Dr. Iryani calls for “political and religious tolerance” proliferation
Sana’a, May 25, 2008 (YemenOnline) - Dr. Abdulkareem al-Iryani, head of the Cultural Bridges Forum (CBF) and political advisor of President Saleh underlined today the importance of proliferation of religious and political tolerance in Yemen.
In his opening remarks delivered in the opening ceremony of a two-day symposium on “religious and political tolerance in Yemen” organized today by the CBF, Dr. Iryani said that the symposium reflects the urgency and need to spread the culture of tolerance, accepting the other and abandoning all calls of political sectarianism and religious sedition.
In his speech Dr. Iryani also reviewed Yemen’s history in religious and political tolerance as Yemen was and is still a home for many faiths creeds and believes.
Moreover, Dr. Yaseen Saeed No’aman, Yemen Unity’s first parliament speaker and head of Yemeni Socialist party (YSP), who is also a member in the CBF, shed light on the experience of southern Aden city in the religious tolerance during the second half of the last century.
Minister of Endowments and Religious Guidance, Judge Hamoud al-Hitar, stressed the urgency to reconsider some religious doctrines in a way that meets the changes necessitated by the times and places.
After that, the door was open for comments and discussions by attendants.
All participants stressed that the Yemeni society, by nature, rejects all forms of extremism and fanaticism and that violence and rejection of the other is a culture alien to the Yemeni society.
“ The symposium’s chief objective is to get rid of violence in all its forms and promote culture of peaceful dialogue and tolerance; being a religious and political tolerance in Yemen main principle in our religion of Islam and a key-component in the culture of Yemen.” Dr. Iryani told YemenOnline.
In attendance were Yemeni intelligentsia and media people in addition to foreign diplomats, academics and experts specialized in Yemeni affairs representing different Arab countries and a number of dignitaries from different walks of life.
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