ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

184 UNIVERSAL VALUES MILAN 2 News - page 6 - 1/05 - 2015 Thanks to freedom of thought and our democracy, our children have grown up open to know the meaning of the customs handed down through the centuries by the elders; they have acquired a rich identity that comes from the knowledge of their history without remaining caged in it. Our Western media often refer to the univer- sal values that draw their source from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 10, 1948 published by the UN; a Declaration unfortunately not recogni- zed by 57 countries that are part of the OIC Organization of Islamic Cooperation of Islamic States that instead apply the sharia law that draws its source from the Koran and applies its principles. Organization of Islamic Cooperation ICO Our public opinions question certain ways of thinking, of acting in many populations that are the source of immigration to Eu- rope; there is a problem of understanding each other and, finally, of dialogue. The- se well-manipulated misunderstandings give rise to violent reactions which are channelled towards the West; especially towards those countries of Europe which had colonised a large part of Africa and Asia, continents where almost all the countries which have joined the OIC, in particular all the peoples of the Arab Lea- gue, are to be found. The Arab League is a formation that brings together countries of Arabic language and culture with Islam as the state religion (with the exception of Lebanon) applying Sharia law to its citizens in a diversified way. A relatively homogeneous people with a precise and recognizable identity based on Muslim ethnic and religious cohesion. The coun- tries of the League are located along the southern part of the Mediterranean and in the Middle East, therefore, can be consi- dered our neighbours. Neighbours from which attacks on Europe start, attacks in- spired or perpetrated by bodies that have escaped the control of the governments of UN member states. Economic, cultural and demographic divide The strength of these bodies, which we shall call Jihadists, lies in the poverty in which these peoples live. After the Se- cond World War, African countries em- barked on a strong campaign of demo- graphic development with the result, over a period of fifty years, of tripling the num- ber of their inhabitants and only thriving in general impoverishment. During the same period, Europe grew economically with an older population that did not ade- quately guarantee generational change. The wide availability of means of tran- sport and communications has facilitated the emigration to Europe of young Arabs from countries governed by laws that pri- vilege Muslim citizens over adherents of other religious beliefs. All this has given rise only to mental prejudices in young people coming to Europe where fair ri- ghts and equality between peoples pre- vail. Citizens of the Arab world raised and educated in states where there is a distin- ction between Muslims and non-Muslims, legally privilege Muslims. Such discrimi- nation is very similar to our remote fascist regime: the discrimination towards Jews. To the demographic, economic and cultu- ral gap is added the religious one. Identity, citizenship and religion. Notwithstanding the modesty of Wester-