Culture vital to easing path to Israeli-Arab peace – opinion
I see a lot of historical commonality between Jews and Muslims – beyond the religion, the roots of our religions, we share values.
By AHMED AL MANSOORITHE FLAGS of the US, United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain are seen on the side of a road in Netanya, in September.(photo credit: FLASH90)
The UAE has been built on a foundation of tolerance, a country which has grown through nationalities living and working side by side to build this nation – much like the thriving modern day Israel we see today.Peace isn’t something that happens between governments, it has to cascade down to the people to be meaningful and to endure. This means relationship building, finding commonality and culture have a huge part to play in that.One can learn so much through the likes of art and culture, music, dance. One doesn’t need to have sat in a classroom to study a people if the people can be studied through the expression of art and culture.We can’t be in denial that for decades, Israel and the UAE have been separated by a huge gap. There have been stereotypes, misunderstandings, wrong expectations, so for us, there is a lot of homework we need to do to understand each other.When my father’s generation and older used to travel for work, they didn’t have languages but they knew how to trade. Language was not a key. They could promote their culture without this. They didn’t have the UN, peace agreements, they had relationships, which even without languages, can be built.This is a true Crossroads of Civilizations here in the UAE because we have a lot of crossroads here between the east and west – much like Israel – which has become home for Jews from around the Diaspora, from Europe to the Maghreb.If there is one thing about being Emirati is that I meet people from different cultures so I don’t have a psychological barrier from dealing with people. Tolerance has been ingrained into us from the founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who saw humans beyond religion, nationality and gender.From 2012, since setting up my museum, people see I have artifacts from all religions, even without peace. It took courage for me to have these items, but all of us need courage to see real and lasting change. It includes the largest collection of publicly available Jewish items – all translated into Hebrew too – in the Gulf. I am proud to be a part of a new era and I hope through culture we can show that we all belong together.Museums are one of the best platforms to teach people the beauty of civilizations and to bridge between people. Everyone who comes to my museum will find something from their own culture which shows that they are important too, because in today’s world, we are one people, one global community.I see a lot of historical commonality between Jews and Muslims – beyond the religion, the roots of our religions, we share values. We have lived side by side in the Middle East for centuries. We have a lot of beautiful histories together. There are so many shared names, roots of the language, rituals and tribes. We believe in the same God and that’s enough.
Through trade and economics, we can achieve a lot. The Dubai Creek was a natural port in which the world came to Dubai. Many countries around us are much wealthier, but the values of tolerance and hospitality is what draws people here – family values, social values.I have a great respect for the Jewish people who have fought hard to retain their identity through adversity over history. All cultures are important and museums must be a place to remember both the good and the bad we’ve witnessed through history. If you keep your values, people respect you and that is the same in the Jewish culture. From here, it is our duty together, to preserve all cultures.The writer is a founding member of the Abrahamic Business Circle in Dubai, a group bringing together Israel and the UAE through economic diplomacy. He is the founder of the Crossroads of Civilization Museum in Dubai and a former member of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council.
