HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari addressing the seminar By Anwar Elshamy CULTURE can go beyond politics and bridge the gap between the US and Arab countries, speakers agreed yesterday at the three-day seminar titled “The US image in the modern Arab culture” which began last night. HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, said in his keynote speech that although the relationship between the US and Arab countries has been affected by the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is the cultural interaction between the two entities which can contribute to the removal of the negative stereotypes the two parties have against each other. “Nobody can deny that the trust between the US and Arab countries has witnessed setbacks because of America’s unlimited support to Israel. But, there are many Arab countries, including Qatar, which are seeking to launch new channels of cultural and intellectual dialogue with the US, away from the strained politics. “I believe that culture is the optimal means to enhance interaction and co-operation away from the dictats set by politics,” he said. Dr Saleh Jawad al-Taama, professor of the Arabic language at the Indiana University, US, called for putting the cultural relationship between the US and Arabs in focus, saying that the presence of Arab literature, although relatively low, in the US has become more popular and started to make a positive impact on the way the American readers see the Arab culture. “It is a fact that the Arab literature is currently gaining ground among the American readers in spite of the official US anti-Arab policy and the defaming campaigns launched against Arabs and Islam in the US, especially in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks,” al-Taama said. Suzanne Zarajevski said that Arab music has recently helped much in introducing the Arab culture to the American people. “Arab culture has become better known in the US thanks to the Algerian Rai music. This has also created a growing interest in learning Arabic,” she said. However, she admitted that there is a scarcity of translators and teachers of Arabic in the US. Al-Sayed Yassin, the former director of the Cairo-based Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, also called for launching a “more effective dialogue” between intellectuals both in the US and Arab countries. Dr Abdul Hamid al-Ansari, the former dean of the faculty of Shariah and Law at Qatar University, hailed the US culture as a “global product” which he said deserves to be highlighted. He added that it was this culture that brought a person belonging to the minority in the US to the seat of the White House. “It was a right decision to select the US as the guest of honour for this year’s expo,” Dr al-Ansari who was the moderator, said.
Friday, 2010-09-03, 5:55 PM
