UNESCO holds an extensive conference in Paris to consider means and ways of bringing the Muslims and the Jewish closer together. The conference, to start next Monday and end Wednesday under the catchphrase “Imams and Rabbis to Build Peace, would be attended by Dr. Ali Al-Samman, head of the Dialogue Committee in the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. The event, which the media would not be allowed to cover, would also be attended by some rabbis from within and outside Israeli, plus a number of imams and public figures from Palestine, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria. A UNESCO statement said U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and Jordan's King al-Hassan bin Talal would deliver speeches in the conference but would not attend it. “I am one of those who like to collect rather than disunite,” Samman told al-Masry al-Youm. He said his word in the meeting would criticize those he described as “people of dialogue” because their message is still controlled by the elite and has not yet moved to common people. He said interfaith dialogue would bring about no results unless the parties had the courage to choose what is right and fair, even if this would infuriate some of their relatives and families.
