“ Launching a European – American Conference Dedicated to the Discussion of a ‘Citizenship Pact’ for Moslems ”

Austrian Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs says: “We must live together with confidence”

Asharq Al-Awsat, Wednesday, May 17 2007

By Mina Al-Oraibi

A perusal of the list of participants in the “Muslim Youth and Women in the West: Source of Concern or Source of Hope?” Conference that began its work in Salzburg recently suggests that the topic of Muslims in the West and their concerns continue to be pressing in Western countries today. European Ministers, security experts, media personalities and religious leaders met for three days to discuss issues related to Muslims in the West, and ways to combat the isolation and discrimination that they have recently endured. In her opening statement before the Conference, Ursula Plassnik, Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs said “we must live together with confidence. This is very important for the future of our societies”. She stressed that living together with confidence requires "reaching out with both hands open for dialogue: one is pointing inwards, to our Muslim fellow citizens. The other is pointing outwards, to our Muslim partners around the world". She stressed that ”diversity has long been a reality in modern Europe“ and that having fought for it, Europe will not give it up. The Austrian Minister who has just returned from a trip to the Gulf during which she visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar rejected the notion that “young Moslem men and women are victims”. To the contrary, she believed that “they can change their societies”. She went on to say that “integration is a major challenge for us in Europe”. She further explainded that “integration dictates that one need not be a guest in a society”. Everyone has rights and reponsibilities.

Dr. Mustapha Tlili, Director of New York University Center for Dialogues: Islamic World–US–The West, who organized the Conference in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs underlined the question of rights and responsibilities. He called for a “new social pact” in Western countries, “a citizenship pact” that would promote diversity, facilitate the integration of Muslims and other immigrants in Western societies, and guarantee respect for their rights. In his opening statement before the conference, Dr. Tlili said that the purpose of the conference is to formulate innovative ideas, a demand that became necessary after the events of recent years. The Conference is trying to develop new and effective proposals on how to integrate Muslims in Western societies, particularly Muslim youth and women. Tlili said that “it is difficult to ignore the ongoing misunderstanding and tension that prevailed among Muslim communities in the west, and the impact they had on young Muslim men and women in recent years”. He added that in two days, the conference must make proposals to “further the opportunities available to citizens who profess the Islamic faith in order to allow them to fully enjoy the rights of citizenship on an equal footing with others. As such, they will not be profiled because of their religious affiliation and national origins, but viewed as Austrian, French, German or American citizens”.

According to a background paper that Dialogues prepared and distributed to participants, there are 15 to 20 million Muslims in Europe, and about 4 to 6 million in the United States of America. The paper explained the reasons for the Muslims' emigration to the West, and the obstacles they are facing today. The conference was organized by Dialogues, with financial support from the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs supplemented by funds donated by the Saudi ministry for foreign affairs, the Danish Ministry for Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs, the Dutch Ministry for foreign affairs, Qatar Foundation, and the American Rockefeller Brothers Fund. It must be recalled here that Austria has been keen on shedding light on its ability to build bridges between the Islamic and Western worlds that dates back to the times of Ottoman and Austrian Empires. The political director for the Austrian ministry for foreign affairs Ralph Schneider reminded participants that Austria has recognized Islam as an official religion since 1912 through the adoption of a decree recognizing the rights of Muslims and granting them the same legal rights already enjoyed by Christians and Jews. This approach went a long way in furthering the integration of Muslims in the Austrian society.

Iqbal Reza, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations shed light on the factors that influenced Muslims in the West, foremost among which was the Palestinian question and the Western interference in the Islamic world. He further went on to say that religion has nowadays become a part of politics, not only in the Islamic world but in other countries as well, in a reference to the influence that the Christian constituencies have on the American President George Bush. He said that the man who currently occupies the White House today got there because of the leverage that Christian constituencies have on American policy. He went on to say that all these factors negatively affect the relationship between Muslims and the West. We must admit that the West fears Muslims and the Islamic world fears the West. These apprehensions constitute a real threat to the world. Therefore, efforts must be stepped up to rise to this challenge.

Hans G. Gnodtke, German Commissioner for Dialogue with the Islamic World said that the question of Muslim integration in Europe must be seen as an “immigration issue” rather than a cultural one. The commissioner stressed the need to provide Muslim immigrants with job opportunities, and to integrate them in their societies instead of allowing them to isolate themselves. He drew the attention of participants to some social and economic problems that can be addressed by adopting relevant policies and through support by NGO’s.

The Conference lasted for two days, organized around closed workshops intended to submit proposals to combat the isolation of Muslim youth in western countries and address issues related to Muslim immigrants and those who were born and who grew up in these countries. The conference is expected to come up with proposals that Western countries and Non Governmental Organizations can adopt to overcome the obstacles that impede the cooperation and coexistence among Muslims and non Muslims.

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