CAIRO: Egyptian and Danish students agreed to disagree on the definition of extremism at the fourth session of a seminar titled "Mutual Understanding of Global Issues."
The seminar is a collaboration between the Center of European Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science Cairo University, University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI).
"Without extremism we would neither have revolutions nor prophets," explained Law Professor Amr Shalkany.
On the one hand, Danish students questioned where the Muslim Brotherhood fall in the loop of extremism, while Shalkany believes "their discourse is pretty much liberal."
As the title of the seminar implies, it aims at using dialogue as a means of understanding to abolish cultural and ethical mistrust of humanity. It is also a step towards a healthier globalized world where differences enrich rather than clash, and where mutual understanding is reached without affecting the identity of individuals, races, cultures or countries in the process.
"DEDI is the entity that had the idea of the seminar and is the one that thought of this cultural dialogue," explained Abla Khawaga, head of the Center of European Studies.
"The project was an enriching experience that helped us handle different tasks eventually [developing] our own potential," explained Hala El-Hadidy, one of the participants.
El-Hadidy added that Denmark has been a country only known for the 2005 Danish Cartoons, "But once you go there you find a totally different experience and build a new image."
The seminar consists of four video conferences where debates regarding a certain topic are held between students at Cairo University and students at the University of Copenhagen.
The idea behind the debate on extremism was evaluating democracy and its limits; what it would not allow to assure its survival.
"We received hundreds of applicants from all over Cairo University but we tried as much as we can to make a fair choice," explained Khawaga.
She further explained that in the upcoming years, the university is looking forward for holding further debates as a way of developing the students’ potential.
