ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

270 INFIBULATION: YES OR NO? WHICH ISLAM? Reflections - 30/1/2004 Giuseppe Samir Eid Emma Bonino is making a silent revolution fromwithin Arab societies through women, but she is only half right when she says that at the Cairo Conference she took away all alibis from those who justify the practice on religious grounds. In the Conference itself, in fact, Gad El Hak, the then head of Azhar, justified the practice as a religious duty. The fact is that the voices are still discor- dant and they must be taken into account. Going back to Italy, I agree that our coun- try must adopt strong principled behaviour without leaving room for compromises and ways out, taking away any credibility from the values to which the country has adhered. A parallel action of conviction must be taken towards the centers fre- quented by immigrants, including religious ones: to make the difference between a request to adhere to a religious imperati- ve, unanimously recognized as such, and others that concern customs and traditions prevalent in the Islamic world, and more precisely the Arab one, the main source of Muslim immigration. Coexistence must be based on values and certainties, and if we hide the foundations of our culture, what integration can we hope for? A clear willingness to accept the rules on the part of those arriving from abroad is certainly necessary, but if the host society does not have a clear idea of its identity it will not be able to integrate, on the contrary, it will be frightened by the new in which it sees a threat to its own security. In my opinion, only if an initial "hard core" is guaranteed, can foreign communities amalgamate, integrate with the founding elements. There is a basic identity which cannot be ignored in order to plan new forms of society. Brava Emma Bonino to whom I hope to find effective support from both Italian diplomacy and the Euro- pean Community. Reflections - 2011 1.It is essential to ask the Arab world to work on education, the media, and textbooks in schools and even to invite them along this line of education and peace. Imams and preachers have the formidable instrument of preaching in mosques, where it would be appro- priate to proclaim also the verses of the Koran which underline God's will towards religious pluralism and the commitment to compete for good in God's Mercy. 2.I believe that it is essential to ask the Arab world to work on education, the media, textbooks in schools and even to invite to this line of education and peace those imams and preachers who have in their hands the formidable instru- ment of preaching in mosques, where it would be appropriate to proclaim also the verses of the Koran that underline God's will to religious plurality and the commitment to compete for good in God's Mercy. Rather, implement a stra- tegy to aim for this result.