"Interreligious dialogue" for Islamic supremacists means nothing more or less than spreading Islam. Note also the OIC chief Ihsanoglu's emphasis on the need for the West to abandon the freedom of speech. "Saudi King Opens Religious Tolerance Center in Europe to 'Spread the Message of Islam,'" by Patrick Goodenough for CNS News, November 27 (thanks to Tom):
A new Saudi-funded, Europe-based center for interreligious dialogue will be “a good medium to spread the message of Islam,” says the government-appointed imam of Mecca’s Grand Mosque – a man who has stoked controversy in the past by calling Jews “monkeys and pigs” and Christians “cross worshippers.”“The formation of this center in the West with King Abdullah’s support gives a strong message that Islam is a religion of dialogue and understanding and not a religion of enmity, fanaticism and violence,” the International Islamic News Agency quoted Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais as saying.
Sudais was reacting to the launch Monday of the new King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) in the Austrian capital, Vienna.
Lending international legitimacy to the Saudi king’s latest religious tolerance initiative, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among those who attended the opening.
In his remarks, Ban asserted that too many religious leaders have “stoked intolerance, supported extremism and propagated hate” rather than tolerance, adding, “We must all do better in reaching out across boundaries.”
The center’s first-day program included an inaugural symposium, during which the head of the Islamic bloc of nations accused non-Muslims of “Islamophobia” and urged Western governments to enact and enforce laws against it.
“Islamophobia leads to hate crimes and as such, it generates fear, feelings of stigmatization, marginalization, alienation and rejection,” said Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.
“The net result is heightened anxiety and rising violence. Islamophobia is also an assault on people’s identity and their human dignity.”
According to an OIC statement on his address, Ihsanoglu proposed actions to remedy the situation:
“[T]he West must define hate crimes broadly and address the information deficit as well as enact adequate legislation and implement this legislation effectively. In conjunction with national legislation, they should also implement international commitments and agreed norms.”
The OIC has set up an “observatory” to monitor Islamophobia, which it also defines as a contemporary form or racism.
The observatory’s most recent annual report, released this month, covers incidents including Qur’an burning in Afghanistan and Florida, and the U.S. House Homeland Committee’s hearings on radicalization in the American Muslim community, and the notorious YouTube video denigrating Mohammed....
RSS Feed
The King’s Initiative for Interfaith Dialogue would have merit if his kingdom practiced what he ostensibly preaches, and if Islam were truly a religion of "peace" and "tolerance," which it is not.
Buzzwords such as “peace,” “stability,” “disseminating human values” (whose values?), “promoting coexistence,” “improving cooperation” among “peoples of different faiths and cultures” are appealing.
However, in Saudi Arabia official school textbooks denigrate non-Muslims, especially Jews. Shiites are discriminated against; indeed, even oppressed. Migrant workers are often exploited, even sexually abused and treated as slave labor. Non-Muslims are not allowed to worship in the country (home churches are raided, practitioners jailed and expelled, if not worse). And, the Grand Mufti recently issued a fatwa stating there should be no churches in the Arabian Peninsula. Other religious scholars call for the reinstatement of slavery.
All of this suggests that the royal Initiative is for foreign fools, of which there seems to be a sad surplus, to swallow, and has no substance.
At its core, Islam does not respect other faiths. Rather, it seeks their elimination or subjugation. Islam is to be made “superior” to other systems of belief (9:33). While this Initiative is a passive tactic in that regard, the intent remains the same.