Report of the Dutch-Egyptian Dialogue Meeting

March 15^th 2007

The meeting started with the introduction of participants in dialogue; professors, Dutch and Egyptian participants.

After that there were the speeches of professors as the schedule was arranged. Drs. Cornelis Hulsman started by asserting on the importance of careful media reporting, as well as taking into consideration cultural sensitivities. He also discussed:

- Verification of media role.

- Distorted pictures of what’s happening in Arab countries.

- Arab-West reports and their role in clarifying the picture.   

He played a short film, produced by the Center for Inter-Cultural Dialogue and Translation. The film deals mainly with the issue of Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt. The idea presented in the film is that; crises that take place between Muslims and Christians in Egypt are not a result of religious differences as much as it is the outcome of socio-economic conditions.

Dr. Nadia Mustafa tackled the relationship between politics and religion. She mentioned that there is politicization of the relationship between religion and culture. Many calls that promote for dialogue between religions and cultures are being politicized. The need for self-criticism, as in the title of her speech, is of high importance. She said that we have to revise ourselves, and investigate the negative aspects of our culture. Added to that, she posed the question of: Are problems between Muslims and Christians exaggerated by Media to justify Western intervention, or are there real problems?

Dr. Pakinam El-Sharqawi spoke about dialogue among the youth, as an important track for dialogue. She mentioned that this track is important because students represent an active component of the society, and they are the ones capable for changing negative realities.

Dr. Seif El-Din Abd El-Fattah talked about the conditions for a good healthy dialogue. He mentioned the need for defining dialogue, and the conditions for dialogue as a process. He said dialogue is a relationship between different parties and a mechanism. There are important conditions for dialogue; among which is the equality between dialogue parties. Dialogue is to be yourself and to know the other. Acquaintance is a process that is very important in this regard.

The floor was opened for discussion between the students. One of the Dutch students expressed that not all Western publications are biased. An Egyptian participant, Aya Nassar, asked about the conditions in which European Muslims live in, especially in the Netherlands. A Dutch participant, Gűlsen Devee, answered that there is discrimination against Muslim women because of Hijab. She mentioned some of the experiences she went through, being a Muslim woman in the Netherlands. She mentioned that some women cannot apply for certain jobs or internships while wearing Hijab. Abd Allah, an Egyptian participant, asserted that we should not address issues from one angle, we should rather see the whole picture. A Dutch participant expressed that in order to understand problems in the Netherlands or in Europe, we need to understand the social underpinnings. Another added that Arab media do not present a clear image of the West. Dr. Nadia commented saying that we should understand the background of these reportings before judging them.

All participants agreed that they should not let this discussion end with the end of the dialogue meeting. They agreed on making this discussion between the two groups, Egyptian and Dutch, on regular basis in order to accumulate on what was discussed.