In this number

COPPEM’S Plenary AssemblyNikos Papamikroulis

Vth Mediterranean ColloquySalvatore CuffaroFabio PellegriniCard. Ersilio ToniniVictor Magiarkhaled Fouad AllamNemer HammadMohamed BennisMohamed El DakkakLaura Boldrini

COPPEM newsTwo monthly bulletin by COPPEM - year 3 n° 5 - February 2003

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Editorialby Piero Fagone

Editorial officeVia Emerico Amari, 162 - 90139 Palermo

tel. +39 091.662.22.38www.coppem.org - coppem@coppem.org

number 5 - February 2002

Manager:Fabio Pellegrini

Assistant Manager:Lino Motta

Editorial director:Piero Fagone

Editorial staff:Roberta Puglisi

coppemnews@libero.it

translations made by:French (Maria Flavia Marzialetti);

English (Giovanna Cirino, Roberta Lupo);

Photography:Giuseppe Gerbasi

Cover and graphic project:Luigi Mennella

luigimennella@libero.it

Printed by:Officine Grafiche Riunite

COPPEM news

“Spes contra spem”, hope as value, utopia

and project, attitude to prefigure new

sceneries and to look for, with persevering

coherence, the righest strategies to make

them. Renato Guttuso gave this title to

one of his latest paintings, the maturity’s

expression of the great Sicilian artist and,

perhaps, unique for the strong evocative

power and the visionary atmosphere

which connote this great painting.

Hope beyond hope itself, today suffocated

by the tragic everyday occurrence of the

middle-eastern conflict, has encouraged

the Sicilian Region and Coppem to knot

again, after fourty years, the thread of the

Mediterranean Colloquies, conceived and

begun by the mayor of Florence of that

period, Giorgio La Pira (Sicilian too), as a

sign of peace and co-operation. We started

again from the Vth Colloquy that La Pira

had arranged, but that he didn’t

celebrated, by starting from the

knowledge that Towns and Regions can

give a great dynamism to the co-

operation’s processes among Local

Authorities, and follow, along this way,

peace’s concrete aims.

Significantly, the Vth Colloquy, with the

general title: “Cultures and Rights in the

Mediterranean”, was held in Palermo,

together with the celebration of

Coppem’s third General Assembly,

which, as you know, unites the Local

Authonomies’ representatives of the 27

Countries who gave life to Barcellona’s

Euromediterranean Conference.

If the prospect of peace and development

in the Mediterranean area is supported by

a strong civil and cultural commitment to

the consolidation of democracy, and by a

wide sense of unanimous co-operation, it

will be able to be more strongly outlined

through the carrying out of valid projects

and the accomplishment of concrete

actions.

A strong warning has been sent from

Palermo to the Municipalities’ and

Regions’ governors who have to receive

them with a mood of effective solidarity.

The Region and Coppem want to make

use of the Mediterranean Colloquies to

hold the light on, to encourage hope. And

they have already begun the next edition,

which will be held in Syracuse on

November 29th, to talk about the role of

women’ managers and about women’

associations in the Euromediterranean

social and cultural policies.

A monographical connotation has been

given to this number of Coppem News in

order to document the debate and the

conclusions of the Vth Mediterranean

Colloquy and of Coppem’s Plenary

Assembly, from which important

operative suggestions flowed out, first of

all, those which concern the creation and

the working of the Euromediterranean

Development’s Agency, a modern

instrument of support to the partnership’s

local development and general strategy, in

the view, always less far, to launch, by the

year 2010, the free exchange area which

includes the whole Basin.

As for its part, Coppem is called to face

these expiries with a stronger identity and

righter operative instruments for its

institutional functions, that it has acquired

thanks to the new Statute approved by

Palermo’s Plenary Assembly.

We report passages of the relations and of

the interventions which animated the

debate about the subjects of the dramatic

Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the

imminent war’s threat in Iraq.

Two-monthly bulletin of the Standing Committeefor the Euro-Mediterranean Partenership edited

by the Sicilian Federation of AICCRE

www.coppem.org

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A stronger identity for COPPEM

Thanks to the new Statute approved by the Plenary Assembly that also launched the Development Agency

by Nikos Papamikroulis

The Plenary Assembly that for theyear 2002 was held in Palermo on

December 13th-14th , has given a furtherand basic boost to COPPEM which wasstrengthened and fortified in view of thenew structure of the statute that theMembers have approved.As a matter of fact, Coppem haddeveloped until that date within theborders of a system of regulations which,although they consisted of inspiring andstrategical principals which since its birthhad shown their big innovatory validity,gave, neverthless, to an externalorganism, the Sicilian RegionalFederation of AICCRE (ItalianAssociation Council of Municipalitiesand Regions of Europe), the task to holdthe office of Secretariate of theCommittee. As a matter of fact, Coppemdidn’t have its own full autonomy oforganization and administration yet.In order to get over such a transition, forthe careful management of which a great

merit has to be aknowledged to theSicilian AICCRE, in the year 2002 a draftof COPPEM’s Statute was made. It dealtwith a kind of non profit-makingInternational Association, whose mainoffice was held, as before, in Palermo.The Statute was presented at the PlenaryAssembly of Palermo, and as it was said,it was unanimously approved, with awarm applause of all the Members.This important event suggests a doubleinterpretation: from a political point ofview, it points out the full approval of thepolitical-strategical policy followed byCOPPEM in the first two years of work,and the unanimous agreement toendowing it of all the necessaryinstruments to strengthen and broaden itsmission; from the functional-operativepoint of view, it ratifies a fullmanagement autonomy of COPPEM,with more adequate structures ofdecisions and control for the wide viewsof quick growth of the organization.

In an atmosphere of renewed auspices,the III Plenary Assembly has thereforecontinued his work.It is important to stress that, incomparison with the Assemblies of theprevious years, it is sensibly evident awider and more convinced participationof the Members which have contributedwith many solid proposals andsuggestions, in an always lively andaffected dialogue, to the adopteddecisions.Particularly interesting, the presentationand the debate on the constitutingAgency of EuromediterraneanDevelopment, an expected instrument forsupporting local development, of whichthe Assembly has decided to begin a deepstudy of practicability, giving this task tothe Secretariate.In the next months, the first idea whichcould be excessively ambitious, mightbecome a reality which, operating underthe aegis of COPPEM, will work for the

COPPEM news

2

Local Authorities and the Regions of theEuromediterranean area, to assist them inall the operative and planning phaseswhich can lead to the social andeconomic development of the local areas.Also important the question of theenvironment and of new technologies, ofwhich an exhaustive report was presentedand approved, including a working planto be carried out in the year 2003.A resolute action of the Secretariate hasbeen encouraged in order to co-ordinate acommon strategy of the Administrationsfor the protection of the environment andthe creation of local 21 Agendas. Theauspice for the constitution of a net ofCOPPEM’s Members is particularlypromising, and can facilitate co-operations and combined actions.Another subject discussed by theCommissions was the question of the

Euromediterranean area of freeexchange. The debate dealt with subjectsof big importance and of great topicalinterest, such as the relation between theNorth and the South of theMediterranean, the existing unbalanceand the prospects of economicalintegration. It is absolutely shared theopportunity to strengthen procedures offormation and cultural exchanges inorder to overcome the existing gap.Finally, the attention was paid on theproblems concerning the advancedinformatics technologies in themanagement of the tasks of localauthorities. The E-gov is today adiscipline on which the efforts of thelocal Authorities are focused in order tofind remarkable facilitation for theimplementation of services to citizens.The countries of the southern shore of the

Mediterranean will be able to have greatadvantages and COPPEM can be veryuseful for the promotion of its use.As you can see, the III Plenary Assemblyof Palermo was rich in subjects andproposals, and the resolutions that aroseshow both the Members’ interest andwill to look for co-operation among localAdministrations, and the expectationsthey have in the work that Coppem cando for these purposes.In this context, the success will be asgreater as the single Members will be theinterpreters in their countries of thepotentialities to create aEuromediterranean area devoted to peaceand to co-operation, based on the activeparticipation of the local and regionalpowers.

Vice-president of Coppem

COPPEM news

On the occasion of the III Plenary Assembly of COPPEM(Palermo, December 13th-14th 2002), the Members madeunanimous requests, suggestions and proposals to theSecretariate, in order to develop operative principles andobjectives to be considered functional to the works of the allCommissions. It was particularly pointed out that to fullyexploit the potentialities of COPPEM as committee ofrepresentatives of towns and Regions of 27 countries, theSecretariate is useful and urgent to strengthen the dialogue withthe Members, to stimulate a bigger exchange of informationwith them, and to co-ordinate their more active participation tothe works, by using also connections by Internet forconsultations and conferences on the focalization of planningideas, and for the co-operative development of combinedactions.In order to do that, considering the following subjects – freeexchange area, E-gov, Euromediterranean DevelopmentAgency, environment and new technologies – the proposals ofthe reports of each Commissions, and the resolutions adoptedby the Plenary Assembly, the Secretariate will send a particularquestionnaire to the members of the four Commissions, by thefirst half of next March. The aim is to have a first file ofinformation about experiences and needs of the localAuthorities and about new initiatives that they want to take.

Similarly, a further questionnaire will deal with the subjects ofthe Commissions for the year 2003 decided by the Council ofPresidency held in Rabat last Jenuary (The territorialcollectivities of the 27 Countries of Barcellona’s Convention,The Euromediterranean co-operation among towns for themanagement of cultural heritage, The role of Local and RegionalAuthorities of the Euromediterranean Countries in socialpolicies, Methods and Studies for the revaluation of the CulturalHeritage in the field of the Euromediterranean Partnership).

According to these questionnaires, the Secretariate will be ableto give a summary of requests, and plan consequent actions toreach the aims.A further expected result is that Coppem will be able to make useof more documented informations in order to be an authoritativepartner of the European Commission, in order to promote, alsoin view of the followed strategies, some defined paths andinitiatives already begun by this latter, a further integration of theaims of the local development in the processes of consolidationof the Euromediterranean partnership, and in order to get usefulrevenues, in the field of programs and financial support, for thestrengthening of the co-operation among EuromediterraneanMunicipalities and Regions.

(m. r.

New methods to develps Partnership’s potentialities

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The Development Agency as a synergies’pole

Expected participation of Institutions, Universities, Financial Institutes and Enterprises

by Roberta Puglisi

The features to give to theconstituting Euromediterranean

Development Agency have beenoutlined, on the occasion of Coppem’sPlenary Assembly, by the members of thefour Commissions. In the austere andhistorical Hall, Sala Delle Lapidi, ofPalermo’s Pretorian Palace, Palazzo delleAquile, seat of Palermo’s municipality, thedelegates devoted a great deal to thedebate on the project to give life to theAgency, which seems to have to fulfil therole of an efficient operative structure,able to contribute to the development ofthe local and territorial Governments ofthe 27 States participating to Barcellona’sConvention.It is an ambitious project, as the GeneralSecretary of the Committee, Mr. LinoMotta, pointed out, which will involvelocal and regional institutions,universities, financial institutes andprivate enterprises.The Plenary Assembly, which is not asecondary element to carry out thisproject, gave mandate to the Secretariateto arrange the study of practicability of thenew organism.The Agency is destined to represent a bigopportunity for the local realities, in theview of an actual political, cultural andeconomic growth.“The Agency will work coherently withCoppem’s aims and strategies, by workingfor their fulfillment, and it will work underthe aegis of the Standing Committee as aconsulting society, and it must havestrategical planning capacity onCOPPEM’s advice”. This is what Mr.Michele Raimondi thinks, co-ordinator ofthe experts of Coppem’s fourCommissions. Mr. Raimondi, with regardto the Agency’s specificity, said that “TheAgency will have to stimulate and assistthe Local Authorities and Regions of theEuromediterranean Partnership for thepromotion and realization of developmentat a local level, through initiatives ofnormative, juridical, planning andoperative kind, that can be carried out by

single administrations or by theirpartnerships having common interests andaims. “This means- the experts’ co-ordinator continued – that we will workaccording to the strategies dictated byBarcellona’s Declaration, by pursuing theEuromediterranean Partnership’s aims,and by using the available instruments ofthe European Commissions or of otherorganizations”. The Agency will have toaid partners and their Associations, for thestudy, planning and strategicalmanagement of initiatives which have theaim of economical, cultural and socialdevelopment of local collectivities.As for the function of the DevelopmentAgency, Mr. Raimondi explaines that “thetask will be that to receive requests fromthe represented administrations,concerning local development’s needs,and carry out and give answers to theserequests, by interacting with therequesting administrations and with theexpected beneficiaries. Moreover, theAgency will have to transform such needsinto planning and executive strategies,also concerning the operative andfinancial support, to find right andefficient instruments for the real reachingof the expected aims, to identify usefulnormative and technical –operative

instruments and financial sources.Finally, it will have to monitor existingplanning solutions about specific subjects,considering their reclaimableness andpromote and aid their use in the localadministrations”. But what institutional-organizational structure will the Agencyhave? This is the expected arrangement:the General Assembly, the Board ofDirectors, the Managing Director, thePresident and the College of Mayors.Finally, the constitution of a scientificCommittee is expected, which has to drawup suggestions of initiatives, give adviceson request of the Agency’s organs, andparticipate to the events promoted by theAgency; moreover, the creation of aCouncil, whose tasks will be those to giveopinions about the Agency’s rules, aboutthe annual programs and about thedevelopment projects of the local andterritorial Governments for which theAgency works”.The Euromediterranean developmentAgency will be endowed of a co-operativefund with shares subscribed by itsmembers, and its work will be supportedby the members’ contributions, by theincomes of provided services and byvoluntary contributions received by publicand private subjects.

COPPEM news

A moment of Coppem’s four Commissions’ work

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An act of confidence in the process of peace

The Mediterranean Colloquies conceived by Giorgio La Pira begin again

by Fabio Pellegrini

This initiative is ideally connectedwith the four Colloquies that the

Mayor of Florence Giorgio La Pira(born in the province of Ragusa andwho always remembered his Sicilianorigins) organized between the end ofthe fifties and the beginning of thesixties.The first Colloquy is held in 1958 inorder to support Algeria’s freedom (theAlgerian people was committed andfought for its independence fromFrance) and for peace in the middle Eastwhere the relationships between Israeland the Arabic countries got more andmore relentless and, unfortunately aftermore than fourty years, have becomedramatic and painful for the Palestinianand the Israeli people.We are not losing confidence insucceeding in making peace amongthem, with the peaceful living togetherof an independent and autonomousPalestinian State and the Israeli Stateprotected by secure borders.During the fourty years that separate usfrom the V Mediterranean Colloquywhich, however La Pira didn’t manageto do, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, asI have just said, became more and morecruel, and other problems come andother wars threaten that area.

Without forgetting so many men andwomen who live a life of misery andillness, and many of them, pushed byneed and by legitimate aspiration after abetter life, see dramatically their dreamsand their hopes shattered in theclandestine crossing of theMediterranean. According to La Pira, the politicalcommitment had its roots in the socialvocation of being Christian and in thevalue of the human being.I remember the words that he told me, ina conversation at the end of the sixties.The war in Wietnam was in course, andas a university student leader, engagedin a fight for the university reformwhich got harder and harder, we parted,and his words, after so many years, areimpressed not only on my mind, but Istill remember them as a call for astrong moral and political commitment:“we need to regenerate our conscience”.The Standing Committee for theEuromediterranean Partnership, that Ihave the honour of chairing together withthe Vice-President Omar Baharoui, andthe Vice-Presidents Nikos Papamikroulis

and Wadad Al Suwayeh, has worked twodays, in the III Plenary Assembly, tostrengthen the co-operation between theLocal and Regional Governments of the27 Countries of Barcellona’s Conventionof 1995.We had a unique experience by visitingthe “Museo delle Trame delMediterraneo” of Gibellina.The title of this Colloquy was “Culturesand rights in the Mediterranean”; thatis, we started from the humancondition, as La Pira would have surelyliked, but we didn’t discuss the meritsof the political questions which everyday foster our moral revolt for the lackof aptitude of the political class for therealization of peace.We are committed with the SicilianRegion to continue the MediterraneanColloquies; we can divulge that the VIMediterranean Colloquy will be held inSyracuse next November 29th, on thesubject “Women Managers and womenassociations in the Euromediterraneansocial and cultural policies”.

Coppem’s President

COPPEM news

from the left: Nikos Papamikroulis, Lino Motta, Fabio Pellegrini, Adly Hussein, Omar Bahraoui

Common commitment to reassert rights in the Mediterranean

Sicilian Region and Coppem united to encourage relationships between North and South

by Salvatore Cuffaro

I taly is part of the small number of bigNations which have in these times big

responsabilities. Our Mediterraneanposition calls us to a more directresponsibility, in the confrontationbetween the widening of the EuropeanUnion from one side, and Africa andMiddle East from the other.In this delicate region we are bearers ofa long tradition of welcome andintegration, which continues to beuseful for so many immigrants whoknock at our doors.Sicily, since ever a crossroad of people,civilizations and cultures, today intendsto be the privileged place for thedialogue of all the Mediterraneanpeople and of the big monotheisticreligions.While we assert the commonresponsibility of the European nationswhich all together have to startdevelopment processes in the regions ofthe south of the world, we think thatstability, and economic and socialdevelopment of these countries candecisively influence the developmentnot only of Sicily but also of the wholeEurope, and that, therefore, also forthem a future of peace and welfare hasto be planned.

These are the reasons why we werepersuaded to organize with COPPEMthe V Mediterranean Colloquy. As amatter of fact, it is thought as an idealcontinuation of the Colloquies begun byGiorgio La Pira at the end of the fifties.La Pira realized that the Mediterranean,in order to become a big lake, shouldhave abolished all the reasons ofconflict, from the economic to thepolitical ones, that it was necessary tostimulate the faith in the same god, withthat rich background of cultural andsocial implications that it had displayedalong its history. We wish to continue,with our modest means, his work,thinking that there is not any greatergood than peace and that the biggestbattle is the one that each of us fightsinside himself in order to get better.Cultural wars do not belong to us, theydon’t belong to our heritage, and westrongly refuse them.As Sicilian people, we must encouragethe meeting between peoples andcultures. We want this big lake, which isthe Mediterranean sea, around which thethree monotheistic religions were bornor established, to become a sea of peace.The title that we chose, “Cultures andrights in the Mediterranean”, to start

again this new cycle of colloquies,means to focus the attention on thenecessity that, beyond oppositions, wehave to work to find what unites usbeyond appearances, those rights of allmen and women that we have to defendbeyond national belongings, butrespecting the traditions of each of us.Sicily boasts great men of letters andphilosophers, but no great generals. Wehave always been a land without armiesbecause we practise the culture ofconfrontation and co-operation. It is notby chance that racism or ethnicmarginalization are almost unknown. As Sicilian Region, together with theother interested regions of Italy andEurope, we strongly want to emphasizethe Mediterranean question; we see, as amatter of fact, that, beyond anyintervention made out until now, theEuropean peripheric areas are thosewhere the smallest development isrecorded, this let us think that what isimportant is to overcome ourgeographical marginal condition, andthis can happen only if theMediterranean becomes the object of aright development policy with a properfinancial endowment.Therefore, we are interested in thedevelopment of the MediterraneanCountries not only as a necessarypremise for peace, but also because wewant to become their economic partner,we want Sicily to become a kind of maindoor of human, cultural and economicexchanges, becauce each of these aspectsrepresents a crucial human dimension.Until now there wasn’t any organism,any place where the EuromediterraneanLocal Authorities could meet; theSicilian Region, considering theimportance that such a project had,wanted to support COPPEM, so that itmay become the privileged place with abig aim: to encourage co-operationbetween South and North.

The President of the Sicilian Region

COPPEM news

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from the left: Nemer Hammad and Salvatore Cuffaro

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The man at the centre of history

Europe’s change by the attenuation of national sovereignty

by Card. Ersilio Tonini

Iexpress my surprise in finding myselfin front of a reality like this of the

Mediterranean Colloquy, organized bythe Sicilian Region and COPPEM, butthe fact that Giorgio La Pira is called on,explains how one dares to think thatsubjects such as the world’s destiny,discussed by thousand internationalconferences, by thousand global or notglobal meetings, can, on the contrary, bedealt with in the name of themunicipalities. It almost seems to be achallenge dictated by the convinctionthat, by starting from the town, one canarrive there where probablyinternational meetings do not arrive. ButI think that you are La Pira’s disciples,so I am not surprised at all. You not onlydare to speak of analysis and of goodintentions, but you dare to speak ofright, which is an incredible word,because right should regulate the newmaking-up of the whole world. Butrights are extremely serious things,intentions are not sufficient. And neither the moral values nor thereligious ones can give certainty, and letany man who was born know that it wasworthy to be born. The Mediterraneansucceeded in shaping civilization,Justinian’s work is perhaps one of thebiggest wonders of history, and not onlythanks to Justinian, but because it is inthe Mediterranean, conceived in its

immensity, that one sees the supremeinterest given to man’s attentions.European and Mediterranean historyhas been supported by a great ideal, andthen we know what has happened, justthink about the persecutions. When webecame wise again, at last, we realizedthat we could not follow that way.How does Europe have to change?Where will salvation come from? Byweakening the principle of nationalsovereignty.This is a wonderful idea which nowcomes true, with many uncertainties, ofcourse, but the extraordinary thing isthat we came to that after 5 centuries ofhistory, overcome in few years. .Whereis the miracle?It is here: 5 centuries of war, of StateNations which had broken Dante’sEurope’s Unity, which had seenUniversities create one only knowledge.Well, this Europe, after 5 centuries, hadGerman who were German before beingmen, French who were French beforebeing men, the same for the English,just a bit less for the Italian, but where isthe changing? Today, we are firstlymen, then French, German, English, andthis is an amazing thing and this meansthat there will be no more war inEurope. But there is a serious obstacle,which is to be identified in this momentof present crisis. This, starting somehow

in the Anglo-Saxon world, is invadingEurope. As a bishop, I say that we haveto feel the task to look at the future andcatch the present’s warnings. It happensthat the thought has a crisis andNietzche had foreseen it. As a matter offact, he had foreseen that after 100 yearsa battle would be fought for theconquest of the world that will be foughtaround the primordial fundamentalvalues of the human life. The big changeis here, we are risking to replaceintellect, that asks, questions itself,knows, finds out and then analyzes thevalue of decisions. Conscience isdisappearing. I defy anyone to find theword conscience in the newspapers,what is conscience? It is the mind’sactivity that wonders if this is right orwrong.Your initiatives are very precious, and

also the relaunching of the Churchesand religions, because they’d better askthemselves if, by chance, they have areal convinction about these subjects,and if they are able to communicate it.When a boy, attending the church or hiscommunity, is invited to realize hisdimension, Saint Augustin said, , youlook around and you see, and you aresurprised at the things that you see, andyou don’t realize that you are thewonder. I would like to insist on onepoint: you cannot talk about law if youdon’t pass through philosophy and, whynot, theology. The Mediterranean isperhaps the most sapiential part of theworld, and its history flows in thisdirection. One day, just here in Palermowith Professor Kaled, we rememberedthat hope was fostered for the wholeworld, when in the TheologicalUniversity of Spain, the Catholic,Jewish and Islamic theological facultieshad something in common. What? Thejudgement of the human thought ascapable to give sure guidance, and toshow us God’s intention. I think thatthis is a big thing and that we have toregain it.

COPPEM news

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A great alliance to overcome conflicts

It should be based on the principles of the State’s and civil rights’ laicality

by Victor Magiar

When we talk about theMediterranean, we often talk

about it in a poetic way and also in ahistorical perspective.Until one hundred years ago, until whenempires existed, the Mediterranean wastolerant enough, undoubtedly morepluralist than many other areas of theworld.The European idea of the State Nation hasbrought about many disasters in Europeand then in other countries, in other areasof the world, where the European havetaught this idea according to which in anycontinent there is one only essence, andprecise correspondences between peopleand their land. But it was never like this,and the Mediterranean shows it, thehistory of Spain, Italy, Sicily, of theBalkans proves it. We need to be agreed,in the modern era of globalization, whenEurope becomes wider, wider towardsEast and it doesn’t open its windows yet,its windows on the Mediterranean, onwhat borders are, we need to be agreed ifthe border is the point where people areseparated or if it is the point where peoplemeet. My family’s history, the Jewish’shistory in the Mediterranean is a border’shistory, but a border meant as a meetingplace, as opportunity of a connecting

bridge and dialogue. For centuries, theJewish have been those who supportedthe dialogue between Islam and theChristian society, and the extraordinaryfact is that one of the differences betweenMediterranean Jewish and NorthernEuropean Jewish is that, while thenorthern European Jewish wrote inHebrew also the foreign languages, that isPolish, German, dealing with above allHebrew literature and thought, only in theXIXth century, they knew the westernEuropean culture, and from thisencounter the modernity that we knowbegan to develop.In the Islamic world, on the contrary, theJewish wrote in Arabic.Some of the most important essays of theHebraic culture have been written bythinkers who were men of science,scholars and poets who translated Greekphilosophers from Greek into Arabic,and then from Arabic they have beentranslated into Latin. This world has to beregained, regained by realizing that weneed to open a period of dialogue andcomprehension, and I agree when it issaid that conflict is also one chance. Thepolitics that works is the pragmatic one,which succeeds in changing thingsconcretely and firmly.

Conflicts will always exist, it is up to usto decide if conflicts may be solved byviolence or by dialogue, if solutions maybe found in cultural, political oreconomic ways.If we use politics and economy to solvetensions, which inevitably occur, becauseit is normal that, for istance, theimmigrants’ arrival brings about sometensions in a country, then we have todecide if this becomes an element forbuilding a barrier or to make anopportunity.This is our choice and I would say thatthis is the choice of the XXI, XXIIcentury; all cultures, all religions canlive together if they accept this modernreligion which is the religion of humanrights and of modern democracy.I think that the subject of democracymust be seriously discussed in theMediterranean, because I think, forexample, that when we talk ofcivilizations’ battles, this is a wrong idea.I don’t think that there is a battle betweenIslamic civilization and the West, I thinkthat there is a very hard battle insideIslam, inside the Arabic world, and thisbattle exists since one hundred years, andit is a battle for modernity, about the waythis world has to be related to modernity,

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and from this battle, different politicalpositions come out; a radical positionrises, sometimes national, sometimes ofreligious kind, this is not important, andthere are also moderate tendencies.This battle have repercussions oninternational affairs.Al Quaeda and, generally, Islamicterrorism are the biggest enemy and thebiggest damage for the Arabic world andfor Islam, because in a world and in anage characterized by the semplifiedmedias’ communication, they fix theimage of an aggressive Islam and Arabicworld, which only in this way succeedsin having relationships with the rest ofthe world. This is a very important battle,occurring inside the Arabic world, whichfirstly European countries and, generally,western countries have to understand, inorder to support those who, in the Arabicworld and Islam, object this radical drift.This is a serious commitment.In my opinion, another seriouscommitment is the matter of theaknowledgment of the Islamic identity inEurope, and often in these days, Turkey’sadmission into Europe has beendiscussed, and it was said that Turkey isan Islamic country; I would like to saythat this is an insulting definition,because Turkey is a laic country with anIslamic majority, it has a laic tradition

that we have to aknowledge, and I saythis also because, since we, Jewish of theMediterranean, are a little bit strange,confused, we have to decide if we have toconsider Turkey with an attitude ofprejudice, or if, on the contrary, we haveto aknowledge the effort that Turkey ismaking.It is true that the observations and the

problems raised by Germany and Francehave a foundation, and therefore,pragmatically, I think that they have to beconsidered, but it is true that we have tohelp Turkey just for this internal conflictthat it is experiencing.Another matter is the conflict in theMiddle East.Peace comes from the knowledge thatalso racism and prejudice can be fought. Peace is possible, it is absolutelypossible, because it’s us to decide tochange things, and to do it, politicians’,people’s and intellectuals’ courage isnecessary.It is important to have a very pragmaticattitude to solve middle East’s problems.It is important to stop guns, to open adebate, to aknowledge the mainfundamental rights and establish thoseeconomic, social and culturalrelationships which can cancel thereasons, often false, which have led to theconflict.

I suffer very much when I watch in theEuropean and Italian televisionsprograms on the problem of immigrationmade with great thoughtlessness,becausea Jewish who perceives the prejudicetowards the Islamic people,automatically lets his memory release.The prejudice derives from the fact thatthe European society, the Italian societyare, if not totally, largely Christiansocieties, and the idea of somethingdifferent is a difficult idea to swallow;undoubtedly, the Hebraic difference isnumerically less significant, because it isinside Christianity’s tradition and history.The Islamic difference, on the contrary, isa difficult difference to understand, andalso to bear for its numerical consistencyand for the strength of this thought.I can make the difference betweenpeople who can help and people who canonly hate.We have to make a big alliance, base onlaic modern principles, which are thoseof a lay state, of living together withpeople who can make a dialogue with theothers, who can learn from the othersbecause, in the end, we will find out thatour cultures are mixed. TheMediterranean is basically the place ofour culture.

Jewish community’s Councellor Rome

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The Mediterranean between history and memory

From cultures’ heterogeneity an innovative political language for Europe

by Khaled Fouad Allam

The context in which we speak today isundoubtedly totaly different from thelast century’s one, of the XXth century,that is a historical, cultural and politicalcontext extremely tormented bytensions which are not only tensions ofthe Arabic world, but global tensions.This is not only the cause of the attackof September 11th, and of terrorism, butI think that, because all the geo-politicaland geo-cultural systems are changing,we have different possibilities to buildour approach to the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean has been the cradleof civilization and of monotheism, thatmonotheism, in a sense, that I define asthe mean through which ethnic conflictshave been overcome. Today, however,problems are completely differentbecause, just our world is affected bytensions which are social, cultural andpolitical, where, in any corner of theplanet, a stronger request of law andtherefore of right and also of politicalinnovation arises.I think that the Mediterranean needs aglobal approach and not an approachaccording to some categories, orcultural, ethnic and religious typology.This prevents political planning andinnovation.We don’t have to forget that all of us, wedon’t hope so, are on the eve of a warwhich in the next months willconsiderably change the situation in thewhole middle East, because its aim willbe to give a new structure to the wholemiddle East’s geo-political system.All this occurs while the relationshipsbetween Mediterranean and Europe arevery ambiguous, because to a politicalproblem they don’t give a political

answer; I mention two of them: theimmigration problem that is obvious,and the lack, in the same Europeanmodel, of a European immigrationcommissioner.Immigration’s policies are still linked tothe classical vision of the State’ssovereignty, in a dimension of trans-national kind, and deteriorated byhuman and political phenomena; wecontinue to use a XXth century’s visionfor the management of theimmigration’s problems.The problem of Islam is another bigquestion. The Islamic approach is, in away, always read through a readinggrid, that I called of iconic type; Islamwould be a pre-existing condition toIslam itself, and therefore it wouldprevent Islam from adjusting itself tospace-temporal political conditions. Adimension of the religious phenomenonis always projected into a dimension ofmore practical kind, and of course, thedeep changings of Moslems themselvesare not considered. The question of theislamic radicalism is a pollutingelement for the approach and theanalysis of the dynamics of these

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phenomena, in the Mediterraneanworld. In Europe there are more thantwenty-two millions Moslems.Europe’s Moslem dimension, not asreligious dimension, but as dimensionof civilization which works directly orindirectly on the system of the politicalmorphology, sets a basic problem toEurope, which is basically the problemof the European identity. But theproblem concerns the relationshipbetween history and memory. This is avery delicate, serious and difficultquestion. The question is how history can be anessential element of the memory sharedby everybody, not only towards theMediterranean but, of course, alsotowards north-western Europe. Sicily,the Balkans themselves and Spain arerich in history and in Moslem presence,but how does this history succeeds inbecoming memory?The problem of Europe, of the Europeanpossession and of its approach to theMediterranean sets the question of theheterogeneity of cultures, as an unusualpolitical language, that tomorrow willbe able to build a political dimension ofEurope, harmonizing the different

cultures that constitute it. It is necessaryto translate into politics the actualcosmopolitism, it is easy to say it butdifficult to make it, because we are inthe context of the serious internationalcrisis, connected to terrorism.With the changing of politics, throughthe global era, from one side, we assist,more and more, in the Mediterraneanarea too, to what I call “deterioration ofthe political entities”, the world seemsto be completely deteriorated, and at the

same time, we assist to the birth of whatI call “ the birth of symbolic borders”,that is borders of culture, religion, andlanguage, to imagine that men cannotcommunicate anymore.The Mediterranean is the place wherewe assist to a slow deflagration, but itcan be a place for hope projected notonly by culture, but also by politics. Inthis case, I think, that Europe lacks agreat idea on the Mediterranean; afterWorld War II, some men had thoughtabout a European Council, capable toreconstruct the triangle which had beenthe cause of the World War II.The Mediterranean needs support andinternational dynamics able to invertbad tendencies which transform politicsand change it into a scenary of violenceand war.The request of justice, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in theimmigration management needs agreater innovation, because through allthese questions which are political,there is a hidden question, a startingphilosophical paradigm which for me isvery important: What does theMediterranean ask itself?

Sociologist

COPPEM news

The President of the Sicilian Region, Salvatore Cuffaro, gives the plaque to the Ambassador of Palestine, Nemer Hammad,at the presence of Wadad AlSuwayeh, Lino Motta and Fabio Pellegrini

A moment of the Vth Colloquy. Cerisdi’s Hall, Castello Utveggio, Palermo

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ONU asks for more guarantees for the refugees

Interview to Laura Boldrini, spokesman of the U.N.’s High Commissaryship for refugees

by Roberta Puglisi

The Mediterranean, that should be asea of peace, today sees men and

women die, looking for a bettercondition of life. How can clandestinelanding be controlled? Those who are in those ships, those whoare on those sea buggies, those who riskare anyway a desperate humanity,because nobody would put in dangertheir own life and their children if theydidin’t feel to be forced to do it. Thosewho risk are people like us who,however, don’t have other choice, whowant a better future, who escape fromhanger, from poverty. They are peoplewho escape from persecution and fromconflicts. We have concluded thecentury of human rights, but thiscentury itself has brought about ethnicconflicts, ethnic rape, and all the abusesof human rights, therefore, we have toface a long way. In an ideal world, therewould not be any wars, there would notbe the agency that I represent, therewould not be any refugees. On thecontrary, there are many refugees, theyare about twenty millions.Who are the refugees?There is often confusion and one speaksof refugees in a disdainful way, as ifthey were not worthy of respect. These

people risk their life to aspire tosomething better. We speak ofimmigrants, of refugees, but words areimportant, each word represents acategory of people who have a differentprotection. Refugees are people whoescape from a regime, who run awayand fear for their own life because oftheir political belief, of their religion, oftheir belonging to a group, of their race,therefore, people who are feared,because they think, have courage, anddeserve respect. Even more, becausethey personally pay the prize of theirown ideas, of their own convinctions.How does Europe manage themigratory movement?The fact that in the last years this flux

has increased means that there issomething that doesn’t work. We, in thisother part,we are inside the fortress ofEurope. The fortress has decided toclose, to put barriers, to investconsiderable resources in systems ofopposition, but they don’t thinkrationally enough to understand the truereasons of what happens and they don’tinvest enough to solve the problem fromits root. On the contrary, they only facethe consequences of an unsolved serious

question. And it is even too muchobvious that this is not enough. Thepolicy of no immigration, adopted bymany European countries, increases andincites clandestine movement.If nations don’t facilitate legal ways,what are the risks?When the States don’t facilitate legalways, and I am thinking about familiarrejoinings, which are possible, whenthis occurs, only after many years withthe arrival of families, it is clear thatthose relatives use clandestinity, theypay much more, risk their own life, andthrough this crossroad they succeed inseeing again their families. Statistics record a raise in themigratory movement. How thisphenomenon can be checked?It is not true that we are invaded by thisbig wave that is about to suffocate us.Let’s see the numbers, I speak of thosewho ask for asylum and of refugees,thus the weakest ring of the chain. InItaly there are about nine thousandrequests of asylum every year, with theexception of 1999, when, because of theKosovo war, there was the peak ofthirty-three thousand asylum requests.In ten years in Italy there have been one

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hundred thousand requests of asylum,the same number that each single year isrecorded in Germany or in the UnitedKingdom, therefore, I think that thephenomenon is absolutely localized.Therefore, Italy can still beconsidered in the field of asylum, atransit-country.Why?Because Italy is the only country of theEuropean Union which doesn’t have asystematic law on asylum. Asylum ismanaged and controlled according to aseries of laws, the last one Bossi-Finibill, and this is a difficult puzzle. Thismakes much confusion to those whowork in this field, not only for the

humanitarian operators, but also forpolice. We were reassured many timesalso during the previous periods oflegislation, but until now this matter isdealt with according to the politicalclimate. Asylum cannnot be managedaccording to the political climate, it isnot a phenomenon which can bemanaged by share. Let’s talk about Bossi-Fini bill. Doasylum systems are efficient?Bossi-Fini bill considers asylum fromcontrast proceedings point of view. But,be careful,: asylum is not only abuse. Itis a more complex phenomenon. Bossi-Fini bill will consider again these

proceedings, this means that perhapsthere will be more sense of timing, wewill succeed in knowing earlier who hasthe right to have asylum and who hasnot. I think that the safety need for allcitizens should consequently besatisfied through the State commitment,by using efficient screening systems.O.N.U. High Commissaryship does notsay that everybody should have asylum,this would reduce its meaning; on thecontrary, resources should be invested,and we should allow those who havethis right to be treated with dignity. Does Italy invest resources?From our point of view, Italy, until now,does not attach importance to thisphenomenon. Also at a European level,when immigration and asylum policiesare harmonized, Italy will not haveenough strength to develop its ownpolicy, because Italy does not have aspecific one. Nowadays, we co-operatewith the Italian local, regional andmunicipal Authorities, because theyrepresent the first aid net, whoseresources, made available by the State,are managed by Municipalities. Which phenomenon’s evaluation canbe made in view of the newglobalization proceedings?Considering the vastness and theincreasing extent of such processes, it isto be noticed that the countries able togive a contribution will have differentattitudes. We hope that Italy, as soon aspossible, will have a systematic lawabout asylum. What is the state of carrying out ofBossi-Fini bill as for asylum, andwhich initiative did you take?We are working so that, as soon aspossible, the effective regulations ofBossi-Fini bill can be passed. Inparticular, we are giving the Governmenta series of input, so to offer furtherguarantees to those who ask for asylum.Briefly, the regulation should, in someway, to adjust the fire and give security tothose who ask for protection in Italy.

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by Mohamed El Said El Dakkak

We can talk about Islam in a littlebit provoking way, with the same

mental attitude as we speak ofcommunism, in the way of a social-economical-cultural program based on asocial metaphysical contract, enteredinto by men in the name of an idealwhose interlocutor is the Superior Ego.As a confirmation of this vision, it isenough to remember that the etymologyof the word Islam already implies areached inner peace, and a consequentdelivery of oneself to the materializedideal in the social contract. Islamconstantly unites the spiritual dimensionof the human being to the moral andsocial ones, thus it is unthinkable toconsider Islam as separated from the“Moslem society”, implicitly defined byitself.The Islamic vision of man is based ontwo important elements: the first lies inthe fact that man was born innocent,without the original sin, and that, whenhe reaches the age of discretion, hepasses from the age of innocence to theage of responsibility. Responsibility,therefore, develops from the conscienceof the human being, but it is defined inthe relationship with the others. The second element concerns thecategories of the Sacred and theProfane.

In Islam, the sacred is not linked to anysacrament. Islam goes beyond, bydefining a society through the conceptof UMMA, considered as a whole ofhuman beings, devoted to a conceptionof themselves as naturally socializingindividuality.In this macrosociological unity, the ideaof responsibility turns to the concept ofjustice.This idea of man, like that of the sacred,makes us give a more complex meaningto the idea of “re-islamization”, whichtoday is pressing in the middle-Eastsociety.As Christianity, Islam proposes amessage and a social pattern to bespread to all humanity. Another questionis to understand the reason why Islam isradicalized, therefore, it is necessary torun through history again, from theAbbassid revolution, which representedIslam’s golden age, to the Empire’sdecline, with the establishment of some

intransigent factions of interpretation ofthe Holy Scriptures and the use of theirtemporal power in order to reachpolitical aims.It will be necessary to wait for theXIXth century to assist to a rebirth,begun in Egypt.The following divisions of the Arabicworld, the continuation and theseriousness of problems, leavesconscience in a state of confusion.The Arabic consciences find last hope intheir own memory and in thepsychological collectivities. The returnto Islam is radicalized by anger and bythe sense of injustice and humiliation.It is, however, inevitable that the innercontradictions of the middle-easternsocieties provide not unimportantpushes to the recovery of a moremoderate and more up-to-date Islam.

Alexandria of Egypt’s University Vice-Rector

COPPEM news

For the recovery of a moderate and up-to-date Islam

Against radicalization last hope lies in memory and in the collective psychologies

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The Mediterranean: cultural plurality and common destiny

A humanistic breath embraces past and present

by Mohamed Bennis

Until the beginning of the ninentiesof last century, the Mediterranean

has become an idea that encloses thecause of a present and of a future. Thisidea, whose invention is the answer tothe research of a path leading to peace,in a cahotic age, is absolutely new. Itchanges our point of view, inherited byhistory, and engages us in a work ofreflection and action.According to this idea, theMediterranean is not only history andgeography, but it is also the

reconstruction of a space opened toexchange where the Mediterraneanpeople are closer to each other. Inopposition to the Mediterraneanmilitarization, a humanistic breathembraces the past and present of thisspace to give future all the promise thatit implies. Peaceful and common spacetowards the open. Thus, theMediterranean, becoming an idea,wants to be reconciliation with itspeculiar features, that is plurality,diversity, difference.It is a reconstruction in the critical senseof the word. That is to say to utilizeagain the symbolic heritage, both broadand deep, shared by the Mediterraneanpeople, despite the conflicts and theshed blood. This heritage was notprevented from changing, from an ageto another. Universality increases thethreat of annihilation of saying andfeeling this heritage.

Generous idea, this risingMediterranean. It has already allowedus to make many reflections and actionson the two shores. A hymn of gatheringand listening rises here and there, alsoinvolving the conscious minds of thehistorical post. What has already been

made shows the efficacy of this idea. Italso shows the necessity of a carefulthought. Our commitment to reflectionand action obliges us to disassembleindeterminacy, which is not touched yetor remains untouchable. Carefulthought. Undoubtedly. The difficultrelationships between the two shores,the feeling of hatred and rejection areturned, in the two shores, into fear anddistrust. The current demonstrations areso apparent and we have nothing tohide. Careful thought. It is the firstmeaning of commitment. Fond of anopen, peaceful and creativeMediterranean, I can’t help taking theresponsibility of this moral engagement.And attention leads us again to thegenesis of the idea, and above all, to itsconsequences which are seriouslyconsidered only by some people.For this reason, the Mediterranean,being an idea, is an invention comingfrom the northern shore. To warn heremeans to attract the attention onsomething which implies a kind ofdeformation, if we consider the differentdevelopment of the two shores. Thisobservation becomes meaningful whenit shows us a danger. But danger isthere. Facts are the proof. Since it is anidea, the Mediterranean suffers from aneconomic-political interpretation whichgives the southern shore the state ofbooty (submitted) available to thenorthern shore.This unidimensional interpretation letsthe Mediterranean Eurolatinization last.The international situation, influencedby globalization, encourages,unfortunately, this tendency, withouttotally considering the seriousness ofconsequences of such an interpretation.The southern shore, sometimesqualified as Arabic or Moslem, is keptaway thinking about an active future ofthe Mediterranean, prevented fromcrossing the northern shore’s borders,and punished for being the other, anundesirable elsewhere. The more the

COPPEM news

from the left: Lino Motta and Mohamed Bennis

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Mediterranean digs its own open path,the more the northern shore, European,imposes its unidimensionalinterpretation of the idea.Tolerance, dialogue and opening are theelements of a structure of dynamicvision which nourishes any freeMediterranean mind. Greek or Arabicantiquity has adopted the same vision. Itis a cultural vision. And culture whichwas the Mediterranean foundation is theonly one capable to lead us to thereconstruction of the Mediterranean,because it is an idea.The Mediterranean culture was theconcretization of tolerance, dialogueand opening. It was the migratory songand the unanimous imaginary. It unitedwhat economics and politics divided.Fostering the cultural dimension, andnot the economical and the politicalones, is the primordial condition to passin the Mediterranean from a profit (andconflict) view to an imaginary songview. Two opposite views, not betweennorthern and southern shores, butbetween the cultural one from one hand,and the political one from the other.Following the cultural track is a positionwhich could free everybody. In otherwords, that cultural condition that unitesus will lead us together in theMediterranean of the symbolic andsolidarity in all fields, while profit, onceit is appointed as supreme guide, willonly encourage the abolition of the ideaas such.

If the cultural element is consideredbasic (and as a confederative element),the reconstruction of the Mediterraneanwill become the basin of a newhumanism thanks to which we willdeserve past and future. We mustremember that the Mediterraneanhistory, through its civilizations whichilluminated lands and cycles, wasalways orientated to hospitality andsharing. These two values gave theMediterranean the architecture of a

residence with many pavillions. Bycrossing these pavillions, from one tothe other, we find ourselves in a choirsitting, the same and the other gatheredaround the olive tree, symbol ofwelcome and sharing.And the cultural view teaches usmeanders and subterfuges. Today thisold residence is confiscated. From thatwe have to start. The critical sense ofthe reconstruction engages us to showthe impasse where the two shores can’tmeet. Fear and distrust proliferate in thetwo shores. This unaccettable reality isdue to the confiscation of this residenceand it is urgent to think about its causes.The strength of the open idea of theMediterranean will become creative ifwe don’t keep on confiscating the past,and if we don’t deprive our future of itspast. This open interpretation iscultural. It will make the task to believetogether in a common destiny easier.For this reason, two basic points ofreflection and action seem to me amust:To read the history of theMediterranean culture again in itshistoricity. A new reading whose aimmeans both the aknowledgement of thecontribution of the Arabic culture in the

modern European culture, the right ofexistence of languages and peoplewithout exception, and the opening ofborders to let men, thoughts andcreations pass.To found some institutions in order todevelop and direct cultural exchange inthe two shores. It is above all, a lastingcultural solidarity and a deep knowledgewhich can illuminate the way of ourcommon destiny.

To dare say and feel. But to dare thinkand act at the same time. The modernintellectuals’ task is endurance to makeopening our common destiny. Thoughtpromises when it excavates, illuminatesand enriches existence, which ismeaning. In dialogue, the thoughtwhich deals with the Mediterraneanmeaning will free us from fear anddistrust. Once it is aknowledged in itshistoricity, the Mediterranean culturewill teach us the multiple sides of theMediterranean significance. A rightanswer to the wordly homogeneity,synonim of the ruin of cultures and ofthe universal values. To dare and todare again. To go parallel to a newRenaissance together, prepared again towelcome and sharing.

COPPEM news

Victor Magiar and Mohamed Bennis

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The middle-eastern conflict’s solution: a must for everyone

Immediate positive effects for the Mediterranean Region’s development

by Nemer Hammad

I think that there is a Mediterraneancivilization with different traditions.

It is normal, for example, that there aredifferent habits between Sicily andPiemonte, but we cannot say that thereare two cultures because there are notdifferent rights. There is, as a matter offact, only one right.Undoubtedly, today we cannot ignorethat there are problems concerning

dialogue. Particularly, I mean thepartnership process’s evolution, begunwith the famous Barcellona’sConference of 1995. We all remember that, after Oslo’sagreement, in 1993, a great hope wasborn, not only between Palestinian andthose who, in the Israeli field, havealways believed in peace, but this hopeeven spread all over the world and,

particularly, among the States and thepeople of the Mediterranean. Thesuspension of this process has had anegative effect also on the partnershipitself. I therefore believe that it isimportant for everyone to try toovercome difficulties. In ourconsiderations, we start very clearlyfrom an element which concernsIsrael. I don’t want to speak aboutproblems, about how the process ofpeace went on and about theuncertainty of settlements.On the contrary, I want to speak ofpartnership.Israel was included in the partnershipas a member, but the strange thing isthat they didn’t want any otherEuropean partners to develop theprocess of peace. In few words, Israelhas meant partnership in an economicview, leaving the political side in theUnited States’ hands, that want theegemony of the world. I wonder if it is not better that Europefulfils a political role in this process toreach peace for Israel, the Palestinianpeople and the countries of thepartnership which are near the MiddleEast. Is it possible that the United

COPPEM news

from the left:Wadad AlSuwayeh, Lino Motta, Nemer Hammad

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States feel the importance of peace inthe Middle East and, finally, in theMediterranean, more than theEuropean countries, such as, forexample, Italy, Spain and Greece?And, however, I don’t think that anyinterest in stability can be seen.It is not for Israel’s security that theyconsider Europe only as an economicpartner deprived of any politicalfunction.Today there is the risk of a war. I amconvinced, as many others, that theAmericans have already decided toopen the conflict not only to controlthe oil resources, but above all to makesure of having a leading function afterthe fall of Berlin’s wall.I didn’t understand, until now, how, inthis historical phase, a Judaic-Christian civilization fighting againstanother civilization, the Islamic orArabic-Islamic one, can be in thelimelight. Many times, the Pope,example of great morality, said thatwithout justice there is no peace, andundoubtedly, without peace there is nosecurity. We wish that this great idea ofpartnership will be able to find favouragain. And we wish a new governmentfor Israel, which shall be able to giveback topical interest to the partnership.But will the Israeli accept to belong,alone, to the big Euromediterraneanfamily? I think that we all belong tothe same family, the human one, andinside this family we think that ourchildren have to live in peace. But tolive in peace, our new generationshave to feel themselves free andsovereign. We Palestinian think thatwe have made enormous compromisesto carry out this aim.The solution of the Israeli-Palestinianconflict has to be searched onterritorial grounds because it is notenough to speak of two populationsand two states, if then they don’toutline the territorial localization of

the Palestinian one which cannot beelsewhere than in Palestine. We allhave to work for the solution of theconflict without ambiguities both asfor the territory and for the aims. Theaims are: two populations in this partof the world, the state of Israel withwestern Jerusalem as capital, and thePalestinian state with easternJerusalem as capital.

I think that a valid solution will haveimmediate effects on many othercurrent dramatic problems and that itwill be able to open the way to astrong economic progress for Europe,the region of the Mediterranean andthe Middle East.

Ambassador of Palestine

COPPEM news

a moment of the consignment of the Sicilian Region’s Plaque

from the left: Lino Motta and Nemer Hammad

January 25th – 26th Rabat Meeting on the Euromediterranean DevelopmentAgency and Meeting of the Presidency Council

March 8th – 9th Cairo “The Euromediterranean Partnership forCultural Heritage”:Preservation, Promotion and Fruition, FormationII and III COPPEM Commission+Experts

March 10th Alexandria (Egypt) Institutional Meetings and visit to the Library

April Enna Delivery of a contribution of 50.000 euros forthe purchase of a school-bus for a PalestinianMunicipality.

May Greece Presidency CouncilMeeting with the Prime Minister of Greece, U.E.President on duty and with the Minister ofForeign Affairs of Greece.

June 20th – 21rst Caserta “The welfare system in the Mediterranean”Meeting of COPPEM’s four Commissions

July or September Amman Inauguration of Piazza Sicilia (Sicilia Square) –Sicilian Region

October Stuttgart Meeting with German Mayors

November 28th/30th Syracuse IV Plenary AssemblyVI Mediterranean Colloquy: “Women Managersand Women’s Associations in theEuromediterranean social and cultural policies”Meetings in Algeria, Austria, Denmark toconclude COPPEM’s members designation.

COPPEM’S ACTIVITIES PROGRAM FOR THE YEAR 2003

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Rabat, January 25th – 26th 2003