UAE daily Al-Ittihad held its 14th annual forum on Sunday, October 20, titled, “Human Brotherhood, the UAE’s Vision of a Tolerant World”. This forum is part of the 50th anniversary celebrations making its issuance on October 20, 1969 in its capacity as the first UAE newspaper.
During his participation in the forum, Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) in Jordan, Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader told the press: “Humanity has experienced several stages in relations among religions. There were undoubtedly conflicts, and there were dialogues, and there were several forums. Today we do not only talk about dialogue, and sitting together, but about de facto cooperation.”
He pointed out that “the ‘Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together’, which was signed in the UAE by Pope Francis and Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, represents the broad lines for this cooperation. The document represents the rules and foundations on which one can build on. It is not sufficient any longer just to sit together in hotels and conduct intellectual dialogues. We need to activate this cooperation on the ground.”
He added, “I believe that the UAE, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and all countries that respect human rights, can highlight the possibility of common living on a common ground of cooperation for the good of all humanity.”
The presented papers at the forum focused on the UAE’s initiatives which convey global humanitarian messages that enhance human commonality. They also underlined the need for the attainment of tolerance, for rejection of extremism and hatred, as well as for openness to cultures and peoples in their capacity as a general societal orientation involving all sectors of society, including governmental and private ones, in addition to a special sector relevant to the roles of the UAE’s foreign roles and their clear standards which are based on upholding the value of tolerance with the entire religions and ethnicities within the framework of a stable approach revealed since the establishment of the state until now, which brings the vision of the UAE to the world.
The forum also highlighted the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to the UAE on February 3-5, 2019 which reflected the UAE’s humanitarian vision of interfaith dialogue well as providing support for laying the foundations of brotherhood and peaceful human common living in the region and the world. This historic visit concluded with the issuance of the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” and the announcement of the idea of establishing the “House of the Abrahamic Family”.
