Andalusia, in southern Spain, saw harmonious coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews for between five and seven hundred years in the Middle Ages. Its capital, Cordoba, was then the largest and richest city in Western Europe.
Cordoba therefore provided an ideal setting for the ninth session of the Nyon Process, from 21st to 23rdJanuary 2013. This dialogue and search for possible joint action began before the Arab Spring, or Awakening, and continues to bring together people who might otherwise not meet. It bridges the Sunni/Shia divide, and includes American evangelicals and Jews, also European secular and religious leaders. Between sessions the conversation is kept up by video link; while “Forward Thinking”, the London-based facilitator, is also assisting national internal dialogues in Egypt and Tunisia.
I have vivid memories of meetings and explorations that took place in Eastern Europe and Russia, following the end of the Cold War and the break-up of the Soviet Union. There were many similarities with what is now happening after the fall of major dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The emerging movements and political parties need to share experiences and to consult with their counterparts in Europe and America.
The background to these conversations includes unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine, civil war in Syria, acute difficulties over power-sharing in Iraq, fighting in Mali, tensions inside Gulf states and efforts to bring in new constitutions in Egypt and elsewhere.
The meeting in Cordoba encouraged maximum links between Middle-Eastern and European parliamentarians and political parties. It touched on economic development for the benefit of the many young unemployed people. It urged the media and civil groups to engage across frontiers, focussing on positive opportunities rather than just security situations. It would like to see national reconciliation between rival Palestinian groups, since 2013 may be the last chance for agreement on two states in Israel and Palestine. It touched on the role and status of women, and discussed the need for mutual respect between majorities and minorities of all kinds. The last relationship was perhaps the major theme of the session.
Lord Hylton,
The Convivencia is a complex and challenging period of history to study but it is nonetheless one of the best examples we have of the peaceful coexistence of the three great Abrahamic religions. However, unless real progress is made in Syria, Turkey and Egypt as far as pilgrims, monasteries, bishope and religious assembly among other things Islam is still in hostile possession of many of the holiest and most significant Christian sites. Generally things always get worse. Until an apology and some reparations are paid for Armenia then Christians who discuss peace with Islam in Europe, Israel and America are certainly enemies of their own faith and people despite noble intentions…
This leaves aside the rest of the Moslem world as a separate case from these lands and peoples central to the Gospel’s early heritage and its incarnate meaning for mankind. Those lands are more comparable to Islam in Europe from a Christian point of view.
Sounds terrific, Lord Hylton;
but why no mention of
1) “How Many People Can Live On Planet Earth” ?
and “For how long ?
not only up to successful space-emigration to a ‘2nd Earth’ (‘Earth Two’, perhaps)
but for how many years beyond that mini-exodus for those of us (‘posterity’) remaining here on Earth One ?”
2) How true is it that “many humans are ‘more equal’ than some other humans” ?
{Why does one professional/bank-worker “need” £2000 per week, when another bank-worker “needs” (only) £300 ?}
and how possible is it (will it ever be) for every human being on this Earth-One to need (essentially, fully-life-supportively “Need”)
and to be both ‘awarded’ and to ‘draw’
just one human-living ?
[The essential humanitarian minimum income for a legitimate resident of Britain today
(? to maintain one- self healthy, citizenlike and environmentally-supportive ?)
has been legislated
(and therefore is supported by the British Constitution and the European Union)
to be £143 per week per person] ?
What methodology steps were, and what now are, being used to achieve the ‘near-win-win-win’ Peace, now historically-apparent between the parties in this Nyon topic ?
How much better is that Nyon Methodology or its Philosophical-Basis (and why) than the Method III of Needs & Hows Recognition and Cooperative Problem Solving ?
3) Why no mention of ‘The First World, dominantly USA, having less than 25% of the whole world Population, is consuming over 50% of the Earth’s & Civilisations’ stock and resources ? and this same ‘1st World’ literally corners and controls over 80% of the Earth-One stock and resources ?
and that “All of the viable agricultural land in the world has now been taken up; and is being rapidly denuded of its lifesupportive and mind-function-supportive-and-evolving, nutrients ( e.g. the micro-minerals ‘up-staged’ by the Big-Three NPK)” ?
4) What are all the roots, stems, branches and ‘fruits’, and Costs of the Nyon Process, especially of the “major theme of the session: the role and status of women, and the need for mutual respect between majorities and minorities, of all kinds” ? (Why are such ‘corruptions’ of both individual and collective human-and-‘Godly’-life being maintained, even worsened ?).
{Comment to the latter: given the advent and Innovative-Birth of a New Sustainworthy Human Civilisation,
[which is the ‘Vision’ guiding my Q1) above,
“one-human is worth one living,
and every human-civilisation needs to make itself, and be thus maintained by all other civilisations, longest-appropriate-term Sustain-Worthy”]
Q4 might not need to be problematised at all (qua ‘formed into and stated as a Problem’);
surely ?
Dear Lord Hylton,
I wonder if you could possible contact me on Twitter? My name there is @msjenniferjames
Many thanks
Jennifer
Then you could think about this enigma and why politicians appear to have lost the ability to think for themselves, rather than take on the robotic stance they presently spout at us all once in office. What is going on?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqnc5EHZ80o
What we must do is vote these people out and get in a fresh viewpoint with people who will follow through with what they claim to want to follow and believe in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus
It is difficult to know where to start with Lord Hylton’s first paragraph but Al Andalus on wiki provides many links to the knowledge we have of the time time, he is probably thinking of. Fascinating they are too. Pope Silvester 2nd, AKA Gerbert of Aurillac is one of my favourites for having spent some time studying in Córdoba as a young man, and learned what he knew of astronomy and maths there too.
Córdoba and Toledo had schools of translation
which were very well used.
“The Nyon Process is a project of dialogue-to-action facilitated by Forward Thinking, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations”
http://www.forwardthinking.org/
http://www.forwardthinking.org/?p=1426
For such initiatives we can only be thankful that there is such an organisation called the United Nations.
The whole point of the Córdoba meeting, as I saw it, was the fact that the Córdoba schools of translation, which even the humble Hywel Dda may have attended, in the 10thC , were schools of LAW. Hywel Dda travelled the length and breadth of England authorising City charters, and interest of that depth suggesting that he had more than just a clear understanding of them.