Is there a real dialogue between cultures and civilizations?

The intelligentsia here in MENA having comments concerning what Mrs. Benita said in her speech, really we can fight the terrorism due the dialogue conferences, but if we do operate a quick survey we will find out that most of the fanatics from both sides are youth, unfortunately they don't have the right opportunity to get the concern from their governments, so they must be represented in a big percentages in those conferences that belong all the time to elites.

Concerning the political frustration, hunger and economic crises in the orient, really we should confess that Europe and the US unfortunately assisted a lot all the existed authoritarian regimes in the region for the occident's interests in the region especially for both oil and gas, so if we compare Barcelona Declaration 1995 to the other Declarations after 9/11 or Barcelona +10 there is a big difference, because the occident supposed that all the problems here are just economic. But the economic prosperity will never be achieved without building the human being due a reasonable socio-political reform, without neutrality of the judicial system, or without a real freedom of expression.

Regarding the existed Iranian situation, why the occident doesn't give Iran an equal opportunity with Israel?, Even though this situation will make stability and power balance in the region due the code of reciprocity. "This situation is not understood from Europe"

The occident should know that the role of religion in the orient is important because we are religious societies, so a couple of years before we submitted some projects for establishing some inter-religious intercultural youth dialogue centers when nobody from both sides listened to us, however right now this is a trendy topic. The men of religions should meet each other and should meet the young generation in order to abolish any spirit of hostility among religions "we can't forget the role of John Paul II the Ex-Pope of Vatican in liberating middle and eastern Europe from the communism" so he was a good model.

Concerning the point of education we agree with her, but we have our own conservation especially when the occident just focus on schools, so why the occident didn't take a real step in the field of the academic freedom here in the region?, because it's the real portal for both freedom and liberty of any society, we are badly in need of linking the universities, the research centers and the NGOs in all fields to get urgent consequences in the socio-political reform here.

Really we found wonderful programs offered for youth in MENA from 18-25 years old, but this range is allocated due a different mentality and different pedagogic system based on academic freedom and scientific research, however here we have the rest of youth from 25-40 don't have the same opportunity that made them really frustrated, they need to apply their ideas in the right way or someone or bodies/entities to assist or to lead "the Occident or European Union should allocate 50/50 programs for both the above mentioned categories"

Due the above mentioned comments the phenomenon of the xenophobia will be abolished, because integrating a big category of youth in dialogue will change a lot of out of date ritual cults and concepts, and will activate more and more respecting the other "our target in this time being".

Concerning what Mr. Abo El Gheit said we want answer him (who had given the opportunity for Israel and USA doing that in both Palestine and Iraq respectively?), we remember an interview for Mr. Dennis Ross the US peace coordinator in middle east in 1990s on Al-Jaziera (the most important Arab news channel), he frankly mentioned that he is wondering why the whole Pan-Arab world with all these capacities couldn't affect positively upon the Israeli, why they don't have a lobby in US like Israel, why they always expect assistance from the occident, so he thought that the Arabs should blame themselves, because they are not impressive and effective.

Concerning the contemptuous caricatures of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), we have to blame ourselves also, because we don't have even simple media released in the occident to give the people over there the real information about Arab-Islamic culture, they highlight all the time in their media the acts of the fanatics or the terrorists who unfortunately belong to Islam but don't represent the real muslims.

The occident will never respect the Arabs when the Arabs governments don't respect their peoples, this is clear, and this is why they changed their vision towards the regimes (their ex-friends) in the region especially after 9/11. Ahmed Moustafa, Socio-economic specialist & youth trainer