ASTANA: Tolerance and education. Remember these two words. And remember you saw them here first because you will be hearing about them much more in the coming years.
Tolerance of others — particularly of people of different religions and ethnicities – and education of the public in tolerance will become the primary tools to combat terrorism, and ethnic and religious discrimination, especially if proposals put forward last week by Kazakhstan at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest regional security organization, are acted upon.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan delivered the keynote speech at the opening session of a two-day conference on tolerance and inter-religious understanding held in the Kazakh capital. Tolerance, he said, is one of the most important issues in Europe post-World War II.
Nazarbayev called for the creation of an OSCE centre for non-discrimination and tolerance and to appoint a high commissioner for inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance.
Addressing delegates from the 56-member countries of the OSCE, Nazarbayev said that his country has always been “a cradle of tolerance and understanding, focusing on inter-confessional harmony.”
This former Soviet republic in Central Asia is home to 120 different nationalities, ethnicities, religions and sects who have learned to live in peace with each other, something of a rarity in a world where it sometimes seems that discrimination, racial and ethnic tensions are ever increasing.
The Kazakh president warned, however, that ”religion can divide rather than unite” people unless inroads are made to educate them to accept each other and to respect their differences, adding that numerous conflicts had broken out due to intolerance and religious differences.
What makes Kazakhstan stand out among other countries with Muslim majorities as an example in tolerance and inter-ethnic understanding? Four points, according to the country’s president.
First, the age old tradition of the Kazakh people to show tolerance and respect to other people and their ethnicities. When Soviet dictator Josef Stalin deported hundreds of thousands of people, many were unceremoniously dumped from cattle trains in Kazakhstan with little clothing and no food in harsh winter conditions. They survived because they were received with open arms by the Kazakhs who shared with them the little they had.
Second, making tolerance a key point of the country’s policy. The country’s constitution guarantees equality for all nationalities, religions, sects, ethnicities, etc.
Third, a policy of avoiding double standards; in other words, having one set of rules for dealing with one side versus another in a conflict. Here, Nazarbayev was hinting at US policy towards Israel versus the Palestinians.
Finally, being an active supporter of dialogue, as demonstrated by Kazakhstan’s efforts to mediate in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked region in the South Caucasus claimed by both countries.
Many will argue that the world does not need another global bureaucratic entity. But, actually, Nazarbayev’s idea of an OSCE centre for non-discrimination and tolerance might just work.
Why? Because of its simplicity. Because it tackles the very basics of the problems facing the world today, such as fear of the “other”.
Tolerance will come about through education. With education, people will stop looking at others as potential threats to their ethnic or religious group if they learn to understand that the ”other” has the same wants, fears?and needs.
“There is a need to unlearn the fear of the other and to ‘unlearn the habit of xenophobia,’” said Jorge Sampaio, the European Union’s representative to the OSCE, citing former Secretary-General of the UN Kofi Annan. He added that people are not naturally hot-wired for intolerance: “They are taught to hate.” And just as they are taught to hate, they can unlearn hatred.
Of course, this is a long-term process but it is also the only way the world will solve its problems of racial, religious and ethnic intolerance. The media of course plays a big role in this process — it can help promote understanding or it can help promote strife. This was the case in Kosovo in 2005 when ethnic tensions flared up when the Albanian-language media played up an incident causing riots and the killing of innocents.
But, said Sampaio, “With patience and strong public diplomacy, we can gain hearts and minds.”
A well-studied public diplomacy campaign must be launched to educate people in conflict areas and prove that myths about the other are simply just myths.
But just as two words — education and tolerance – will help people coexist in peace, there is also a major stumbling block for the organizers of this would-be campaign. How do you prevent the messages of hate and warmongering from being sent out, all the while maintaining freedom of expression and speech?
The answer is education, education and education. Begin driving the message home at an early stage through an aggressive public diplomacy campaign, perhaps organised by a new OSCE centre. A successful public diplomacy campaign must involve the media to help get this message across. After all, Kazakhstan has proven that diversity is an advantage, not a liability.
Claude Salhani is a political analyst specialising in the Middle East, Central Asia and terrorism. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission from the author. Another version of this article can be found at www.khaleejtimes.com.
