By Reem Yousef al-Harmi/Doha
Coexistence is one of the most important issues facing the world today as conflicts rage between many nations, between people following diverse cultures, religions and between ethnic groups. But how do we define coexistence?
Coexistence, according to Mariam Webster dictionary, is: “a) to exist together or at the same time; b) to live in peace with each other, especially as a matter of policy”. Sounds simple, isn’t it? Unfortunately when it comes to real life, some would disagree.
We know that many nation-states have undergone civil wars before they could actually come together and live with one another in peace. Civil wars have taken place in Middle East countries such as Yemen and Lebanon, the United States and in Latin America .
In Europe, countries like England, France, Spain and Greece, to name a few, had to pass through civil wars. Who were they fighting? And why were they fighting? There’s no simple answer to this. If we look into these countries many of them were either fighting for sovereignty, religion or other political reasons.
Many of these and other conflicts turned very ugly and brutal, in particular, when these wars mixed religion with politics. The outcome would be unexpected, often negatively, in such cases. Many would initiate a war in the name of religion and politicians would use the religious angle to cover up and justify their means and ends of these wars and conflicts.
In history, there are many examples for coexistence, however. One of the longest period of coexistence was in Spain where Muslims and Jews lived with one another in peace for over 600 years in the 17th century; it was called “La Convivencia”.
I can’t help but wonder how people in country X can learn to live in peace and harmony with one another within the same border whereas country Y descends into clashes and inner-conflicts, hence it becomes impossible for its citizens to live side by side.
To answer this question, we have to start at a personal level. What type of education those individuals have had? What kind of environment they have grown up in? These two factors, in my opinion, weighs in heavily into how (in)tolerant people can be towards others who are different from them in terms of culture, ethnicity, colour or religion.
When you grow up fearing the (others), and you start grouping and categorising everyone as (us, them) because of certain negative stereotypes about others, and then according to these stereotypes you try to refrain yourself from interacting with a certain group, making the assumption that they don’t look like you, they don’t believe in what you do believe in, and they are simply the (others), well, what if these differences and variations have had a reason?
I think diversity is a great thing to have, societies and citizens must not think of it as a threat to another group or culture. I think we can make the best of diversity if we learn how to live and coexist with each other; diversity makes you appreciate what you have and value what others may share with you. So why is it a bad thing? Or why is it that sometime diversity doesn’t have a happy ending?
If we are talking on a large scale, governments play a big role into this; government can make or break coexistence and diversity, by setting laws and regulations that would favour a group over the other, or by spreading hate and fuelling the fear of “others” in the media. Education also plays a huge role in all this, in terms of what kind of curriculum is taught and being learned.
Therefore, the education system needs to teach how one can be a global citizen; the importance of being tolerant to others and respect coexistence and appreciate diversity. Thus by investing in children through the education system, you are planting the seeds which will grow the trees of very fruitful results in the future.
In conclusion, I quote this verse from the Holy Qur’an: “O people, we have created you from a male and a female and made you into races and tribes so that you may know each other. Surely the most honoured of you in the sight of God is the one who is the most righteous of you.”
So if diversity, plurality and peaceful coexistence are all blessings, why should we turn them into curses?