Matchman – 24/11/2015
A petition to say no hate in teaching and school textbooks
Giuseppe Samir Eid wrote to Matchman News reporting a petition, launched through CitizenGO.org, addressed to Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed el-Tayeb.
By Luca Chiodini – 24/11/2015
Giuseppe Samir Eid wrote to Matchman News pointing out his latest initiative: a petition, launched through CitizenGO.org, addressed to Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed el-Tayeb – current Grand Imam of the University of Al-Azhar, one of the greatest landmarks of the Arab and Islamic world.
It calls for the elimination of all hate texts from the teachings (from sermons, television, media, etc.), but especially from school texts and to promote the “teachings of the values of civil and religious freedom without discrimination between people and peoples”.
Eid was born in Egypt to parents of Syrian-Lebanese origin. He is co-founder of the Ambrosian Centre of Documentation for Religions, wanted by Card. Martini to promote knowledge and exchange between different religious experiences and has written and published several volumes on the reality of Arab immigration in Italy.
To the Editorial Staff,
Letter from Joseph Samir Eid
The petition to which I invite you to adhere is intended to raise awareness of these Islamic institutions towards the coexistence of populations of different cultures and religions. Cultural integration cannot be considered a secondary problem to that of material assistance. The two aspects must be co-presented, otherwise the risk is that refugees will falsely interpret the reception centres as welfare institutions as places which, in exchange for the assistance provided, actually aim at proselytizing.
The issue of dialogue between different civilisations and mentalities cannot, however, be left exclusively to volunteers. Faced with this urgency, institutions must also play their part. At the political level, attention is being paid to the problems arising from the increase in the flow of migrants, while little or nothing is being done for the cultural integration not only of the immigrant refugee in our society but, above all, of Muslims resident for one or more generations. An erroneous conception of the secularity of the State leads us not to touch upon arguments that have to do with religion in the public sphere. On the contrary, the religious aspect represents for every Arab – in this case I am thinking of the Syrians – a natural dimension of life, it is an integral part of his identity, whether he professes the Christian faith or belongs to the Muslim community. To deny to those who come to our country from such distant cultural contexts minimal information about Western culture is tantamount to promoting a one-sided insertion in our society. The importance of an action that makes Muslims aware of the foundations on which European societies are founded would then be accentuated by the possibility of becoming [itself] the spark capable of triggering the process of opening up the watertight compartments that exist today between Europe and the Arab world, between Christians and Muslims. And, at the same time, it could represent a strong push for concrete measures capable of blunting the phenomenon of religious fanaticism that is fed today by some Islamic institutional bodies. Greater vigilance in this sense seems more opportune than ever. The petition is therefore directed to the highest responsible of the Educational and Scholastic life of every order and degree in the Arab world. Here follows the text:
“Mediterranean, Sea of Peace:
We wish to build a society of equal rights and duties for citizens.
We need a change in the formation of citizens that violence on behalf of religion is intolerable, to make everyone understand that they are equal -No to discrimination, Yes to peaceful coexistence.
We ask:
1) That in sermons, television, the media and especially school textbooks, teachings of the values of civil and religious freedom without discrimination between persons and peoples are promoted.
2) To encourage the Koranic verses that praise coexistence and exclude hatred towards others.
3) To strongly advocate the most favourable verses for peace among peoples, different and sometimes enemies over the centuries is a duty that involves everyone.
El Azhar University has a leading role as a beacon of peace in the world.
Addressee: Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed el-Tayeb (Arabic: أحمد محمد أحمد أحمد) is the current Grand Imam of al-Azhar
Remove all hate speech from the teachings, from the school textbooks.”
Giuseppe Samir Eid
Free web translation from the original in Italian
The published articles intend to provide the tools for a social inclusion of the migratory flow, shed light on human rights and the condition of life of Christians in the Islamic world from which the author come from. Knowledge of the other, of cultural and religious differences are primary ingredients to create peace in the hearts of men everywhere, a prerequisite for a peaceful coexistence and convinced citizenship in the territory.