VIENNA THE Emir His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani has stressed on the formation of “a global human society based on commonality, while respecting the uniqueness of cultures and religions”.
Addressing the opening session of the 5th Global Forum of The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (Unaoc), in Vienna on Wednesday, HH the Emir said divisions, tensions and conflicts sweeping the world give the forum great significance. These political and ideological divisions require continuous efforts to be eliminated for spreading the values of understanding and coexistence.
“There is no doubt that dispute and conflict are signs of power politics and domination, and will remain so. But the question facing the international community is the possibility of dialogues and negotiations as a basis for conflictresolution.
The quest for a common ground constitutes concerns and challenges for all humanity,” HH the Emir noted.
He emphasised the need “to strive towards finding just solutions to global problems through genuine respect for the values, norms and principles instilled in the hearts and minds of humanity and which promote constructive cooperation, and achieve security, peace, prosperity and sustainable and equitable development for all nations and peoples,” he said.
HH the Emir regretted that violence still prevails in many parts of the world even though the ultimate goal of everyone is peace.
“The acts of violence and gross violations of human rights occurring in Syria and Palestine constitute a disgrace to humanity, and the international community should bear its responsibilities by standing up to address these violations and to back the Syrian and Palestinian peoples to attain their legitimate rights.” HH the Emir said, “There are major powers in the world that adopt an unfair attitude preventing resolution of the Palestinian cause, which is a constant source of tension in our region.
“It is also a source for people to believe that racism is still prevalent and to make them sceptical about the fairness in implementing the international law,” HH the Emir said.
He pointed to recent “manifestations of misunderstanding about Islam and the Islamic civilisation”.
“These manifestations and others emphasise the urgent need for the Alliance of Civilizations initiative to build prospects of cooperation between various nations and peoples, and address tensions and conflicts and eliminate everything that might widen the gap between the nations,” HH the Emir said.
HH the Emir noted that the myth of a clash of civilisations arises due to “the complexities of striking a balance between the freedom of expression and respect and protecting the rights, sanctities, beliefs and feelings of others”.
Understanding and respecting other cultures and beliefs and the abandonment of extremism and hatred is the only way to put an end to racism and extremismbased violence and terrorism, HH the Emir said.
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser also attended the session.
Also present on the occasion were Austrian President Heinz Fischer, Romanian President Traian Basescu, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon and a number of dignitaries.
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