HRH Prince el-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan recommended in his lecture on June 5 that certain organizations participate in the Electronic Network for Arab West Understanding project based on their demonstrated commitment to and cooperation in Arab-West Relations.
Recommended Organizations
Forum 2000, Prague, Czech Republic
www.forum2000.cz/
International Centre for Democratic Transition
www.icdt.hu/
Global Commons.org
Search for Common Ground (SFCG)
www.sfcg.org/
Partnership in Humanity (part of SFCG)
www.commongroundnews.org/section.php?sid=1&lan=en
Academique de la Latinite. HRH has spoken at some of their events.
www.alati.com.br/ing/eventos.html
Central European University of Budapest (professor Yehuda Elkana)
Mrs. Heppner, senior Executive Assistant of HRH Prince el-Hassan wrote that HRH “has visited them and their Open Society Archives with which he is extremely impressed.”
www.ceu.hu/
Hub 42, Caminos de la Humanidad, Partners of Faith and the Nordic Council-inspired Coexistence Lab were left out in an email from Mrs. Lyn Heppner to us as these were just categories without an organization attached.
Suggestions
Furthermore, Prince Hassan made numerous suggestions throughout his speech at the ENAWU launch as to how individuals and organizations from around the world can improve understanding between the Arab World and the West and thus foster greater international/intercultural harmony. Below are some of those suggestions:
- Build a system for collective intelligence,
- Focus more on the positive than negative aspects of intercultural issues
- Encourage inter-Arab and inter-Muslim dialogue as a precursor to or partner of “trialogue,” i.e. Muslim-Christian-Jewish dialogue
- Recognize that dialogue is “heterogeneous” and a “tool for development,”
- Be inclusive as possible in the project, i.e., bring in “not only the intelligent few, but the intelligent many,”
- A third sphere that is neither public nor private, thus devoid of national or single-issue agendas. “bringing journalists together with script writers, journalists together with academia”...
- Emphasize that this conversation transcends political boundaries and that it is intergenerational
- Need for the creation of an international non-denominational media peace corps
- Provide “methods for creating an affinity to analyze,”
- Develop one ethical standard and a crisis avoidance capability by identifying and highlighting shared values and standards as a role of citizenship,
The experimental component must enter into a “methodological symposia,”, include not only the “converted” but also the “skeptics,” and move from a culture of existing and surviving to a culture of participation
Four final elements:
-more platforms for participation,
-more involvement from the silenced majority to give legitimacy to the marginalized,
-new definitions of state interests and a power base,
-develop governments through a sharing of global commons and global standards.
We believe that the ENAWU project presents the very data, methods, and other resources necessary to fulfill the suggestions made by His Royal Highness. We applaud the Prince’s leadership in this endeavor and we look forward to working with the aforementioned organizations in our quest to foster greater understanding on all issues relevant to the Arab and Western worlds.
