Call for Dialogue with Political Islam

"Terrorism must end for peace to reign worlwide" - Director of Al-Andalus Studies Center

According to Abdeluajed Akmir after the attacks happened in Casablanca in May 16th 2003 Moroccans realized that the only way to finish with religious fanaticism is through a responsible dialogue among all those engaged in political Islam.

Abdeluajed Akmir, History professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, who will be one of the participants at the forthcoming International Congress on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue in Bilbao, affirms that government, civil society and intellectual reformers in Morocco are aware that peace cannot reign worldwide unless terrorism is finished as well as without assuring a good communication with the West.

In related news: Euromed: Agreement in Barcelona on an Anti-Terrorist Code of Conduct

"Inequality is greater between the two shores of the Mediterranean than anywhere else in the world,” so said Josep Borrell, President of the European Parliament, who did not hide his disappointment when making a critical assessment of 10 years of the Barcelona Process. Monday’s mixed outcome of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit, held in the Catalan capital, means that there is still some limited hope for closing the economic and social divide between both sides.

Ten years after its launch as the Barcelona Process, co-operation between the EU and its Mediterranean partners needed a new impetus. The Euromed discussions, held between the 24 and 28 November, should have marked the relaunch of the partnership which brings together EU member states and 10 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey).

Josep Borrell, who took part in the Summit of Heads of State and Government in his role as both President of the European Parliament and of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), acknowledged the lack of “any significant progress on the road to shared peace and prosperity.” The priority of the co-operation process remains the strengthening of trade relations and the gradual levelling of social inequalities between partners. However, if it is to succeed, both parties need to show real commitment. Political conditions, in the form of stability and democracy, also have to be present so that economic co-operation can bear fruit. The President of the Parliament emphasised that “economic and political objectives are indivisible.”

Euromed is one of the few forums for potential dialogue for some of the Middle Eastern countries involved in Euro-Mediterranean co-operation. However, several Mediterranean countries attending the Barcelona Summit were not represented at the highest level (namely Head of State or Head of Government). Nevertheless, the two meetings of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in Rabat and Barcelona enabled bilateral talks and exchanges of views on partnership relations to take place. The issue of immigration was also an important part of the discussions.

But it was concerted action against terrorism which occupied participants during Sunday and Monday. It was particularly difficult to reach agreement on the anti-terrorist “code of conduct” which formed an important part of the final agreement. In the end, a solution was found that was acceptable to all parties. It can only be hoped that this conclusion to the Summit augurs well for continued Euro-Mediterranean co-operation.


Tags: Morocco, Maghreb, Terrorism,