I would like first to thank God for giving me the chance to meet with you and participate in this important conference on central topics regarding the means to fight against extremism and violence.

Dear friends, 

Let me start to ask: why are extremism and violence are growing daily at all religious, national, political, and social levels? The answers would definitely be various. Some believe a religion, whatever it calls for, is the origin of extremism and violence. Others think that the religious people, institutions and groups are the foundation stones of violence and extremism. Despotism in all its forms, the absence of justice, poverty, ignorance, mental disorder are believed to be factors of extremism and violence as well.   

Each can look at the matter in her/his own way, but in general extremism and violence are certainly a product of multiple problems, which needs to be looked into objectively without prejudice or prior convictions that are often unfair. 

I’m not here to prefer a reason to the another, but I wanted to say that violence and extremism generally are complicated phenomena that often occur as a result of multiple factors. Therefore, one should be aware of attempts by some to give them a certain character as if it had to do with genes.  

 

Dear friends,

I will talk about freedom of expression and its importance in the face of extremism and violence since I still believe that there is a close link between totalitarianism, muzzling freedom of speech and violence. People who are not able to express freely their ideas and opinions have more tendency to violence than the others who do. So, if we want to have non-violent individuals and violence-free countries, we have to make sure that freedoms are there. 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have clearly emphasized the right to freedom of expression, considering it as essential if other human rights are to be achieved. At an individual level, freedom of expression is key to the development, dignity and life of every person. At a national level, however, freedom of expression is a fundamental criterion for good government and for economic and social progress.  

Everyone is aware of this fact,except for authoritarian regimes that regard freedom of expression as a form of treason and an act against the state, and they accordingly give themselves the right to shut down media outlets, arrest journalists and muzzle anyone who wants to express their personal views and convictions toward many issues being believed to be wrong.

I believe that freedom of expression can be a critical tool in the face of violence and extremism because it allows no violent action to be justified on moral grounds. Individuals and groups with violent and extremist tendencies often justify their actions by their inability to express themselves and opinions in addition to be subjected to oppression and political, religious and social exclusion.

Ensuring freedom of expression would provide people with opportunities for knowledge, education and constructive conflict so that they would not object if all opinions and ideas come under criticism, which would not be in the interest of radical and extremist ideas and expressions. We must remember that radical ideas grow under cover of darkness and under the weight of the restrictions on freedoms and loss of human rights.     

 

Dear friends, 

Having been suffering from autocracy for long times, some nations have lost the sense of responsibility because they are used to the idea that words speak louder than actions, and therefore it happened that they have had a surplus of words and a shortage of actions. The danger of the surplus of words lies in that feelings of discontent, rejection and complaint are bound to be running high. Extremism and terrorism are a necessary consequence of such increased feelings. Those who are incapable of doing actions have nothing to do but speak. When this kind of people talk, they talk irrationally. 

Our Arab Spring’s experience has revealed the fact that when peoples have the chance to express themselves peacefully and freely, voices of extremism drop. We had almost felt that our revolutionary spring against dictatorial regimes and corruption in our countries was at the same time the autumn of the extremism projects. 

We used to argue with those who believed in “a change by force” by saying: look at how we could bring about the desired change in a peaceful matter! They used to responded: wait until seeing with your own eyes how the world, which calls itself the free world, would not allow you to have the change you desire! They were foreseeing that some western governments would stand by the counter-revolutions behind the scenes. When came true what they used to foresee, our argument turned to be flimsy and their work has become stronger.     

Using military means alone in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism is a big mistake, especially in those areas where the sense of oppression and lack of justice and freedoms is booming. In this case, the use of the armed force alone will inevitably lead to an increase in feelings of frustration, rejection and resistance by individuals and groups described as extremist. Hence, it would be good for the world to think of a comprehensive plan to solve the problem of extremism, taking into account the root causes of this problem.   

 

Dear Friends, 

Perhaps, it is a good occasion to shed light on one more significant aspect of hazards of despotism and missing of freedom of expression in our Arab world. As mentioned above, the increasingly growing feelings of disappointment and resentment in Arab and Muslim street have been grassroots radicalism and terrorism.

However, a devotedly extremist person cannot carry out a terrorist act unless such action is justified in the religious text; since this person is supposedly very keen on the religious legitimacy of his actions. Here is a dual problem. On the one hand, a large group of spiritually devoted people considers many statements as part of the religion, whereas such statements, in fact, are attitudes and views produced by some religious scholars, or merely accounts that are not possible to be authenticated.

Radicals may get in such controversial views and accounts what legitimizes their terrorist acts. Of course, such false texts would not have gained a special place in young peoples' hearts if the institution of autocracy in the Muslim world had not stood against every endeavor to renew religious discourse. Here, we have another byproduct of autocracy and lacking of freedom of expression.

When we say it is unwise to attribute extremism and terrorism to a specific race or religion, our saying is based at least on two main facts: first is the history, which clearly tells us: all nations and groups had experienced many cases of extremism and terrorism. Second is the reality of religion itself, and here I'm concerned with talking about the religion of Islam that I'm familiar with. 

The Holly Book of Muslims in its plain and agreed verses ensures freedom of religion and of expression. This is based actually on free will, which – as mentioned in Qur'an- is the core of ethical system of this religion. The Holly Qur'an is very clear about this issue. For example, it states:" Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error ", that is to say the religion should not be embraced under coercion because faith is based on knowledge; knowledge of right path and wrong path. Knowledge can be acquired only free will. The conception of free in Islam is very comprehensive so that it includes freedom of faith and freedom of conscience as well. Therefore, freedom here is a responsibility shouldered primarily by individual. 

World's problems at present are so big and serious that it is no longer feasible to deal with them based on race, religion or geography. We all are responsible for the ongoing challenges and the consequences as well. We have to think of creative approaches to counter the problem of extremism and terrorism. Since my word is devoted to talk about the role of freedom of expression in countering extremism, it is quite reasonable to say that radicals have also the right to express themselves through peaceful means, and we ought to hear, discuss and understand their problems. For example, why don't western media give a space for serious discussions on this issue, instead of promoting only stereotypes and caricatures of extremism?!

Like many people, I believe that no freedom for those who have no faith in freedom. However, the question is: Does this ban include freedom of expression too? How can we explain the wrongness of those radical ideas while it is forbidden to put such fanatic views on the table for free and objective debates?  

 

Dear Friends, 

We Arabs have our own special experiment with freedom of expression, but it is quite ironic. Before Islam, Arabs had not been familiar with arts, except poetry, which, of course, has to do with the art of speech. Poets had used to enjoy greater freedom of expression than tribal leaders. For example, a poet used to have the right to compose a poem about any young female so that he may depict her qualities and praise her beauty in details. Poets used to do all of that publicly with impunity. Meanwhile, if it happened that a tribe chief did something like that, he would have gotten the severe blame at least.

When Islam emerged at the beginning of the seventh century, the first word frequently repeated by Prophet Mohammed was: "Read", it was also act of speech.Anybody delving deeply into the Holly Book of Muslims will realize that Prophet Mohammed's wars - all battles he had fought- either were in self-defense or aimed to remove restrictions imposed on liberties. Freedom of expression had always been at the forefront of it all. 

Moreover, when we contemplate the Arabs through their Arabic language, we immediately realize that they were a nation of words par excellence so that no other nation may resemble them in this course.  Their Arabic contains around sixteen thousands of linguistic stems, which is an abundance resulted from long work in the domain of speech and language. 

Hence, the harshest punishment an Arab person could be exposed to is to prevent him from talking and deny him his right to express himself and his conviction. Some Arab regimes have already exercised severe repressive policies against freedoms. This has resulted in the emergence of underground radical groups. 

Regretfully, some governments in countries claiming to believe in freedom prompted such radicals to cling to their extremist convictions when these countries failed the moderate Arab projects of liberation, and often sided with the despotic regimes.

As long as wise people are fully aware that violent extremism won't stop within boundaries of countries where it originated, and that it can find advocates within the developed nations' populations, it is therefore in the interest of the entire world to take urgent and inclusive measures to counter it. The most important of such measures is to counter autocracy and repression in communities that serve as incubators of extremism. Weeds grow only wherever useful trees disappear.  

Many Thanks for You!