An idea catches fire

There was a time when Gaddafi’s Libya was considered a hive of extremism. He was the enemy in the Middle East as far as the West was concerned. He was accused of fostering revolutions and terrorism, but all that changed after Lockerbie. Today, Libya is changing its image and no more so than here in the Philippines where the Libyans are at the center of peaceful initiatives between Christians and Muslims that began with the Tripoli agreement.

More recently, I went to see Libyan Dr. Muhamed Ahmed Sherif, secretary general of the World Islamic Society at the Westin Hotel to speak to him directly on the status of these peace initiatives. He was in Manila to attend the Muslim Ulama and Christian Bishops in Asia which recently ended their meeting and to launch the presence of the World Islamic Society in Manila. Reading through the literature of the conference, I find it was good to know that both Christians and Muslims are aware that religions are often used or the better word is abused by politicians for their own purposes. "As peacemakers, our responsibility is to promote and develop a culture of peace, resolve and transform conflict so as to create conditions for positive social change."

Dr. Sherif is said to be a close confidante of President Gaddafi who has a special interest in peace in the Philippines. When I saw him he had just met with President Macapagal-Arroyo that morning and said they had a very substantial meeting. Among the many topics they discussed he especially mentioned that he was here to help with peace initiatives as envisioned by the Speaker de Venecia’s proposal in Washington. JDV’s initiative was to get a joint Bush-Arroyo lead, through their governments, to co-sponsor a proposal to create an interreligious council as an organ of the UN alongside the UN Economic and Social Council and Trusteeship Council.

Dr. Sherif told the President that he will do his best to make sure that the peace initiative is supported by countries of the OIC, the African Union and other world bodies in which Libya plays an active part. He was happy that President Arroyo will be going to Kuala Lumpur to take an active part in the meeting of countries around the region on peace and development in the region and the problems spawned by terrorism. "It is important that her government continues to push for settlements between her government and the MILF-MNLF elements. I have no doubt in my mind that President Arroyo is serious about her support for peace in Mindanao. She has Libya’s support, Sherif added. He has invited the speaker to join a meeting of the World Council of the Islamic Call in Tripoli called the Great Jamahiriya.The theme of the conference is the motto ‘So that you may get to know one another’."

The Islamic Call Society will have an office in Manila and they will also send missions for education for peace and medical doctors. As a former minister of education he narrated how pleased he was to meet former students practising the principles he had taught them. A doctor of moral philosophy, Dr. Sherif said "It was everything I wanted. It does not matter what religion one has, the important thing was to do good. I found my former students living this principle in various parts of the world. Here in the Philippines, I make it a point to tell friends and the ulamas who influence the young that a good Muslim is a good citizen of his country wherever that is.So here in the Phiippines the Muslims must try hard to integrate and be part of Philippine society and perform the duties of a good citizen."

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The De Venecia initiative for peace began when President Arroyo visited Washington. At the time, it was a mere germ of an idea and sounded unworkable to some hardliners. But he was unfazed. "Such a dialogue of civilizations and Inter-Faith Solidarity will not happen overnight. It will be a long drawn out and complicated effort but we must begin. And begin he did. But first he had to win President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to his side. The time came during her state visit when it became part of the agenda in her talks with President Bush. He convinced them to include religion as an adjunct of conventional diplomacy. If religious, cultural and civilizational affiliations have become a source of global conflicts, then it becomes necessary to blunt this source through dialogue. I understand that President Bush had called it a ‘great idea’ but I am not sure just what kind of support he is being given from the White House. What I do know is that he has continued to seek support elsewhere.

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Among those he sought help from was the CDI (Christian Democratic International) of which he is vice president for Asia. The CDI has a formidable membership with countries from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Spain’s President Jose Maria Aznar who is also president of the Christian Democratic International has agreed to help. He recently announced that the Executive Committee of the IDC (International Democratic Centrists) which is another name for CDI favorably endorsed the de Venecia initiative. The IDC will hold a special forum between cultures in the next few months and this will just be the first of a series, in fulfillment of his commitment to the De Venecia initiative.

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From that germ of an idea for a peaceful encounter between Islam and Christianity, there have been other positive moves from Middle Eastern Countries. President Syed Mohammed Khatami of Iran is also actively pursuing the peace initiative. Iranian Ambassador Yousef, who will soon be leaving us, hosted a dinner dialogue among personalities from both sides. More importantly, the participants of that conference held between August 4-6 signed a resolution called "The Makati Declaration of a Philippines-Iran Bilateral Conference on the Dialogue of Civilizations".

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The declaration supports the call for an active policy of genuine and sincere dialogue among and wthin nations. It also agreed with the establishment of an inter-faith council in the United Nations "that will lead to respect for and appreciation of cultural diversity". The Philippines has already filed a resolution for the creation of a special committte of the United Nations.

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Email: [email protected].

Invitations. From FVR-RPDEV A forum on August 29, 2003 at the Makati Shangri-la"Political and Economic Reforms in the Face of Globalization and Terrorism 6th FVR-RP DEV Lecture Series. Ralph Cossa expertise US Asia policy, Asian secruity issues and political military and economic affairs, US natinal security strategy, non proliferation. President Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies., in Honolulu, Hawaii. He sits on the steering committee of the multinational council for security cooperation in the Asia Pacific. He will also meet with some journalists Wednesday.