Islam and the West: peace urged among critics for the Iraqi war
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - "We need to search for similarities among the religious traditions of humankind that are so rich, which we must believe originate from the same God, and then turn them into the basis for building a better world" Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri declared at the opening of a 3-day conference, organized by the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) to promote dialogue between the Islamic world and the West.
Around 300 Muslim scholars from 49 countries gathered in the capital on Monday to participate, where both terrorism, and Western injustice against Muslims, were denounced.
"It may be due to coincidence or intention, but an exceptional injustice is apparent in the attitude and actions of big countries toward countries whose majority populations are Muslim."
The President explicitly deplored the war in Iraq, "The act of violence undertaken unilaterally against the Republic of Iraq by certain countries, which are now finding it difficult to prove the existence of weapons of mass destruction- the sole justification to launch the biggest military attack at the beginning of the 21st century- is an evident picture of this injustice."
NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi echoed the sentiments regarding the campaigns against both Afghanistan and Iraq saying, "An attack against a country under any pretext will only bring untold misery to innocent civilians. The attackers also stand to lose, at least as far as global opinion is concerned."
President Sukarnoputri similarly protested the French decision to ban religious symbols, including the Islamic headscarf, alluding to the double standard larger countries enjoy while making demands of weaker ones: "Whether they realize this or not, those discriminative acts constitute test-cases as to whether those big countries are serious in practicing the human rights that they have preached to the whole world since the 20th century."
But the President also urged the Muslim scholars to present to the world the peaceful side of Islam, and recommitted Indonesia's stand against terrorists, including those motivated by religion."This nation resolutely repudiates and legally prosecutes those perpetuating acts of violence against others," she said, "despite their conviction that those are religious acts."
Jemaah Islamiyah, a radical Islamic, al Qaeda linked group based in Indonesia, has been involved in a number of bombings in recent years, including the Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people in October of 2002.
The conference was anticipated to conclude with a declaration for world peace, and a renewed commitment to the development of science and media in the Islamic world.
Most conference sessions were closed on Monday to the media. (MH)
.png)
