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PANEL DISCUSSION

Language as a Bridge to Interpersonal as well as Intercultural Understanding, Tolerance, and Peace A discussion of ways that knowledge of language advances or inhibits peace, best practices and examples of language advancing interpersonal, intercultural and global peace.

Prof. Taji Elmor, Arabic Professor, Translator and Interpreter, Georgia Language Institute

My name is Taji Elmor and I am an Arab American. I am not "the other" but one of you. Why do I speak of "the other"? I am really quoting Edward Said (the famous Arab-American professor at Columbia University) who in his book Orientalism talks of the way Westerners have distorted the image of "the Orient" as the place of "the others" with a backward and violent culture. My mission as a professor is to dispel these prejudices and show how my culture is actually at the foundations of the Western world. To teach my language is to talk about the contributions Arabic people have made for the betterment of the world and the humanity.

Let me give you an example. Do you know what we gave to the world? Zero, the mathematical zero, that has shaped our life in every possible way. The revolutionary "zero", gave us what is referred to in the West as the Arabic decimal numeration system. This system did not originate in India as some Western historians claim but was rather developed in ancient Arabia. Without the Orient, you could not have technology such as computers, machines, cars, airplanes, satellites, that we take for granted today, nor would we have reached the moon, nor would we have enjoyed coffee, with sugar.

The Arabs and Muslims contributed more to the field of mathematics, the basic foundation of modern civilization, than any other people in history. The world owes the magnificent Arab civilization for algebra, algorithm (logarithm), arithmetic, calculus, geometry, trigonometry, the decimal system, and the brilliant "zero" which we just mentioned. The most popular language studied in the Middle Ages was Arabic because of the texts in the following subjects: algebra, mathematics, the numerals, trigonometry, chemistry, sociology, astronomy, and much more.

Language is a marvelous recorder of meetings between cultures; a cup of mocha, lemonade, candy, oranges, sherbet, alcohol, so there you are - checkmated ! And once again, we're using Arabic without even thinking about it. Because the expression

"checkmate" - which comes of course from chess, a game that is said to have been introduced to Europe by an emissary of the Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, who taught

Charlemagne's court how to play it - is a direct derivation of the Arabic al-shah mat , meaning simply "the king ( shah ) died"!

There is a great history, with a magnificent civilization, people do not know about, because of prejudice. Unlike many contemporary "Western scholars" who distort Arab intellectual and scientific contributions to humanity, Professor Briffault in his book Making of Humanity simply stated the basic facts: "Science is the most momentous contribution of Arab civilization to the modern world."

In addition, historians Edward Burns and Philip Ralph concluded that: "The intellectual achievements of the ... [Arabs] were far superior to any Europe could boast before the twelfth century." They also correctly acknowledged that: "In no subject were the [Arabs] farther advanced than in science. In fact, their achievements in this field were the best the world had seen since the end of the Hellenistic civilization."

The Arabs revered and respected the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, and were the first to suggest that the Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun. They were unsurpassed and unprecedented in their work in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, discovering the science of optics centuries before the work of Sir Isaac Newton. Arabs were the first to describe the chemical processes of elemental reactions and distillation, and their work in medicine was no less; they were the first to accurately diagnose tuberculosis, pleurisies, and the first neural disorders.

When the "Dark Ages" clothed Europe with ignorance, the Arab civilization was at the height of its splendor. Larger than the Roman Empire, the Arab world extended from Spain to the borders of China. The Qur'an had a specific mandate: fight ignorance and promote education. Thus, the first university in the world was born in Baghdad in the year 928, over a century before the more well-known University of Bologna (1100). And the libraries of Cordoba, Damascus, and ancient Alexandria were the largest of their time, containing thousands of texts from Arab and European philosophers and scientists alike.

The European Renaissance was also deeply indebted to that oriental civilization, the Arab civilization. It was from the Arabs, that the Europeans took the basic scientific,

technological, philosophical, and cultural foundations that enlightened humanity and put the west on top of the world and eventually led them in their global colonization.

To recap, the Arabic language and culture promoted knowledge and tolerance in the world.

Knowledge . As I have shown, the Arabs excelled in every prominent science and art. With the advent of Islam where the first word of the holy Quran says (The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray) and Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) went farther in explaining the many Quranic verses and chapters that have call for knowledge, peace, tolerance, love of one another and much more. The prophet said: "the ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr".

Tolerance . Yes, despite the bombardment of the media, Islam demonstrates a remarkable tolerance and acceptance of all peoples, regardless of who they are.

Arabs controlled Spain for eight centuries. Christians and Jews, equally with Muslims, enjoyed prosperity and justice, were admitted to universities, and were given shelter and protection at the cost of the state itself. However, when the Arabs and Jews were expelled, the European conquerors began the horrific persecution of all people in the region, forcing people to flee for their lives. This was the Inquisition. Arab Muslims provided safe refuge for those who fled death including Jews and Christians.

Islam emphasize tolerance, peace, respect, love and coexistence among all peoples. The Quran says ; " God has created you from one male and one female; and God made you peoples and tribes to get to know each other. Indeed, the most handsome in the eyes of God is the one who regards God most ..." Thus, God does not judge people by their color, nationality, or ethnicity. He judges them by their actions. This is a clear call for people to live in peace and to love one another. People of different faiths have always enjoyed justice and prosperity under Islam.

In this presentation I would like to emphasize that the Arab-Islamic culture does not deny the other two monotheistic religions, Judaism and Christianity and if someone is to deny either one then he/she is not a Muslim. Islam completed and perfected both of them. Listen to what the Holy Quran says about Jesus, "Peace be on you, the day you were born, the day you die and the day you resurrect." Hence, I always teach my students that, one cannot be a good Muslim unless he/she is a good Jew and a good Christian. Therefore, as educators, we should teach our students the values of tolerance, love, respect and understanding one another.

Today the Arab world is ripped apart as a result of the colonial era and its arbitrary dissection of the Orient by the British and the French. We need to repeat Edward Said's words that promote dialogue. We need to work together, all of us, as brothers

and sisters, because all of us have the same father and the same mother, Adam and Eve. We are one humanity and we must stop our greed and selfishness. We must transform our world into a more peaceful one through teaching our children, the leaders of the future, our languages and cultures. We all are related and family, all disputes can be solved by the family members. This is the message I share with my students. A "culture of education" is the only solution to the world's conflicts. There can be no peace if we do not get to know one another. There can be no peace if my brother or sister treats me like a stranger. There can be no peace if in my heart I do not find a way to forgive.

We all share words from our languages and characteristics from various cultures. Many European languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and English owe a great debt to Arabic. At least 5% of the English language came from Arabic. Thus, the notion of the so-called "conflict between civilizations" should be changed to a "conflict of ignorance", simply because civilizations are great human experience and the product of cooperation for the well being of humanity. Thus, ignorance is our main enemy and not our cultures. I want my voice to be heard. My voice tells of my soul and of my people that are not "others" but in everyway equal to the rest of the world, with a right to dignity, to justice and to peace.

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