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Viewing cable 06DOHA670, FOURTH INTERFAITH DIALOGUE: AN "ACADEMIC" EXERCISE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06DOHA670 2006-05-03 07:39 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Doha
VZCZCXRO1908
RR RUEHDE
DE RUEHDO #0670/01 1230739
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030739Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4818
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000670 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI STHORNE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KISL IS QA
SUBJECT: FOURTH INTERFAITH DIALOGUE: AN "ACADEMIC" EXERCISE 
 
REF: 2005 DOHA 1226 
 
1. Summary. On April 25-27, Qatar held its Fourth Interfaith 
Dialogue Conference.  Representatives from the main 
monotheistic religions--Christianity, Islam, and 
Judaism--attended. This year's event witnessed notable 
differences from the previous three conferences. The 
conference was organized by the College of Shari'a and 
Islamic Studies at Qatar University; the Minister of State 
for Foreign Affairs delivered the opening statement; and the 
number of Jewish and Christian participants was significantly 
higher than in previous years, while local Qatari 
participation was minimal. However, these differences failed 
to produce any meaningful or inspiring outcome but rather 
contributed to a lackluster conference. End Summary. 
 
2. In the weeks leading to the Fourth Conference there was 
little if any mention of the upcoming event. Unlike last 
year's event which witnessed controversy over the invitation 
and subsequent boycott by Israeli Jews and notable cleric Dr. 
Yousef al-Qaradawi (reftel), this year's event had no such 
flare-up. There was no public debate about the conference, 
either prior to, during or after. 
 
Total Control Or Close To It 
---------------------------- 
 
3. Queries to the MFA in the days prior to the conference 
revealed that the College of Shari'a and Islamic Studies at 
Qatar University had the lead on the conference rather than 
the MFA, the usual organizer of international conclaves in 
Doha. When asked the reason for the shift, officials asserted 
that having the College in charge of this event was deemed 
more appropriate. Dr. Aisha Al-Mannai, the dean of the 
College of Shari'a and Islamic Studies and the coordinator of 
the conference, said of her role that she had been given full 
control of the conference and a free hand in inviting Muslim 
and Christian participants in coordination with the MFA. 
However, the MFA was responsible for inviting the Jewish 
participants. 
 
More Talk, Less Debate 
---------------------- 
 
4. This year, the Amir did not deliver the opening remarks 
and was conspicuously absent from the conference. Instead, 
the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Bin Abdulla 
Al-Mahmoud, officiated at the opening ceremony. In his 
opening remarks, Al-Mahmoud welcomed the participants and 
expressed his hopes that the conference would be a vehicle 
for promoting mutual understanding and cooperation among the 
faiths. Al-Mahmoud also reproached those who insulted 
religious figures, stating that such offenses were 
unacceptable, unjustifiable and discriminatory, and called on 
participants to explore the best means of implementing 
recommendations from last year's conference. 
 
5. The conference covered the role of religion in civil 
rights, education, enhancing moral values, environment, 
freedom of expression, gender equality, globalization, 
peacemaking, pluralism, and scientific developments. At times 
the presentations remained on a purely scholarly level. One 
notable exception was the presentation by Jacob Bender, an 
American Jew who is currently making a documentary that 
explores a "dialogue of civilizations" and interfaith 
relations through the achievements of a Muslim, Jew and 
Christian during the Middle Ages. His talk sparked great 
interest among participants in his film as an educational 
tool for promoting religious toleration and interaith 
understanding. 
 
Higher Numbers and New Faces 
---------------------------- 
 
6. Participation in this year's conference rose significantly 
in comparison to last year. There was a total of 131 
participants this year as opposed to 82 last year. Although 
Muslims figured largely, 37 Christians and 14 Jews 
participated.  According to Al-Mannai, speaking and 
moderating roles were equally divided among the 
representatives of the three faiths. This year also witnessed 
the participation of Iranians for the first time. Both Sheikh 
Mohamed Ali Al-Taskheri, general secretary of the World Forum 
for Proximity of Islamic School of Thoughts, and Siboh Sarkis 
Sian, a bishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church, participated 
and spoke about the role of religion in globalization and 
civil rights. 
 
Qataris Still Adjusting to Jewish Participation 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
 
DOHA 00000670  002 OF 002 
 
 
7. Relatively speaking, the participation of Jews in the 
conference remained a sensitive issue this year. Jews from 
the U.S., Europe and Israel participated in the conference. 
According to Al-Mannai, the relative large number of Jewish 
participants raised protest among some Qatari invitees and 
led to their refusal to participate in the conference. Except 
for a few faculty members from the College of Shari'a and 
Islamic Studies who were attended, Qataris were largely and 
visibly absent from the conference. Notably absent also was 
cleric Dr. Yousef al-Qaradawi, who was not invited because of 
his position on Jewish participation in the previous year's 
conference. In his Friday sermon the day after the conference 
concluded, al-Qaradawi made no mention of the conference. 
Al-Mannai emphasized that individuals declined to participate 
not because they are against the Jewish faith, but because of 
Israeli policies--a sentiment also reiterated by a MFA 
official. According to the official, local Qatari 
participation in the Dialogue had decreased due in large part 
to reservations about the participation of Israeli rabbis. 
The official stressed that the reservation was not religious 
in nature, but rather political-i.e., an outward display of 
support for the Palestinians. 
 
8. Local concerns about Jewish participation however, did not 
seem to trickle down to other participants at the conference. 
Muslim and Jewish participants could be readily seen 
interacting closely together and engaging in deep 
conversation throughout the conference. Perhaps in this one 
aspect, the conference appeared successful--facilitating 
genuine one-on-one dialogue between participants of all 
faiths. 
 
Conclusion 
---------- 
 
9. The Fourth Interfaith Dialogue Conference issued various 
statements and recommendations at its conclusion. There was a 
recommendation to form a follow-up committee to work on 
establishing a center for religious dialogue in Qatar, a 
proposal advanced by the Amir at last year's conference. 
Participants also called for the expansion of the dialogue to 
include non-monotheistic religions. Another proposal was 
directed at the UN, calling for a resolution making it 
illegal to insult religions and religious symbols. Other more 
general and intangible statements focused on the importance 
of education and culture and the arts in promoting religious 
understanding, the re-affirmation of right of individuals to 
choose their own religions, equality between the sexes, and 
the family unit as the basis of human society. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10. A larger participation notwithstanding, this year's 
conference did little to advance any real or substantive 
dialogue between the religions. Discussion was for the most 
part stale and remained on a superficial level. The fear of 
offending any one religion or creating controversy appeared 
to have obviated any critical discussion. Even the more 
interesting and thought provoking presentations were quickly 
forgotten as moderators regulated audience comments, making 
any real debate impossible. Having said that, Qatar should 
still be commended for doing what no one else in the region 
appears willing to do: bringing representatives of the three 
religions together to engage in dialogue. 
UNTERMEYER