By Arab Desk
Dr. Abdullah bin Musa Al Tayer
Why did the Arabs say in the Jeddah Declaration issued by the 32nd Arab Summit: “We express our commitment and pride in our values and culture based on dialogue, tolerance and openness, and non-interference in the affairs of others under any pretext, while emphasizing our respect for the values and cultures of others, respect for the sovereignty and independence of states and their territorial integrity, and considering cultural diversity Enriching the values of understanding and coexistence, and categorically rejecting the dominance of one culture over the other, and using them as pretexts to interfere in the internal affairs of our Arab countries?
Because the libero-democratic camp promoted the culture that it liked, and the values it produced as the expected savior of humanity, and everything else that left behind waging wars in order to enlighten its societies. Kissinger says in his book American Foreign Policy: His country does not have a foreign policy, but rather a culture and way of life that it considers to be the best for humanity and has the military and economic ability to impose it. Since the end of World War II, the world has been groaning under the whips of a single culture and values imposed by force. Since then, no Arab or Islamic issue has been resolved, and the situation of human rights in the Third World has not changed.
Let’s take examples; Palestine is a clear and scandalous example; As there is no longer a people under occupation except the Palestinian people, and neither America nor the liberal-democratic camp allowed to impose any solutions on the State of Israel. Rather, human rights violations in occupied Palestine are faced with deafness and blindness on their part, as if the Palestinian Muslim and Christian do not belong to humanity. The other example is the Muslim people of Jammu and Kashmir. For decades, Security Council resolutions regarding the self-determination referendum have been locked up and we have not seen any move to implement them. I will suffice with the apparent evidence of the Rohingya Muslims who have been displaced from their homelands and the human rights machine did not move to save them.
In terms of dual practices in the field of human rights, the “chosen” countries with their culture and values committed violations in the field of human rights that were not committed by any nation in history, the latest of which was the occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq, secret prisons, Guantanamo Bay, and Arab and Muslim prisoners for decades, presumably, and some of them without their charges being proven by physical evidence or not. They are already being tried. And when Western security required that, Julian Assange was imprisoned in the embassy of a foreign country in London for a few years, and sentences of up to 175 years await him in America for information crimes.
In the name of culture, values and human rights, the sovereignty of the Arab countries was violated, and states and institutions were overthrown. This “sublime” cultural system did not provide a final solution to a single issue across the Arab world. The poor suffer the price of crises caused by external interventions under the headings of culture, values, and human rights. Rich countries are blackmailed by what is happening in their surroundings, and they must continue to pay royalties so that what afflicted their neighbors does not happen to them. Western capitals, which profit from improving our reputation, which they have distorted unjustly and aggressively, for one reason, which is that we do not resemble them.
The Arabs are overwhelmed, tired of the broken cylinder, and decided this time to be themselves, to act according to their interests, to elevate their culture and values, and to intervene with the opposing camp with a very small request: You believe in tolerance and pluralism, well, let us differ with you on culture and values. And let us work on integration and not submit to your superior hand. Will the liberal-democratic West accept this request? Perhaps one of you will say to me: Why the question? We do not ask permission for culture, values and human rights to have more than one narrative.
For 38 countries to impose their narrative of culture, human rights, and values on 155 countries, this is neither tolerance nor justice nor democracy at all. The Arab demand is clear and explicit. We have our own culture, values, and vision for human rights, and you have yours. Let us allow dialogue and interaction as a way to bridge the gaps and increase the level of understanding and the effectiveness of integration. If you said no, then you should hear it in a clear Arabic language from Jeddah: “We categorically reject the dominance of one culture over another, and using it as pretexts to interfere in the internal affairs of our Arab countries.”
This does not mean categorical or closing doors, nor does it express hatred for Western culture, nor prejudice against it, nor hostility towards their values, as the numbers of Arabs today are those who have studied and worked in the West, and communicate on a daily basis with its culture, values, customs, traditions and arts, and benefit from its sciences, products and services. Much more than they did twenty years ago, yet they repeat with Kawkab al-Sharq:
Oh, I have not been patient for a long time with fire, torment and humiliation
It is a mistake and will not return
Even if longing exists and my nostalgia for you exists
But patience has limits.
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Source: The Arabs in Jeddah said: Patience has limits
