Today, the interfaith conference suggested by (and funded by) Saudi King Abdullah, opens in Madrid. No one is quite sure what’s to come of the meeting, but hopes are high that it can somehow defuse inter-religious antagonisms.
UPDATE: Thanks to reader Solomon2 for providing this link to streaming video of the conference. Of course, Madrid is five hours ahead of the East Coast of the US, and two behind Saudi Arabia, but you might want to visit the link while the conference is in session.
The Washington Post moves its coverage of the Madrid conference to its ‘On Faith’ section, in an AP article that also appears in The New York Times and The Washington Times and many other papers:
Italian news agency AKI says that the goals of the conference will encompass world peace, security and the environment, among other issues:
Asharq Alawsat runs two pieces, an editorial by Editor in Chief Tariq Al-Homayed and a translation of King Abdullah’s interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica:
Arab News and Saudi Gazette cover the fact that the conference is starting, along with reports on the La Repubblica interview, adding nothing much original. Saudi Gazette, however, does provide a schedule for the conference:
Rather interesting is a blog, Mixed Multitudes, self-described as, ‘The Personal Gateway to Jewish Exploration’. I don’t know if this blog will be available to Saudi readers. The blog’s writer (or one of the blog’s writers, I’m not sure of its structure) is ‘live-blogging’ the conference. It offers updates of what’s going on, seen from the perspective of an American Jew. Among other information it provides is a list of the Jews in attendance at the conference. Definitely worth a look, if you can get to it.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
July:16:2008 - 10:37
In most conferences I’ve attended, the important stuff doesn’t take place in the sessions, but outside in the corridors, when people meet each other and discuss what has been said, or use the occasion to discuss entirely different things if they so choose.
The schedule may reveal the intent of the organizers, and I’m not particularly happy about it. Because the setup appears to be Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Other differences within religions are off the table. This encourages the hardening of positions, as each party seeks to maximize its legitimacy to encompass its entire faith, thus driving minority opinions – the source of future majority opinions – into silence.
The Conference becomes a means of legitimizing the status quo. We may yet see another depressing “Kumbaya” moment after all.
On the bright side, the “Mixed Multitudes” blog is a real hoot! I love reading about what happens when other people commit a diplomatic faux pas. No one should miss it!
July:16:2008 - 10:37
Here’s the link to the Conference website, which includes a live feed.
July:16:2008 - 10:37
Thanks for the link!
July:16:2008 - 10:37
[...] Tariq Alhomayed of Asharq Alawsat insists that dialogue — any dialogue — is “better.” Indeed, even if the formal meetings fall flat of their lofty goal, a commenter on the blog Crossroads Arabia reminds us that “the important stuff doesn’t take place in the sessions, but outside in the corridors, when people meet each other.” [...]