Dubai: US President-elect Donald Trump’s shock victory last week is a harsh reminder of the global importance of tolerance, UAE-based academics say.
The surprise rise of the reality television tycoon — often accused of bigotry and racism — is a key sign of “what we’re going through in the world”, said Rima Sabban, a sociologist at Zayed University.
“The leadership here is more advanced than [much of] the leadership in the world today,” she added.
Sixteen months after the passing of a tough anti-discrimination law, Sabban said that that these measures are needed now more than ever.
And the UAE is “leading globally with these values. Also, it’s leading in the region, in a region that is so divided”.
“Tolerance means how to see the world from the perspective of others, not just your perspective,” she added, explaining how she defines tolerance.
“To be tolerant of the other, you have to understand where the other is coming from.”
Which leads to the question — how can people who believe they are correct in their beliefs accept others?
“You cannot say I’m totally one hundred per cent right. You must open that window, however small it is. If you cannot open a whole big window to the other, at least open a small one.”
The rise of globalisation — with the UAE’s mix of 200 nationalities as an example — makes tolerance key to growth, the academic said.
“We are intermingling more and more together. If we’re going to keep doing that, we’re going to have to accept each other.”
Far-right rise
The rise of far-right forces seen in the West have led to a lack of tolerance in the land of its birth, another UAE academic said.
“[The UAE] is really serious and determined to uphold this value at a time when tolerance is in short supply,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, the UAE-based chairman of the Arab Council for Social Sciences.
The academic formerly worked as a political science professor for UAE University.
He continued: “Not [only] in the immediate geographic vicinity, but it is even in short supply where it matters the most — in Europe, where it matters the most in the US.”
However, despite the UAE’s “great mandate” and “huge government resources” to throw behind tolerance, the country’s drive towards achieving the value in society will take time, Abdulla said.
“I think they [the UAE government] have a vision for a more tolerant society… It will take a while to have traction and before it comes a really tangible value.”
