About the French position of the niqab and hijab and the Swiss position of the construction of minarets

Acceptance International (SHUHOOD) calls for UNESCO of the United Nations and the educational institutions and civil society institutions and the media is responsible in all parts of the world to the serious work in order to achieve real convergence between different cultures and to accept what is different for each and condoned everything seems to contradict, on the basis of respect for individual freedoms and cultural rights.

Has begun to emerge in the past few years and it continues to be developed cases that are not leading to optimism. It is unfortunate that some of these phenomena have emerged in societies with a long history of respect for freedoms. We refer here specifically to the row over the wearing of the veil in French society and more so the worse the vote to ban minarets in Switzerland. The tendencies such as arise in societies steeped in the understanding of the meanings of freedom and democracy are an indication that a crisis to understand and deal with the concept of democracy and its applications, as it can not in any way to make democracy as a tool to enact laws to crush individual freedom, religious or cultural as long as the exercise of freedom in these areas falling within the scope of the definition of freedom is known and rolling since the French Revolution.

The repression of freedom using a weapon based on a democracy, it leads to serious harm to freedom and Democracy making them empty of their content as well as leads to provide fertile ground for arrogance, hatred and intolerance of members of different cultures and societies.

The emergence and growth tendencies of popular behavior and upholding the traditions of different societies was the harbinger of the emergence of a wave of serious governments steeped in the ideas of racism which is cause for concern about the future, so that such things may have happened before, and have had catastrophic consequences for international peace and security.

The United Nations, its organs and its various institutions as well as all governments and civil society institutions are required to develop programs and plans of action to address this by working to spread global awareness of the importance of accepting each other different positions without the prior because the difference is one of the most important ways of renewal through interaction and quotation , vulnerability and impact.

 Acceptance International

Britain / Sweden

12/2/2010

 Ahmed Chel’loob (Secretary General)