Prince Moulay Rachid and French President team up to promote dialogue among civilizations

Paris, September 13, 2006 -- His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid joined forces with French President Jacques Chirac to inaugurate the opening of the Conference on Euro-Mediterranean-Gulf dialogue in Paris. At least 250 people have been invited from European Union member states, Northern Africa and Gulf countries to join discussions over the next three days.
The six workshops will cover a wide range of themes including techniques of recording history, revision of history books, the role of media in clashes between cultures, the results of attempts to create a common understanding between cultures and religions, education, racism, anti-Semitism, and overcoming Islamophobia.
In an opening address, His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid voiced the firm determination to continue to create a common understanding between cultures and religions. Prince insisted that in order to face the current upsurge of intolerance, it is necessary to muster all potentialities and enhance communication channels with young generations in an effort to shield them from the adverse effects of extremism in all its manifestations.
His Royal Highness pointed: "We must also strive to achieve global progress and shared prosperity. To this end, it is essential that human rights be upheld, and that the necessary protection be provided to the most vulnerable segments of society." Prince Moulay Rachid praised the three-day workshop on "Dialogue of Peoples and Cultures" noting that this "unprecedented initiative, bringing together people from various backgrounds and creeds, shows how determined we are to dispel prejudice and to turn culture into a set of universal values shared by all."
Prince Moulay Rachid - who is actively involved in advocating peace movement - encourages strengthening the discussions aiming at deconstructing cultural stereotypes between the nations in the Arab countries and the West, and to establish a foundation for future dialogue between civilizations.
Prince Moulay Rachid’s work exemplifies the great importance to spread out the existence of cooperation and cultural dialogue and to bridge the cultural gap that exists between the West and the Arab countries.
His Royal Highness has brought a new focus to the diplomacy between countries and his achievements have given rise to hope.