq, Palestine or Afghanistan or elsewhere. The frequent projection of such events is of nature to further reinforce the stereotypical representations that has already sunk in the collective consciousness of the wider European mindset. Some scholars in the West are also constantly presenting their biased views against Islam under the guise of scholarly presentation in their bid to set a false paradigm of knowledge against Islam. What is more alarming in this climate is the fact that Islamophobia has become increasingly tolerated as if it had been given license to gain momentum through which it finds favour, legitimacy and acceptance. Another bone of content with the proponents of Islamophobia is the question of the freedom of expression. Although all agree that any freedoms are always linked to responsibility, such as respecting human rights, and avoiding any form of incitement to hatred or defamation of religion, we find that some circles in the West tend to ignore this basic universal and moral value. There is a tendency here to consider that narrow and local interpretation of the universal values, comes above any other given value, thus putting the local, ethical or moral values in total contradiction with the universal values. For example, it is clearly established that Human Rights law and in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights forbids any incitement to religious hatred. Article 20 of this Covenant stipulates that “Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.” Despite this clear text, the Attorney General of Denmark failed to see in the infamous Danish Cartoons issue, which resulted in the death of scores of persons, any incitement to religious hatred. On the basis of this ruling no action was taken against the publisher of the cartoons. This case is indicative of the problems we face with some Western circles. This makes us all the more concerned about the increasing risks of stereotyping religions and beliefs, and the lack of understanding for the values and practices dear to beliefs and religions other than one’s own. At this juncture, I would like to raise a problematic issue regarding the moral and ethical responsibility in practicing democracy. I will refer to the stand on the blasphemous cartoon issue as an example. Authorities claimed that they cannot interfere in the work of the media which is shielded by the principle of freedom of expression. They also argue that they are elected by the people and are therefore solely responsible before them, and nobody else. I would like to take strong issue with this stand, from the vantage point of ethical and moral correctness. Does the responsibility of a given authorities before their constituencies absolve them from any other responsibility toward others, the Islamic world for example? Is this morally or ethically correct? Being in concordance with your local law, and thus obtaining political correctness, does this give you universal correctness and relieve you from any other responsibilities towards the rest of the world? We have to answer these crucial questions. When we safeguard and uphold universal values, those values should be accepted and respected by all, and should not suffer from any narrow or local considerations. Distinguished Delegates, Since the question of cartoons broke out, a flurry of calls for dialogue swept the international scene. Some institutions of some countries where blasphemous events took place called for a dialogue between the Islamic world and the West. We welcomed these calls wholeheartedly and reciprocated this desire. However, we would like to take a stop here and pose a legitimate question about the ultimate goal of such a dialogue and its effectiveness. If those calls for dialogue aim at correcting past errors or mistakes, the dialogue, in this case, should follow a specific path. Those countries should undertake a preliminary internal or domestic dialogue among the different trends in their societies to clarify their stands. The problem lies within the confines of this specific country and not in the oppressed party. No Muslim has ever been accused of demonizing or vilifying any of the sacred religious Christian symbols or national one. The opposite has taken place. Those countries are duty bound to educate their people of the values of tolerance and diversity as well as the true teachings of Islam. They should also be taught that base provocations and vile despises are not the civilized means of debate, and that there is no rationalization for all these excessiveness and presumptions. I am happy to learn that some European Parliaments have embarked on a policy to interact closely with its counterparts in the Muslim world. I hope that Parliaments of Muslim countries would emulate this practice with their western colleagues to make it possible for western lawmakers to understand and appreciate the issue of Islamophobia from the right perspective and in greater clarity. This kind gesture may encourage us to be optimistic and more inclined to look for a genuine dialogue, but the dialogue to be effective, must be taken beyond rhetoric. We would like to see concrete actions that would convince us of the sincerity of the action directed to tackle this bane, beyond the regrets and statements. The OIC and the Muslim world are ready to enter into dialogue between civilizations. Based on the failed experiences of the past attempts to engage in dialogue among civilizations, we are attentive and careful to see to it that the dialogue we are looking for is one that is meaningful and fruitful. It should be preceded by a commitment of good political will to arrive at the desired results. In this context, we believe that attaining this goal is within our reach, if objective intentions exist. We know from past experiences that peaceful existence, harmony and tolerance could unite people. The long history of Islamic States is full of episodes of this coexistence and harmony. We also firmly believe that what unites Islam and Christianity outweigh what keeps them apart based on their common beliefs and common ancestry. It is on this premise that I have frequently called for an “Historic Reconciliation” between Islam and Christianity. Similar endeavour took place last century when such an historic reconciliation was reached between Christianity and Judaism. I pray and hope that this desire will be fulfilled one day for the benefit of all humanity. Distinguished Delegates, Today, the Muslim world stands in a dire need for a strategic scheme, dynamic and dedicated effort of Muslim leaders and officials, their NGOs and Civil Societies, with a view to focus their attention on this highly abusing phenomenon directed against their self-identity, self-esteem and their human dignity. We are duty bound to defend ourselves against discrimination as well as mental and physical abuse. We firmly believe that in dealing with issues like this there is no substitute to dialogue. But for dialogue to succeed, many preliminary conditions should be agreed upon to allow people on both sides of the divide to try to diffuse the polarization before getting into concrete action. In this context, the OIC was the first international organization to put the question of dialogue among civilizations on the international political agenda since the year 1998. The United Nations declared the Year-2001 as the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, with a global programme of activities to disseminate this idea world-wide. Consequently, we have fully supported the initiative of the “Alliance of Civilizations” initiated by Turkey and Spain. The effort of the Alliance comes to complete what the OIC had started. The Alliance is a movement which enjoys today a large international acceptance and sponsored by the United Nations. It takes into consideration the political dimension of inter-cultural and inter-religious tensions, and aims at finding practical solutions to these problems. We believe that if the international community can rise to the call of the Alliance of Civilizations by rejecting those who seek to incite and provoke violence and intolerance in the name of freedom of expression, it would be easier to attain the lofty objectives of the Alliance of Civilizations. We feel encouraged by the good work done by international organizations in the Western World, such as the OSCE and Council of Europe. Their centers of monitoring discrimination and intolerance have recognized Islamophobia as a blatant violation of basic human rights. They have also responded positively to work with us in combating religious intolerance including Islamophobia. We also appreciate the step taken by more than 300 protestant Christian scholars and clergymen from across the globe of apologizing to Muslims for the Crusades and the repercussions of America's so-called war on terror as a positive development in fostering tolerance among religions and cultural beliefs and countering hatred such as Islamophobia. In this regard, youth forums and educational institutions must be encouraged to organize seminars on the Alliance of Civilizations for a better understanding of the younger generation. The same challenge should be followed by the media, considering that it is the only possible tool to counter negative propaganda against Islam and Muslims, as well as to provide a room for dialogue through a frank, sincere, unbiased, responsible and positive public debate regarding all faiths and civilizations. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, In a bid to streamline our activities in the OIC to oppose the campaign of defamation of Islam and its ensuing repercussions known as Islamophobia, we have established in the OIC Headquarters “The OIC Observatory on Islamophobia”. The objective of establishing this Observatory is to monitor and document all manifestation of Islamophobia world-wide. The Observatory is also charged to deal with this phenomenon in a pro-active manner. Given the scope of this endeavour, we appeal to you, to kindly lend this nascent Observatory your kind help and assistance in a manner to enable it to carry out its mandate efficiently. One of my colleagues will present to your assembly ample information about this matter. He will also introduce to you the draft of the First Annual Report on Islamophobia – 2007 to be officially launched in the next few weeks. In conclusion, I would like to pay special and sincere tribute to the organizers of this very important and useful meeting, which brought together such a distinguished group of Muslim leaders, scholars and dedicated organizations engaged in the defense of their heritage, identity and destiny. Finally, I would say that the task ahead of us is very long and arduous one. We are trying to peacefully change conceptions that are well entrenched in some societies psychic for long centuries. We have also to work in an era, which came in the aftermath of the events of 9/11, and where the international climate in the West doesn’t favour our views, due to the circumstances prevailing in the Muslim world, where wars, violence, and instability are rampant. But I trust that a determined effort on our part, well thought, and well organized, will yield acceptance and success. So let this meeting be the first step in the journey of a thousand miles awaiting us, supported by our belief in and conviction of the justice of our causes, and helped by our Islamic solidarity which had proven in the past to be the best guarantor to success and victory. Thank you.

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