Agharīd Mustafā had an interview in Cairo with Drs. Cornelis Hulsman,
the director of the Center for Arab-West Understanding, where they discussed his role in closing up the gap
between
the West and the Arab world.
First Drs. Hulsman tells the author about the philosophy of the
center. It is
an under-construction NGO that works in the fields of culture and academic research. The
center organizes several
activities by which it aims to enhance mutual understanding between the Arab world
and the West. Arab-West
Report (AWR), the most important activity of the center, presents summaries
and translations of all articles
published in the Egyptian newspapers concerning Arab-West relations or the
image of Arabs in the West. Articles are
selected regardless of the center’s assent or dissent with the
reported views. It is published in English and
recently a smaller edition has been published in German.
Moreover, the center publishes some special reports on
Arabs stories covered by Western media which mostly
contain fallacies or forgeries; by showing Arabs point of view,
represented in Egyptian sources, the truth
will be uncovered.
The author then raises the funding question;
Drs. Hulsman explained that the
center is funded by subscriptions to AWR and by donations from western
individuals and organizations.
None of them has a political motive. In addition to that, the center has submitted a
request to the Ministry
of Social Affairs to obtain a license for the establishment of an NGO. The license would
facilitate raising
funds from different Egyptian and international organizations.
About the message the
center wishes to
deliver Drs. Hulsman explains that bridging the gap in Arab-West relations and trying to eliminate
misunderstandings between both sides is the ultimate goal of this center. And what adds uniqueness to the
center,
is that its board of directors is very diverse with members of different political, cultural,
religious and
scientific backgrounds. Furthermore, the center does not have any political objectives, since
it would cause
endless battles and complications.
As to avoiding conflicts with governments, Drs.
Hulsman clarifies that
all board members have agreed that the citizens of a country are the only ones who
have the right to influence its
politics [CH: and thus a mixed organization, with Egyptians and non-
Egyptians, should not be involved in political
issues]. All board members insist on not using the fact that
some of them are non-Egyptians as a reason to
interfere in Egyptian internal issues.
Agharīd
Mustafā then asks about the sensitivity in
Arab-West relations, especially regarding funding. Dr.
Hulsman answered that the center’s main principle is
transparency in all its activities, because Egyptian
people will not accept any form of foreign
interference.
And as a respond to a question on the method
adopted by the center in reporting, Dr. Hulsman
said that issues of AWR are very specific and are
reported regardless of doctrinal views. The center is not
promoting any specific religion or culture. It is
only calling for dialogue and understanding based on tolerance
and mutual respect. The center is mainly
trying to fix the image of Arabs in the West. Most reporters and
journalists know nothing about Arabic
language and the people who speak it. Thus, publishing these reports on the
internet gives Western reporters
a chance to find out about Arabs from their own point of view in a language they
understand. The reports
provide objective, non-biased documentation and analysis of news and commentary on
cultural, social and
religious issues in the Arab world.
Finally the author asks Dr. Hulsman about the
recent activities
of the center. He answers that an Electronic Documentation Center is being constructed which will
contain an
archive of all AWR issues. The center will also provide help for scholars and journalists to
conduct
research or studies. The center was able also to establish connections with different bodies, such as the
World Council of Churches, many national councils of churches and other dialogue organizations.
