Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi stressed the importance of promoting the principles of dialogue, tolerance and acceptance, rejecting hate speech and stirring up grudges and contempt for religions and their symbols, and consolidating the foundations of coexistence and peace as urged by the true Islamic religion and making it a feature of Islamic morals.
On the occasion of the International Day for Tolerance, which falls on Nov. 16 of each year, Al Budaiwi renewed his call for the international community to intervene quickly to stop the heinous crimes committed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in death, displacement, flagrant violations of all international laws and norms, and the disregard of the principles of international humanitarian law, which requires the international community to use all means to condemn this aggression and destruction and take the necessary steps to force Israel to stop these violations, assaults and crimes against humanity, and work towards providing international protection for the Palestinian people.
The Secretary General of the Cooperation Council called for global collective action to promote a culture of tolerance, build dialogue, accept others, and respect their rights, so that cultural diversity and the differences in customs and cultures among the peoples of the world are respected and appreciated, adding that tolerance is considered an essential foundation for promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In this context, Al Budaiwi noted that local and international legislation, laws, and school curricula must advocate for tolerance and combating intolerance, as fanaticism is often rooted in ignorance and fear of others, and the diversity of religions, languages, cultures, and sects in our world should not constitute an excuse for the outbreak of conflicts, but rather it is a necessity to enrich universal human thought.
The Secretary General of the Cooperation Council stressed that tolerance at the international level requires ensuring justice, peace and freedom for the peoples in their homelands and not displacing them, marginalizing them, or violating their freedoms and rights. The international community must join hands and collaborate in making more efforts to end all causes of wars and conflicts, which are the biggest factor in violations of human rights, as deprivation from living in dignity and basic rights is met with intolerance and revenge on the other side
