UAE | Heritage and Culture
East-West friction in focus at forum
How can hatred, generalisation and incitement between East and West be avoided? It is a million dirham question, some might say, but one that was tackled in a lively and deep discussion during the first day of the Arab German Cultural Dialogue Forum on Wednesday.
- By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:02 November 27, 2008
- His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday attended the first session of the Arab German Cultural Dialogue Forum.
- Image Credit: WAM
Dubai: How can hatred, generalisation and incitement between East and West be avoided? It is a million dirham question, some might say, but one that was tackled in a lively and deep discussion during the first day of the Arab German Cultural Dialogue Forum on Wednesday.
The sitting entitled 'Orientalism and Occidentalism: Shifts and Wars of Words,' asked the hows and whys of the perceptions of Arabs and the West of each other, and how the traps of stereotyping generalisation can be avoided.
Dr Fahma Jad'an, who moderated the forum, said there was a group of academics which represented a comeback of orientalism..
Syrian philosopher Dr Mata' Safadi said that the Arab people's relations with others had always been of a political nature, and that Arabs too were responsible for not understanding the other well.
"We did not want to understand Western culture from the inside. We always thought that Western culture was a monolithic one, and never studied or analysed it," he said.
Prominent Syrian poet Adunis said Arabs failed to study and analyse themselves, let alone the West, adding that some Orientalists had studied Arabs in more depth than Arabs themselves did.
Share this article
More from UAE Heritage & Culture
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- Khalifa congratulates Karzai on re-election
- Khalifa receives congratulatory call from Talabani
- Camel in RAK gives birth to twins
- Saif is appointed Emiratisation chief
- Pavement parking irks pedestrians
- Man jailed 3 years in fatal assault of colleague
- Murder: Mother gets stiffer sentence
- Traffic Prosecution adopts humanitarian step
- UAE starts administering H1N1 vaccines
- 'All-green' project to ease traffic flow
- Complaints against cab drivers decline
- Thalassaemia website 'will help educate youth'
- Dubai Police open centre to combat marine pollution
- Readers: Less water usage means less desalination
- No hike in water, electricity rates
Community Reports
-
Pavement parking irks pedestrians
Gulf News reader calls on authorities to step in and stop car owners from invading pathways meant for safe walking
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
-
Community report: Doing their bit for poor children
A group of students takes concrete action to raise funds for Dubai Cares
