ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

215 sh-Christian-Islamic calendar, published by ENEC (Europe Near East Centre) whi- ch I gave you last night, is a good tool to get to know each other without hesitation and with mutual respect; it focuses every month of the year on one of the Eastern Churches, realities often ignored in the midst of our disinterest and Islamic pres- sure on minorities. A further example of this pressure was the international book fair in Cairo in Ja- nuary 2006. We saw one or more stands with openly blasphemous books. I found the publication of these offensive and de- spising texts towards 10% of the Egyptian population aberrant, as they drive hatred with all its practical consequences. Put oneself in the shoes of a Christian who li- ves in a society with strong antagonistic pressure....etc...books that we then find in some of the Islamic centers in the West that go against the current policies of in- tegration pursued by you. I will take the opportunity of our Mayor Gabriele Alber- tini’s visit to Cairo to ask him to make this known to his Egyptian interlocutors. Our Mayor’s journey, made in the name of business and dialogue for peace, CI- PMO reads, would fail in its purpose if material interests do not go hand in hand with cultural interests: issues to which Arab countries are extremely sensitive and are often amazed at our apparent in- difference in this regard. I think it is more than appropriate to point out these con- tradictions to Albertini during his stay in the Middle East. DISCRIMINATED CHRISTIANS AND FORCED EXODUS FAX 2007 The silence of the people in the squares is deafening, that of the two Simons, and also that of the Church. Prudence has never been reciprocated by Arab governments or by their supporters, Italian or not, residing with us. Demon- strate against the discriminatory fascist laws in force in the Near East countries that violate the most basic human rights in the name of the Islamic religion. The protest must be made on the specific subject of human rights for the benefit of all citizens—Jewish, Christians, and Muslims—subjected to medieval laws in the 21st century. It is up to our go- vernments and the EU to combine the disbursement of contributions and fun- ding with the full application of equal human rights for all. To demand from existing dictatorships their control over appeals to hatred and holy war against their neighbours. To demand from in- tellectuals in the West and in Islamic countries, and from Islamic universities, a clear public and media statement not only for a generic brotherhood between peoples, but for equal rights between citizens of the same country.