Terrorism enemy of every religion: King Abdullah

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations General Assembly opened a high-level meeting Wednesday aimed at promoting a global dialogue about religions, cultures and common values, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon describing Islamophobia as a “new term for an old and terrible form of prejudice.”

In his address, according to agencies, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia advocated peace, justice and tolerance as the key Islamic values. He called for peace and harmony and said religions should not be used as “instruments to cause misery”.

In a speech at the start of a two-day High-Level Meeting on Culture of Peace, which is being attended by more than 60 heads of state/government and senior officials, he called for ensuring human dignity for all.

Diplomats said that Islamic countries are getting ready to move a resolution that would have the General Assembly ban defamation of religions, a move President of the General Assembly Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann supports. “No one should defame religions; We should respect religions,” E’Escoto, a former Nicaraguan foreign minister and himself a priest, told reporters.

The Secretary-General said, “Living together in peace has proved tragically difficult. We must try harder to bring shared values to life.”

President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in New York on Tuesday to participate in the meeting. He is scheduled to address the assembly on Thursday (today).

Opening his speech with “Assalam-O-Alaikum”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “Anti-Semitism remains a scourge. Islamophobia has emerged as a new term for an old and terrible form of prejudice.

“And other kinds of faith-based discrimination and racism show a dismaying persistence. Sometimes it seems as if none of history’s awful lessons have been learnt.

“With knowledge and leadership, we can live up to the best of all our traditions, and ensure human dignity for all,” Ban added.

“One of the greatest challenges of our time must now surely be to ensure that our rich cultural diversity makes us more secure - not less.”

He said globalisation could be a great force for progress, but as economies merge, as cultural boundaries disappear, as new media bring our societies closer together than ever before, new fault lines can emerge.

As a result, he said, “Communal strife is intensifying. Extremist ideologies are on the rise. Societies are more polarised.”

Traditionally, the UN chief said peace involves balancing the interests of different States. “But we have learnt that lasting peace requires more than a competitive equilibrium. For peace to endure, individuals, groups and nations must come to respect and understand each other.

“Interfaith initiatives are addressing this need with ever greater frequency and force.

“One of the most respected of these initiatives was the World Conference on Dialogue, held in Madrid this past July at the invitation of King Abdullah.

“That landmark meeting brought together followers of the world’s religions, eminent scholars, intellectuals and others. The participants affirmed their belief in the fundamental equality of human beings, “irrespective of their colour, ethnicity, race, religion or culture”. And they pledged to act within their spheres of influence to foster dialogue and cooperation.”

Opening the historic meeting, D’Escoto, the UNGA President, hoped that the meeting will hasten action on such global obstacles as hunger and poverty.