KARACHI, March 3: Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan would like to see a "Helsinki process" introduced in Asia. The process calls for the enhancement of democracy in global governance and equality among major stakehodlers through dialogue.
Prince Hassan, who himself is part of the Helsinki process, said in an interview with Dawn: "I have seen the chapters of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly in Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, bringing Turks, Armenians and Azeris together.
I have seen the bringing together of Serbs, Bosnians and Croats. Why do we assume in Palestine and Israel and India and Pakistan that the level of hatred is unique to us?"
In response to a question, the Jordanian dignitary said: "I am happy to see a thaw - and I hope it is not a temporary thaw - in relations between India and Pakistan.
Hassan wants 'Helsinki process' in Asia
KARACHI: Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has perhaps always been too much of an intellectual to be king. He jokes in his easy-going manner: "I am wordy but not worldly."
Author of at least seven books and fluent in three languages, Prince Hassan is regarded as an elder Arab statesman. His nephew, King Abdullah II, rules the country which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, agreeing to cooperate on security and water with the Jewish state. Though predominantly Arab (60 per cent are Palestinians, many of whom are refugees), Jordan is also home to a number of Circassians, Chechens and Armenians.
In an interview with Dawn, Prince Hassan focuses on projects which are close to his heart, namely, peace, humanism and democracy. That has been a gain of the worldwide peace movement, for he has been a lifelong advocate of a non-aligned movement for peace and a new world humanitarian order. He is also a champion of democracy, which, he says, should not be based on 'appointocracy' but on 'meritocracy'.
He believes that the absence of this last factor makes a large number among the educated class leave their homeland. "In the Arab world, at least 30 per cent of our university graduates do not return.
What do they have to return to? Twenty-four Muslim countries from Morocco to Turkey took part in a Casablanca conference in 1994 and called for a stabilization process for the Middle East to stop this brain drain.
It is interesting to note that in 1994 they sought a $35- billion infrastructure investment over 10 years to encourage the will to stay. The response of the European Union - and I am not being judgmental - was purely commercial.
"Recently, Washington signed a $35-billion homeland security deal which would turn America into Fortress America. Our problem is that there is no vision," says the prince who established the International Cultures Foundation in July 2002 to promote "understanding among different cultures and to enhance dialogue between their thinkers and intellectuals."
In addition, he is part of the Helsinki process that through dialogue calls for enhancement of democracy in global governance and equality among major stakeholders. He is also president of the Club of Rome, a global think-tank. He would love to see a Helsinki process introduced in Asia.
"I have seen the chapters of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly in Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, bringing Turks, Armenians and Azeris together. I have seen the bringing together of Serbs, Bosnians and Croats. Why do we assume in Palestine and Israel and India and Pakistan that the level of hatred is unique to us?" he wonders.
Prince Hassan's desire to bridge the gulf of misunderstanding between peoples of different religions - particularly the Jews, Christians and Muslims - finds expression in his rather slender but highly readable book "Christianity in the Arab World".
In a prefatory note, he writes: "The present book is essentially a Muslim Arab tribute to the Christian Arabs, perhaps long overdue. What still remains overdue, however, is a Christian European tribute to Islam done in the same positive spirit.
It is by such exchanges of tribute, supplementing the ongoing Christian-Muslim dialogue, that the cause of interfaith and inter-cultural understanding in the world can best be promoted and served."
Declining to say anything about individual politicians involved in the Middle East crisis - "one of our problems today is the personalization of politics," - he says that in both Israel and the occupied territories polls show that people are still committed to a comprehensive and regional peace.
"But you get to a situation where leaders are locked in confrontation, partly the creation of historic baggage and the rhetoric that goes with it. You also have fundamentalists and extremists.
You have Christian Evangelists on one side, Jewish fundamentalists on the other side and our own Islamist fanatics - whatever the term means - on the other. Extremists have polarized each other to the point where the majority of the sane is intimidated or marginalized".
Prince Hassan stresses the importance of analyzing the question of elections in the Muslim world. After all, one of the declared objectives of waging wars against Iraq and Afghanistan was the introduction of a parliamentary culture in these countries. In this connection, Prince Hasan is organizing a three-day seminar on "Islam and elections" in Jordon from March 6.
Prince Hassan has a word of advice for India and Pakistan as well. Indeed, he is no stranger to the subcontinent. It was here in 1968 that he tied the knot with Princess Sarwat, daughter of Mohammad Ikramullah, Pakistan's first foreign secretary and subsequently ambassador to Canada, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom, and Shaista Ikramullah, one of the two women legislators to join the country's first constituent assembly in 1947.
"I am happy to see a thaw - and I hope it is not a temporary thaw - in relations between India and Pakistan. The time has come for both state and non-state actors to accept the concept of a culture of compliance with international law. I think India and Pakistan can progress incrementally on a range of issues," he hopes.
Prince Hassan shrugged his shoulders when asked to comment on the Iraq war. Was the war morally justified? "Is any war morally justified?" he counters philosophically. "Well, a change of regime has taken place. I am not going over the justification for war.
My immediate concern is the hardening of positions between Washington and Tehran. The Iraq war has taken place. But what about winning the peace?" he wonders.
Prince Hassan's (family) ties with Iraq are so strong that it has become the subject of his latest book, titled "In Memory of Faisal I: The Iraqi Question". "The book is essentially a tribute to Faisal I, the founder of modern Iraq, my great uncle. I gave so many interviews on the subject that I thought I might as well summarize my views," he explains.
Seven pillars of wisdom by T.E. Lawrence also provides a glowing encomium on Faisal I, who rode along with Lawrence through Wadi Rum and eventually romped home to victory.
When the Ottoman Empire collapsed after the First World War, Britain took control of Palestine and created the state of Transjordan, under the rule of King Abdullah, Faisal's brother.
Prince Hassan's detractors may call him an armchair intellectual, but in his well-thought-out paradigm of international politics, the common people matter the most.
Indeed, he used the expression "the consent of the governed" liberally during his hour-long interview with Dawn. He is full of praise for the work of Ahkter Hameed Khan, the founder of the Orangi Pilot Project, and Tasneem Siddiqui of Khuda ki Basti fame for their philosophy of housing for the poor.
They, according to Prince Hassan, have managed to turn the power pyramid upside down. He believes that inviting the consent of the governed is essential to the survival of a participatory culture.
