Q&A: 'We Do Not Want It To Be 'East' And 'West''

• Christian Papesch interviews DR. KHALID BIN MOHAMED AL-ATTIYAH, Qatari minister of state for foreign affairs. (united nations)
• Tuesday, September 27, 2011
• Inter Press Service

From Dec. 11 to 13, the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) will hold its fourth annual forum in Doha, Qatar's capital. The goal of the organisation, founded in 2005 in the aftermath of 9/11, is to improve cooperative relations among nations and peoples across cultures and religions, as well as to foster understanding between the Muslim world and the West.

IPS correspondent Christian Papesch talked to Khalid Bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, Qatar's minister of state for foreign affairs, about his ideas and expectations concerning the forum in Doha, the success and future plans of the UNAOC, and the possibility that Qatar could become a model for international understanding.

Q: 80 percent of Qatar's inhabitants are not Qatari. What effect does this have on your country? And what can other countries — and the Alliance of Civilisations — learn from your example?

A: We have a mosaic of people from all over the world; each one of them gives us a flavour. Asians give us a flavour. If you go to the Middle East, they give you a different flavour. If you go to the Europeans, they give you a different flavour. The way that the people live in Qatar gives you the best example of how the Alliance of Civilisations is alive in Qatar. What we are doing is what we believe in.

Q: The previous forums were held in Madrid, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro. What does it mean for Qatar to host the forum now and how will it differ from the others?

A: We are trying to do something other than (what) our colleagues have started. We are trying to come with a new idea, to enhance more and more. I cannot say anything about the previous (countries) because they did their best. But we are trying to translate what they have done… into a tangible project so the stakeholders can feel it, rather than just gathering and exchanging ideas. This is why you will see a lot of action and a lot of brainstorming in Qatar. I can't tell you the difference because we all complete each other. But I am sure it will be unique and a lot of effort has been done on it.

Q: Who will participate in the forum? Are there any world political leaders who confirmed their participation?

A: Mainly it will be NGOs; NGOs are our friends… There (also) are leaders who are interested in the Alliance of Civilisations. There are main players like the Turks and the Spanish who have to be there because they are the founders; and there are a lot of European leaders who would like to come and join us. And we have not only invited them but we also offered them to moderate and lead round tables of their thoughts. In Rio de Janeiro I said, 'We will invite 15,000 people.' And we have received so many replies from leaders we have invited — and some even called to ask why we did not invite them yet.

Q: Will this conference help a lot of other countries to understand Qatar better?

A: Whatever we do, in all directions, we try to be an active player in the globe. We have good cause, we believe in it — and this is why we are reaching out to everyone. Qatar is a rich country; we could close it and just… watch what is going on around us, doing nothing but enjoying the wealth. But this is not our principle. Our principle is to reach out to everyone and to bridge any difference between our brother and friend countries.

Q: Since 9/11 there seems to be a growing Islamophobia and a bad perception of North Africa and the Middle East in European countries and the United States. Is this one of the main issues of the intercultural dialogue and the alliance?

A: We didn't put it this way. We do not want it to be 'East' and 'West' — there is nothing as such. Terrorism has no religion. It does not have to be Christian or Muslim or Tamil. We don't want that the Alliance of Civilisations enhances the idea of East and West. We are trying to encourage living together, all the civilisations. I am not arguing how it started, but that's how in Qatar we look at it.

Q: About a week ago, 12 UNAOC fellowship holders from Middle Eastern and North African countries visited New York. Do you think addressing youth is important to create better understanding between cultures?

A: For sure. This is one of our main elements; the youth is one of our main pillars in our forum. It is the second year now that we invite a group of youth. And they very soon will be in Doha. And I remember the last year they… visited us from all (over) Europe and the United States — and the guys wanted to take them to the malls and the movies and I said, 'We have malls everywhere all over the world. Take them to the real Qatar.' So we took them… camel racing and falconing. They don't want anything else. This is what we tried to show them. Who we are and where we came from. And we will have a festival only for the youth during the forum, too.

Q: The AOC is six years old now. Do you see any success and progress? Does it have an effect on the relations between cultures that you can feel, count or describe? And are there any plans of action to be implemented over the next few years?

A: The outcomes are always valuable. The time you take (for) your flight and (to) go to this AOC gathering, as soon as you land in any country of the world you benefit immediately, before even doing anything. The only thing we did not manage to find was a mechanism to implement and follow up. This is the core and this is what we lack a little bit. In the future we want to do a lot of things, but mainly we are trying to link the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] with the AOC goals. If we bridge one of these gaps together, this is a success for us.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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