Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Amman, 2 May 2000
N° 5

His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, in a statement delivered this afternoon before the members of parliament gathered in Amman for the 103^rd Inter-Parliamentary Conference, called for the establishment of "a parliament of cultures that will work towards reinforcing the role of human values in international politics and policies, and contribute to the foundation of a new international humanitarian order".

"Those", he said, "who talk about extremism and fundamentalism are only thinking of religious fundamentalism - whether in the name of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or other religions. They tend not to recognize another form of fundamentalism, namely, the new liberal fundamentalism, which is inherently exclusive. Liberal fundamentalism is a new ideology with values opposed to the principle of solidarity with the same society or the international order. Solidarity must remain a principle for achieving a social balance based on participation rather than violence and authoritarianism. It should be the principle of international cooperation for the realization of a humanitarian order that ensures peace in the world, thus moving from a culture of survival to a culture of participation and finally to a culture of peace."

The Prince said that "the scientific and technological revolution as well as the economic globalisation process have opened up huge opportunities, which were not available before. At the same time, they have given the economic dimension precedence over everything else, including culture. Cultural particularities have thus begun to emerge as defensive identities for peoples and cultural groups fearful of marginalisation and domination by other cultures. This fear has been exacerbated by the fact that the flow of "cultural commodities" is, in general, one sided. Countries of the South find themselves mostly receiving and consuming stereotyped cultural commodities from countries of the North that posses knowledge and technological superiority."

The Prince also referred to "the false accusations directed against the Arab-Islamic civilisations [which] are partially due to ignorance. For this civilisation was a global civilisation throughout its long history. Numerous peoples and cultures had coexisted and mingled within it. I would like to recognise in this context, the initiative by President Jacques Chirac and the French Government to open institutionalised dialogue with their Muslim community as a means for building better relations and on the basis of respecting the other and appreciating their contribution to society. I would also like to praise UNESCO for its initiatives to the same effect."

Before an audience of 686 parliamentarians from 128 countries, His Royal Highness stated "I can think of no one more able than the representatives of peoples and cultures to articulate visions for crisis avoidance".

Contact in Amman for information and interviews (on the spot or by telephone): Mrs Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer. Tel.: 463 7639, fax 462 8430, e-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cd@mail.ipu.org