Spain Hosts Islamophobia Conference

9 Oct 9, 2007 - 12:04:50 AM
Last Updated: Oct 9, 2007 - 12:07:20 AM
GaroweOnline

MADRID — Amid world recognition of the alarming phenomena, Spain will play host on Tuesday, October 9, for an international conference on combating growing Islamophobia in Western societies.

"There is a lack of data regarding the phenomena," Gema Martin Munoz, the director of Arab House, a public body working to strengthen ties between Spain and the Arab world, told Agence France Presse (AFP) Sunday, October 7.

"It is important to collect data to avoid overestimating or minimizing Islamophobia."

The conference, held under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), would tackle discrimination against Muslims, its consequences and the role of the media in fueling Islamophobic sentiments.

Attendants, including high-ranking delegations from the OSCE's 56 member states and NGOs, would also probe the role of education in countering this alarming phenomenon.

Also attending will be Arab league General Secretary Amr Mousa.

The two-day conference would be chaired by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

The OSCE, a forum dialogue which promotes human rights, democracy and conflict prevention, has in several declarations expressed concern about and condemned discrimination against Muslims.

In a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on September 14, UN Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance Doudou Diene warned that Islamophobia has been on the rise since the 9/11 attacks.

A recent report by the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia said that Muslim minorities in Europe face deep-seated discrimination in jobs, education and housing in addition to myriad barriers that give rise to feelings of hopelessness and exclusion.

Coexistence:

Cordoba, a symbol of centuries of coexistence between Christians, Jews and Muslims, was chosen as the conference host.

The city's 8th century mosque is a reminder of an Islamic civilization which flourished on the Iberian Peninsula between the 8th and the 15th centuries, when Spain was known as "al-Andalus".

The city hosted an OSCE conference on anti-Semitism in 2005.

"It is all the more significant in that in recent years there has occurred a conspicuous demographic change in many countries, and nowadays Islam is professed by millions within the European Union," said Moratinos.

"In Spain alone, hundreds of thousands of Muslims live peacefully with us, as do we with them."

The conference is part of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's efforts to resolve cultural and religious differences, especially between the Western and Muslim world.

After the 2004 Madrid train bombing, Zapatero and Turkish counterpart Erdogan lunched an initiative to form the "Alliance of Civilianizations" to promote tolerance and understanding between followers of different faiths.

The alliance was formed by the UN in 2005 and is currently chaired by former Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio.

Source: IslamOnline