I guess it was bound to happen at some point during the parliament. Someone brought up the issue of Gaza and the issue of Israel vs Palestine in a panel discussion today and some of the jewish members of the audience took exception to what the gentleman said. It also didn't help that the gentleman who made the comments was a Muslim thereby adding fuel to a tense situation.
I guess in an event such as this, contentious issues will need to be developed, but the question is how can we talk about understanding each other's religions and spiritual viewpoints whilst negotiating the tricky contentious issues that people have?
So far no one has really discussed it or perhaps has wanted to discuss it. However, Anwar Ibrahim during a dinner to local Muslim leaders in Melbourne on the 4th of November was eloquent when he said that the success of the parliament would not be only judged by people coming together to celebrate views of commonality, but would be in the ability to intelligently and intellectually discuss contentious issues on a mature level whilst agreeing to disagree. This ability to discuss issues of difference, accept that difference and still move on, is tantamount to a mature attitude towards respect and understanding.
There are many issues that will fall into this category of contentious issues, whether it is political like the Israel / Palestine conflict or theological like the Sunni / Shi'a difference or the persecution of baha'is in Iran or any other issue such as the attitude of religions to sexuality discussions or the role of women. Whatever the case may be, it is imperative that the parliament allows for a free and frank discussion on these topics so that better understanding is obtained.
often it will be the case that consensus will not be arrived at, however it is also good to agree to disagree and then to work on the common issues in the hope of arriving to a consensus regarding disagreements.
Whilst the discussion on the Gaza issue in the end fizzled out with both sides having a coffee and agreeing to disagree, it does highlight the need to have these types of discussions in an attempt to shed greater light on contentious issues. The hope is to not to come to an agreement or resolution of the issue but more to understand each other's position
Amjad Saleem
Amjad, like your blog and what you are writing.
ReplyDeleteComments about Anwar Ibrahim are well written.
I was the one that made the comment at the end about the need to learn to respect the otherness of other and focus on building socieites of harmony and co-existence.