Project Aladdin is a multi-faceted cultural initiative launched in March 2009 under the patronage of UNESCO with the aim of countering Holocaust denial and all forms of racism and intolerance, while promoting intercultural dialogue, particularly among Muslims and Jews. [1] [2] [3] The project was initiated by the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, a French foundation dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the Holocaust. [1] [2]
The Project's sponsors include former President of France Jacques Chirac, and Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who are also on the Project's "Board of Distinguished Patrons." Other members of the Board include former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, and former Mauritanian President Ely Ould Mohamed Vall. [4] [5]
More than 500 distinguished figures from Europe, North America and the Muslim world have joined the project by declaring their support for its fundamental text, A Call to Conscience. [6] They include statesmen, parliamentarians, religious figures, intellectuals, historians, academics, authors, artists and civil society actors of different faiths and cultures. [7]
In its effort to promote knowledge as a bridge between cultures, the Aladdin Project has set up a multilingual website in English, French, Arabic, Persian and Turkish that contains information on the Holocaust, as well as a basic introduction to Jewish faith, history and culture and an overview of historical relations between Jews and Muslims in different countries. [8]
A tenet of the project is its online library, where books in Arabic and Persian can be downloaded free of charge. [9] The first collection includes the first-ever translation into Arabic and Persian of such classics as Anne Frank's Diary and Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz . In line with the project's expressed purpose of helping to "bring about a dialogue based on knowledge and mutual respect," the fast-expanding library is set to also include works of authors from the Muslim world translated into English and French. [8]
The Aladdin Project was officially launched on March 27, 2009, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. In an unprecedented event, the Heads of State of Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia and Bosnia and the governments of Turkey and Spain sent high-level representatives to join Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, former French President Jacques Chirac and other dignitaries from Europe and the Muslim world to hail the Aladdin Project, reject Holocaust denial, and embark on a Jewish-Muslim dialogue based on mutual knowledge and mutual respect. [4]
The conference was opened by UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, who praised the project, saying that "UNESCO offers its support to this initiative, in the hope that it will enhance in a durable manner educational means for peace and tolerance." David de Rothschild, President of the Shoah Memorial Foundation, outlined the broad themes of the project and its objectives. Other speakers included President Wade of Senegal, André Azoulay, Counselor to the King of Morocco, Ahmed Toufiq, Minister of Islamic Affairs, both representing King Mohammed VI, Qatar's Khalid bin Muhammad al-Atiyah, Minister for International Cooperation, representing Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, Egypt's Farouk Hosny, Minister of Culture, representing President Hosni Mubarak, Tunisia's Prof. M'hamed Hassine Fantar representing President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and Bahrain's Princess Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, a former president of the United Nations General Assembly. Also present on behalf of their respective governments were Mustafa Ceric, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, and Professor İlber Ortaylı, a distinguished Turkish historian and president of the Topkapı Museum in Istanbul. [5]
Other notables who came from far away to be present at the conference included Abdou Filali-Ansari representing Aga Khan IV, former Tunisian Prime Ministers Hédi Baccouche and Mohammed Mzali, Egypt's Aly El Samman, a veteran proponent of interfaith dialogue and advisor to the late President Anwar El Sadat, Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Mayor of Rotterdam, Gul Khan, the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Iranian theologian Ayatollah Ahmad Iravani, Hélé Béji, president of the International College of Tunis, and Pakistani-born British Mufti Abduljalil Sajid. [5]
In a message to the conference read on his behalf by French Justice Minister Rachida Dati, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said, "The strength of the Aladdin Project is to extend a hand to those who have been handicapped by prejudices, ignorance, or simply a lack of accessible information; to expose the lies and clear up the misunderstandings; to open up a new horizon for our common future. I share, unreservedly, this fundamental intuition of the Aladdin Project, for I am convinced that peace between peoples can only be based on mutual understanding and respect, and these are acquired in knowing and interacting with the other side." [10]
Former American President Bill Clinton praised Project Aladdin, saying that it "has the potential to play a vital role in countering denial with facts and putting a human face on something that otherwise might seem too terrible to believe." [2]
"Project Aladdin's focus on encouraging an intercultural dialogue based on mutual knowledge and mutual respect will help ensure that the 21st century is defined not by our differences, but by our common humanity. That is the key to a peaceful future," the former president concluded. [11]
Project Aladdin was in the news in 2009 for its criticism of Hezbollah, citing a "campaign of intimidation" in relation to the use of The Diary of Anne Frank in a Lebanese private school. [12]
Project Aladdin celebrated its 10th anniversary on 29 May 2017 with a Gala Dinner attended by UNESCO DG Irina Bokova and former President Nicolas Sarkozy. At the dinner Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber was awarded the 2017 Prize for the Dialogue of Cultures. [13]
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust denial involves making one or more of the following false claims:
The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a lingua franca or customary language, where a significant proportion of the population are francophones, or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture.
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels.
Ekmeleddin Mehmet İhsanoğlu is a Turkish chemistry and science history professor, academician, diplomat and politician who was Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) from 2004 to 2014. He is also an author and editor of academic journals and advocate of intercultural dialogue.
Federico Mayor Zaragoza is a scientist, scholar, politician, diplomat, and poet from Spain. He served as the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from 1987 to 1999. After his tenure as Director-General, he continued to participate in various peace-related organizations such as the Foundation for a Culture of Peace and the International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, as a member of their honorary boards. Additionally, he serves as the honorary chairman of the Académie de la Paix.
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is an initiative that attempts to "galvanize international action against extremism" through the forging of international, intercultural and interreligious dialogue and cooperation. The Alliance places a particular emphasis on defusing tensions between the Western and Islamic worlds.
This page collects opinions, other than those of governments or inter-governmental organizations, on the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. For an overview, and details on the controversy please see the main page.
Mustafa Cerić is a Bosnian imam who served as the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993 to 2012, and is currently president of the World Bosniak Congress. In the 2014 general election, he ran for a seat in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Bosniak member, but was not elected.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is Emir of Qatar, reigning since 2013.
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference in Tehran, Iran that opened on December 11, 2006. Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust... [but] to provide an appropriate scientific atmosphere for scholars to offer their opinions in freedom about a historical issue". Participants included David Duke, Moshe Aryeh Friedman, Robert Faurisson, Fredrick Töben, Richard Krege, Michèle Renouf, Ahmed Rami and Yisroel Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Mohammed bin Thani Al Thani, who was also known informally by his initials HBJ, is a Qatari politician. He was the Prime Minister of Qatar from 3 April 2007 to 26 June 2013, and foreign minister from 11 January 1992 to 26 June 2013.
Russia–Tunisia relations are foreign relations between Russia and Tunisia. Both countries had established diplomatic relations in 1956, when Tunisia got its independence. Russia has an embassy in Tunis, and Tunisia has an embassy in Moscow.
C1 World Dialogue is an initiative, whose stated mission is to “support and promote, propagate and preserve, peace harmony and friendship between the Western and Islamic Worlds”. The initiative has its origins in the Council of One Hundred Leaders (C-100) West-Islamic Dialogue originally launched by the World Economic Forum in response to the attacks of 11 September 2001 on the USA. Since then, the group has evolved into an autonomous body with an institutional base as a Swiss foundation, based in Basel. The president of the General Conference of the organization is former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber (Arabic: محمد بن عيسى الجابر, romanized: Muḥammad bin ʿĪssā al-Ǧābir, born in 1959 is an Arab businessman.
Richard Prasquier is a French cardiologist and Jewish leader. He served as president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) from 2007 to 2013.
In his "A New Beginning" speech on June 4, 2009, at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt, President of the United States Barack Obama stated that "I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." During the speech, he also committed to "host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world".
The Parents Circle-Families Forum is a grassroots organization of Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost immediate family members due to the conflict. The PCFF operates under the principle that a process of reconciliation is a prerequisite for achieving a sustained peace. The PCFF is also known as Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families for Reconciliation and Peace and as Bereaved Families Supporting Peace, Reconciliation, and Tolerance.
The Foreign Ministry is the government body in the Sultanate of Oman responsible for organising and directing Oman's relations with other countries and with regional and international organisations.
Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari is a Qatari diplomat and politician. Dr. Al-Kuwari serves as State Minister with rank of Deputy Prime Minister. He is currently President of Qatar National Library and was formerly the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar (2008-2016). He was previously the Ambassador of Qatar to France, the United States, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the UN. Dr. Al-Kuwari was a candidate in 2017 election of the Director-General of UNESCO. He is married and the father of three children.
Qatar–Tunisia relations are the bilateral relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Tunisia. Qatar is a heavy investor in Tunisia, and ranks second globally in terms of foreign direct investments in Tunisia. The two enjoyed close political relations during the Ennahda Movement's assumption of power in Tunisia in 2011. Both countries are members of the Arab League, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Non-Aligned Movement, Group of 77 and the United Nations.