“Syajarat Limun/Lemon Tree/Les Citronniers" Film ::

This film is a touching one Guys! I watched it at “Layar Tancap” and Film Review held by AKAR Cultural House and Banten Student Association in Egypt some days ago. This film is substantially contained of scenes of Israel-Palestine conflict with a very authentic setting. And owh! I was literally fascinated! Suddenly felt that my love to Arab and Middle East significantly increased, and suddenly obliged myself to someday venture every part of Arab land.

Yeah, although I found many of misleading paradigms which was fundamentally and “massively” arranged through its each stages, and certainly, it was kind of a huge reductive one compared to the real condition of Palestinian, but this film still burn a “jihad” syndrome and left me a mysterious call to someday step my foot on that touching land… Watch it! :)

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On Last International Forum for Al-Azhar Graduates, June 2009 ::

Al-Azhar's effort to arrange a really ambitious theme on last International Forum for Al-Azhar Graduates was a very advanced step to clarify the principal misconception among the effort to manifest a real harmony between Islam and the West relationship. Since it is commonly stated that until now, the West still stands on their old assumption perceiving that both Islam and Muslim term can be lumped together under one banner. This assumption however, has became a major obstacle in achieving any significant improvements regarding the so called Islam-West relationship.

But unfortunately that both audiences and even speakers were mostly separated away from the soul of that great theme during the forum, as they didn't really discuss what really at issue and what really at stake pertaining on that theme.

And through these "misleading" conditions of forum, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed El Tayeab as a Chairman of World Association of Al-Azhar Graduates (WAAG), has frequently urged in every time that "misleading" happened, in order not to run away from the soul of that established theme (He also urged me! Haha, because I was kind off fascinated with one of speaker's "misleading" issue by arguing a similar "misleading" feedback ala thul after his presentation lol!)

Yeah, in short it should be admitted that last International Forum for Al-Azhar Graduates was still failed to really bring that great theme on the discussion table, although there were still some efforts that the committee strive to do to hide that failure through declaring some important summaries in the end of that forum.

And concerning on this failure, I think it is conceivably to urge WAAG to arrange a similar theme for the next forum, which is “Al-Azhar and West, The Scope and Governing Principles of Dialogue/Al-Azhar wa Al-Gharb, Dlawabithu Al-Hiwaar wa Huduuduhu”

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Arab and Non-Arab Muslim States Are Both Shared Stakeholders! ::

Building the dialogue between Islam and the West has been a huge pursued project and a most told topic around the effort to manifest a real harmony of Islam-West relationship. As what was discussed on last seventh meeting of the Annual Ramadan Islamic Thoughts Forum held by The Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments in Hussein mosque, Cairo.

Mr. Musthofa Faqhi as a guest speaker unequivocally affirmed that Islam, as an integrated part of this world society, will be always in high interdependence with another component of that society. As Islam itself, has clearly declared that Muslim life will not be just limited on their own religious zone, as well as that a meritorious Muslim will not be just those who play their significant roles in religious zone, but also those who play another crucial role in the other sectors, be it in social, political, economic, diplomacy or many other area of roles.

To manifest that mentioned harmony of Islam-West relationship, Mr. Musthofa Faqhi stated that Egypt, with its whole “gold” position in each geographical, political and historical aspects, and with its existence as Al-Azhar University and Cairo University country, will absolutely play a central role among the other Muslim states, moreover considering that Egypt was proudly chosen as a “podium” of Obama’s speech to the all Muslim world on last June, in where Obama himself frankly appraised that Egypt with the existence and the role of those two “complementary” colleges, has been attaining its harmony in both tradition and progress.

As an entry of the point, I would firstly assert my agreement on Mr. Musthofa Faqhi’s other statement that accounted Obama’s last speech to all Muslim countries from this timeless city of Cairo has been a new beginning for Islam-West relationship after all previous decades of mistrust, as well as my agreement on a statement that accounted Obama’s last speech has became a real new spirit of those two colleges to prove that they really deserve to play those center roles.

Al-Azhar for instance, through its prestigious and influential forums of International Forum for Al-Azhar Graduates on last June in Grand Hyatt hotel, Cairo, had ardently tried to prove it by arranging a really ambitious theme: “Al-Azhar and West, The Scope and Governing Principles of Dialogue”, and inviting some of western leading speakers who has ultimate concern on related-matters such as Karen Armstrong, Karen Jo Torjesen, Paul F. Knitter, etc.

But on top of what I agreed before, I would also assertively assess that in case of declaring Egypt or any other Arab states as the only central power to pursue and manifest a real harmony of Islam-West relationship, we would find sort of discrimination treatment and perception on the essential meaning and the ideal role-equal among Muslim states itself, in which actually consist of Arab states and non-Arab states with high number of Muslim population like Indonesia, Malaysia, etc, which in fact, has been also playing many of their leading roles in building the understanding and the interfaith dialogue between Islam and the West.

Let’s observe Indonesia, for some latest years, Department of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Indonesia has been projecting interfaith dialogue as one of its diplomacy’s soft power in each national, regional and multilateral level. As well as disposing it as its both foreign policy’s sources and consideration. The first bilateral interfaith dialogue has been building with Austria on last May 2009, and as a positive respond, Germany, Japan and China has enthusiastically shown their serious will to hold a similar program with Indonesia.

Dr. Elisabeth Karamat, the delegation of Indonesia-Austria Diplomat Exchange, firmly affirmed that the interfaith dialogue in Indonesia has been taking its root. She said that Indonesia has its long experience in term of building the interfaith dialogue, where she acknowledged that Islamic tradition in Indonesia has its own typical ways to teach the importance of tolerance in building the advance, justice and civilized society, as well as to anticipate the inclination of extremity, which are resulted by some Muslim society themselves, or those are resulted by global injustice.

Approaching and asserting further on this argument, we should also take a look on the proliferation of regionalism in Asia, in where Indonesia has gained its bargaining position through that regionalism with its highest-achievement in democratization in Asia, beside also its position as the most important state in both geopolitics and geostrategic aspects among another ASEAN and East Asia states. In which due to those strategic and bargaining positions, it can be arguably stated that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s last initial trip to Indonesia, along with Japan, South Korea and China, was also regarded as a strong indication strengthening these positions, where that initial trip was accounted as a priority trip displacement considering that three previous US Secretaries State had contrary prioritized their initial trip to Europe and Middle East.

In addition, pertaining on the previous last estimation, Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Indonesia, Hassan Wirajuda, was also asserting that Indonesia’s inclusion in that initial trip destinations strongly indicates Indonesia’s achievements as a model state in which democracy, Islam, and modernity able to be equal to each other, where in Indonesia, we can find sort of shared values in each term of democracy, the advancement and the protection of human rights, pluralism, including also tolerance.

Hence, at the end of the day, it is now sort of enormous necessity for all Muslim states to consciously clarify and assert the essential meaning of Muslim states itself which indeed refers to Arab states and non-Arab Muslim states, as well as to start rethinking and building an ideal role-equal appropriating their each potencies against what I complained as discrimination in both treatment and perception on that essential meaning and required ideal role-equal among Muslim states. Putting a humble example on that ideal role-equal, we could feature Iran-America conflict for instance, where here, Indonesia could play its role to bridge that conflict considering that Indonesia has its good relationship with both Iran and America, not to mention that not all of “leading and strategic” Arab states has their good relationship with both Iran and America to play a role of bridging that conflict.

So finally, if Obama, on his last speech to all Muslim world said that in order to build a real harmony of Islam-America relationship, both Islam and America should understand that the challenges they both face are shared, and their failure to manifest it will hurt them all, I think it is also relevance to call a similar statement to both Arab and non-Arab Muslim states, which precisely means that they should consciously realize that they both are shared stakeholder in manifesting that aimed real harmony of Islam-West relationship.[]

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