Malaysia, 2006

First, I wish to

congratulate Ms. Haya Rasheed Al-Khalifa and the

State of Bahrain on her election as the President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-first session. As an

Asian, a Muslim and the current Chairman of the

Summit Conference of the Organization of the Islamic

Conference, I welcome her election with pride and

satisfaction. I am confident that she will be able to

steer the proceedings of the Assembly with

consummate skill and achieve meaningful results.

Needless to say, Malaysia will support her in any way

that we can.

Allow me to also pay tribute to her distinguished

predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, the Foreign Minister of

Sweden, for the exemplary way in which he guided the

proceedings of the Assembly’s sixtieth session, during

some of the most trying times for the United Nations.

Speaking of trying times, I would also like to pay

tribute to Mr. Kofi Annan for his tireless efforts in

serving humanity, not only during his tenure as the

Secretary-General but throughout an entire career

dedicated to the ideals of our Organization.

I must pay a special tribute to the members of the

Secretariat and those serving under the United Nations

banner, in particular those who have made the ultimate

sacrifice of their lives, like the four members of the

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon who were

killed last July during the height of the Israeli offensive

against Lebanon.

Mr. Mérorès (Haiti), Vice-President, took the

Chair.

We must continually remind ourselves that the

United Nations was brought into being to serve as a

forum, and, as in Tennyson’s words, to be a parliament

of man. Six decades later, we have yet to achieve the

intentions of the United Nations Charter. Indeed, the

situation in some corners of the world is bleaker than it

ever was before. Yet the human family is still unable to

find solutions to its own problems.

As I review in my mind the events of the past

year, I personally feel most disturbed that many of the

ills in the affairs of our world were the result of

irrational actions caused by prejudice in human

attitudes. Basically, we have failed to engage in

dialogue, communicate and reach out to one another as

fellow humans inhabiting the same planet. Indeed, the

greatest discord today exists among the descendants of

Abraham. These are the People of the Book: the

followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, who in

fact share a common beginning, which was the religion

of Abraham.

Of course, dialogue will be endless if it is not

accompanied by action. The purpose of honest

discussion and engagement is to enable us to formulate

rational and effective policies. To achieve this, I

believe that all of us need to listen well and be sincere

in our relations with one another. Much of the dialogue

that takes place results in the parties talking at, instead

of talking to, one another. Any dialogue will certainly

fail if it is predetermined that certain States are

“rogues” or that certain countries are necessarily

“evil”. Such name-calling provides an excuse not to

listen, let alone engage in serious negotiations to find

amicable solutions to serious problems.

A blatant example of the refusal to grant even a

hearing was the early decision by many important

countries not to recognize or do business with Hamas

after that group was elected to power in Palestine

through a properly conducted democratic election.

External assistance was stopped. Funds were blocked.

As a result, millions of Palestinians have suffered for

months without pay or food. I hope that all sanctions

against Palestine will soon be a matter of the past,

when President Abbas succeeds in the task of putting

together a coalition Government embracing all parties

in Palestine. Surely, to dictate or show preferences as

06-52885 32

to who should be elected to power in other countries is

irrational and a sign of double standards.

The oppression of Palestine, which is being

allowed to fester; the invasion of Afghanistan; the

conquest of Iraq; and, most recently, the unrestrained

destruction of Lebanon have all been carried out in the

name of the war against terrorism. The actions of Israel

in the Middle East are being supported, either openly

or tacitly, supposedly in defence of the Judeo-Christian

tradition against the spread of radical militant Islam,

thus legitimizing all those actions, no matter how

brutal. Even Western commentators have conceded that

Israel’s latest assault against Lebanon has helped make

what may once have been extremist opinions part of

the Muslim mainstream. The Muslim world certainly

sees all this as complicity to humiliate Muslim

countries and Muslim societies.

I am afraid that the schism between the West and

the Muslim world will grow even deeper unless the

international community is prepared to accept certain

facts as the truth. The fact is that the sense of

humiliation being felt by the Muslim world is the root

cause for the loss of trust and confidence between the

Muslim world, on the one side, and Judeo-Christian

civilization, on the other. If the international

community refuses or fails to accept this fact, then I

am afraid we are denying the truth.

I believe that much of the prejudice against

Muslims stems from a lack of understanding of the true

nature of Islam and what it stands for. For instance,

there is a lack of appreciation in the West of the role of

religion in the lives of Muslims. Modern Europe has

generally embraced secularism and has largely

removed religion from the public domain, placing it in

the confines of the home and family. For Muslims, the

teachings of Islam serve as their guide for doing all

things, whether conducting their affairs in the public

domain or practicing the religion in their private

homes. I suggest that many of the misunderstandings,

especially those between the Christian West and the

Muslim world, arise out of this fundamental

misunderstanding of the place of religion in the daily

lives of Muslims all over the world. When dealing with

Muslims, one cannot separate them from their religion,

because that is their way of life.

My country, Malaysia, is a multi-ethnic, multi-

religious, multicultural country. However, Islam is

respected by all our people as the official religion. The

Government which I now lead has embarked on a

programme to communicate a proper appreciation of

Islam as a force for good. We call it Islam Hadhari,

which is an approach for achieving a progressive

society that is compatible with modernity yet firmly

rooted in the noble values and injunctions of Islam.

This approach has been accepted by everyone in

Malaysia because underlying the whole message of

Islam Hadhari is a call for equitable development and

progress. It is a call for moderation and tolerance as

well as the assurance of justice and fairness for all,

irrespective of their faith.

The point I am making is that Islam the religion

is not the source of intolerance between people of

different faiths. In fact, one of the fundamental

teachings of Islam is the requirement to respect other

religions. The Holy Koran contains that commandment

by God. We must not confuse the perverse words and

evil deeds of a small number of extremists who operate

on the fringes of Muslim societies as a reflection of

Islamic culture. The demonization of Islam must be

stopped and Islamophobia must be removed. The

politics of fear must cease to dictate the conduct of

relations between peoples and nations. If the politics of

fear is not stopped, then prejudice and irrationality will

continue to prevail in the affairs of the world, and

dialogue will continue to fail.

However, we must persevere, not only to

eliminate political and religious discord among men,

but also to eradicate social and economic injustices,

particularly poverty and disease. That is an

international responsibility, not only in the name of

humanity, but also as a necessary aspect of maintaining

international peace and stability.

We must therefore do all we can to ensure that the

impoverished and marginalized also enjoy the fruits of

economic growth, globalization and free trade. It

would indeed be unfortunate if we were unable to do

so, because the world has become more wealthy than

ever before. We should learn from history that any

economic system in which disparities exist cannot be

sustained in the long term. All too often, such societies

come to a violent end. The civil wars and social unrest

we witness today mark a phase that we must stop.

Malaysia firmly believes that the key to

prosperity, inclusion and equity is sustained economic

growth based on the building of national capacities,

particularly human capital development. While

33 06-52885

education and skills by themselves are no guarantee of

success, they are indispensable ingredients for the

greater productivity of individual citizens, which in

turn gives them hope for a better future.

However, efforts at the national level alone are

not sufficient. Those efforts need to be supplemented

by the establishment of an international economic

order that would cover areas such as trade, finance,

debt, official development assistance (ODA) and

development, and that would enable the developing

world to overcome its difficulties and contribute to

global prosperity. Some progress has been made, but

the overall results have been far from satisfactory.

Given the economic clout that the developed

countries possess, it is essential that they demonstrate

flexibility and goodwill at this critical juncture in the

world trade talks. Malaysia will continue to be

supportive of multilateral trade negotiations.

Malaysia’s approach will, however, never be premised

simply on the notion of progressive liberalization. We

will continue to take a pragmatic approach by

combining liberalization with regulation in a policy

mix consistent with the country’s economic conditions

and development needs.

It is all too clear that our human family must

come together and that its members must talk to one

another if we are to overcome the problems that

threaten to engulf us all. To talk, however, is easy; to

engage in dialogue and to communicate is more

difficult. Indeed, this may be the most difficult of all

human endeavours, given the human temperament with

all its passions and foibles. It will require courage,

humility and an appreciation of the diversities that

make us human.

We must not be patronizing or condescending in

our relationships, and we must certainly not be

threatening. We must be persuasive and patient in

dealing with complexities. The pursuit of peace, justice

and fairness in relations among nations and peoples has

never been easy. Let us take up this challenge, with all

the fortitude that it requires, and together put into

effect a better world.