HE the Minister of Justice, Hassan bin Abdulla al-Ghanem, has said better understanding between people of diverse cultures and civilizations would help overcome the mounting challenges faced by inter-faith dialogues at the global level. The minister said this while inaugurating the 8th Doha Conference on Inter-Faith Dialogue hosted by Doha International Center for Inter-faith Dialogue (Dicid) at Doha Sheraton Hotel yesterday. Al-Ghanem said the conference has been successful in establishing bridges of co-operation between different cultures, and civilizations. It has also facilitated an atmosphere for dialogue between representatives of different faiths, upholding the principles of peace and universal brotherhood. Expressing happiness at Doha being the venue of such a conference for the eighth year running, Al-Ghanem said the dialogue has become the platform of understanding, tolerance and close inter-action between people of different faiths. Attributing this to the support of HH the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the minister expressed the hope it would help build mutual faith and understanding between representatives of different faiths at the global level in future. At the opening session, the speakers said the four segments that influenced the raising of a human being are family, media, educational institution and place of worship. The session, moderated by Professor Aysha Yousuf al-Mannai, Dean of the College of Shariah and Islamic Studies at the Qatar University featured Dicid chairman Professor Ibrahim Saleh al-Naimi, Secretary General of the Pontifical Council of the Roman Catholic Church for Inter-Religious Dialogue Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, chief justice of the Palestinian Territories Teyseer al-Tamimi and senior member of the Muslim-Jewish Forum (UK) Rabbi Hershel Gluck. Each speaker felt discord in the family would have a negative effect on the children. Stressing that teaching of religion has a remarkable effect on every youth, Archbishop Celata said one should learn to take the positives of such teachings for the betterment of the society. Rabbi Gluck said justice and charity are the key principles of every religion and one should try to learn as much good as possible from other religions. “Children and youth are looking forward to a better tomorrow and families should prepare ground for the same,” said Gluck. Al-Tamimi said it is an atmosphere of distrust and mutual hatred which is developing in Jerusalem after Israel started building fences around the city. One community is thus forcing others to move out of the place, he said. “Respect for others” should be the main focus of each family, said Ibrahim al-Naimi. The Dicid official also highlighted the role being played by Internet and networking sites as Facebook in the character building of a child these days. http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=393181&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

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