Letter addressed to the Members of the European Parliament
(Brussels) - We welcome the European Parliament’s decision to host the “Arab Week” on 3-6 November 2008, as part of EU initiative for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. We also welcome the interest shown by Europe towards the Arab world and hope this event will foster ties and dialogue between the two neighbouring regions.
It is regrettable however, that independent civil society members from the Arab world are so strikingly absent from the programme. As rightly pointed out, the Arab Week is an extremely important event as it aims at showing to Europe the diversity of the Arab countries and its people. The almost complete absence of Arab reformers, human rights defenders and dissidents throughout the Arab Week seriously misrepresents the aspirations of the people of the region, who long for fundamental freedoms, human rights and democracy, denied by most Arab governments. Read more ...
(Brussels) - We welcome the European Parliament’s decision to host the “Arab Week” on 3-6 November 2008, as part of EU initiative for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. We also welcome the interest shown by Europe towards the Arab world and hope this event will foster ties and dialogue between the two neighbouring regions.
It is regrettable however, that independent civil society members from the Arab world are so strikingly absent from the programme. As rightly pointed out, the Arab Week is an extremely important event as it aims at showing to Europe the diversity of the Arab countries and its people. The almost complete absence of Arab reformers, human rights defenders and dissidents throughout the Arab Week seriously misrepresents the aspirations of the people of the region, who long for fundamental freedoms, human rights and democracy, denied by most Arab governments. Read more ...
Source: Aafaq.org
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