A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana
A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana
A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana
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RUI OChÔA<br />
A sHAred civiLiZATionAL HeriTAGe<br />
Abderrahim Foukara, Aljazeera’s<br />
Washington, DC bureau chief, claimed that<br />
he was not entirely convinced that<br />
September 11 th had changed the world<br />
irrevocably. Encouraged by recent events<br />
in the Muslim world, the Moroccan<br />
reporter reminded his listeners that the<br />
region is going through a unique period<br />
in its history: a period in which both<br />
Arabs and non-Arabs are fighting for freedom<br />
and dignity: values – he stated – that<br />
Americans understand well.<br />
As Foukara stated, “The mostly peaceful<br />
and extremely creative manner in which<br />
millions of Egyptians have recently tried<br />
to claim back their political destiny and<br />
how millions of Americans received and<br />
celebrated that message cannot be glossed<br />
over as nothing more than a comma in<br />
the long text of history.”<br />
9/11<br />
A <strong>decade</strong> <strong>later</strong><br />
The Aljazeera reporter believed that in<br />
spite of September 11 th and the furor<br />
over its causes and consequences, “we,<br />
as human beings, have a rare historic<br />
opportunity here to pause, reflect on<br />
the future, and go back to believing in<br />
the existence of a common civilizational<br />
heritage, even at a time when the<br />
sound of gunfire and explosions lure us<br />
in the opposite direction.”<br />
The visiting journalist from Morocco<br />
then expressed his happiness over being<br />
in Portugal, and stated that he was convinced<br />
that the people in the Middle<br />
East and North Africa who were spearheading<br />
the “Arab Spring” would turn<br />
their attentions to the way Portugal and<br />
Spain had made their transitions to<br />
democracy.<br />
*Freshman in Journalism at the Lisbon Polytechnic Institute.<br />
‘ encouraged by recent<br />
events in the muslim<br />
world, the moroccan<br />
reporter [Abderrahim<br />
Foukara] reminded his<br />
listeners that the region<br />
is going through a unique<br />
period in its history:<br />
a period in which both<br />
Arabs and non-Arabs<br />
are fighting for freedom<br />
and dignity: values – he<br />
stated – that Americans<br />
understand well.<br />
’<br />
during the conference series, a photo exhibit was held of new york’s most iconic structures, loaned by the us embassy in Lisbon.<br />
Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011 27
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