Speeches

General Federation of NGOs – Cairo14 February 2010 Speech by Dr. Aly El SammanMedia Advisor of the General Federation of NGOs Ladies and gentlemen, family empowerment, domestic peace, tolerance and family affection are not just lofty values. They are essential to the cohesion and welfare of every family. These values do not just belong to the privileged or the well educated but are shared by everyone. And yet we don’t see the media paying enough attention to them, and I will soon tell you why. As an old hand in the media field, I’d like to ask, what is it...

Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics – Cairo29 June 2010 First, allow me to speak about the relation between the media and stimulating innovation. I would like begin with an introduction to the nature of professional media work. Media by its very nature is the means by which one conveys to readers, viewers and listeners a picture of what is happening in our daily lives. In the third world, media plays an important and sometimes dangerous role in forming the conscience and thinking of citizens, either positively or negatively. Just imagine the number of hours spent by each one...

Yale Divinity School Conference – New Haven, Connecticut21-23 February 2010 Throughout history religion has been used in both valuable and destructive ways, as a powerful force for good and as a tool of abuse by its followers. When we examine the sacred text of any religion there is no doubt that it is a real charter of morals, ethics and education. So the problem is not in the religion but in the behavior of individuals who commit dangerous errors in terms of manipulating holy texts, generalizing condemnation of others and educating children. Manipulating a holy text is to isolate it...

Supreme Council of Antiquities – Cairo13 December 2010 After many years of practicing interfaith dialogue and attending international conferences from New York to Vienna to Madrid, I feel that the dialogue between cultures is growing in importance. My conviction that interfaith dialogue should not be separated from intercultural dialogue is such that in 2010 I asked the General Assembly of the association I chair (ADIC) to adapt our activities and add intercultural dialogue to the name of the association. We are now the “International Union for Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Education”. This association was established in France in...

Together to Develop Awareness of the Law WorkshopArab League – Cairo16 March 2011 When we speak about developing awareness of the law, the role of the Arab media is bound to come first in our minds. Real cultural evolution requires the kind of education that comes from disseminating information that increases awareness of the law. I am thankful that The Egyptian Center for Developing Awareness of the Law is directed by Dr. Khalid El Kadi. He is blessed to be the spiritual son of the legal master, the late Dr. Fathi Naguib, former president of the High Constitutional Court and...

Club de Monaco – Doha, Qatar23-26 February 2012 The Revolution To understand the causes of the Egyptian Revolution of January 25, 2011 we must review a bit of history: In 2005, the constitution was modified to stipulate that the president would be elected, not by referendum, while imposing such stringent conditions on eligibility that it was nearly impossible for an independent candidate to run against the incumbent. The Egyptian intelligentsia was understandably disappointed that Egypt was becoming increasingly autocratic in its governance; especially considering that in the 1920’s Egypt was one of the first countries in the region to ratify...

East-West: The Art of DialogueShafik Gabr Foundation and Humanity in Action – Cairo2-16 June 2013 It has become clear in recent years that points of contention have arisen between Islam and the West. This is mainly because some Western media outlets exceeded the limits of decency by infringing on the sanctity of Islamic symbols. In order to address this, we must build bridges of trust between Islamic countries and the West so as to avoid a “dialogue of the deaf”. Tangible examples for the necessity of cultural dialogue. First: The Crisis of 2005 and 2006, which exploded after Danish newspaper...

Rhodes Forum 2013World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations – Rhodes, Greece2-6 October 2013 Ladies and gentlemen, allow me first to thank Mr. Vladimir Yakunin, the Founding President of the World Public Forum (WPF); Mr. Walter Schwimmer, Head WPF Int. Coordinating Committee; Mr. Fred Dallmayr, Co-Chairman WPF; and Mr. Vladimir Kulikov, Acting Director WPF for inviting me to participate in the conference. I am speaking today particularly in my capacity as a president of the International Union for Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Education (ADIC), which was launched in Paris in 1989. Created by Dr. Adel Amer, former director of the League of Arab...

Egypt: What are its ambitions after the Revolution?Colloquium at l’Ecole Militaire – Paris24 June 2015 First of all, thank you to the organizers of this meeting to have chosen the subject: “Egypt, what are its ambitions after the Revolution?” Indeed, the people who chose to change the system and leadership on January 25th, 2011 had the ambition that such a change should be done smoothly. Surprisingly, the president at that time, Hosni Mubarak, agreed with Vice-president Omar Soliman’s proposal to leave, making sure that police would not open fire on the crowd and the Republican Guard would not use its...

Meeting with Aly El Samman, former advisor to President Anwar Sadat Alliance israélite universelle, Paris December 4, 2014 From journalist to presidential media adviser, corporate consultant to pioneer in interfaith dialogue, Aly El Samman defies characterization. Currently, he is President of the International Union for Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Education (ADIC). Among the many posts he occupied in the past, he was foreign media adviser to President Anwar Sadat, in particular during the Israeli-Egyptian peace negotiations; director of the prime minister’s cabinet for infrastructure projects for Western Europe; and vice-president of the Permanent Committee of Al-Azhar for Dialogue...

Egypt: What are its ambitions after the Revolution?Colloquium at l’Ecole Militaire – Paris24 June 2015 First of all, thank you to the organizers of this meeting to have chosen the subject: “Egypt, what are its ambitions after the Revolution?” Indeed, the people who chose to change the system and leadership on January 25th, 2011 had the ambition that such a change should be done smoothly. Surprisingly, the president at that time, Hosni Mubarak, agreed with Vice-president Omar Soliman’s proposal to leave, making sure that police would not open fire on the crowd and the Republican Guard would not use its...