Senior members of the Network of Arab Liberals (NAL) convened in Rabat on March 26 and 27, 2010 for a conference titled “Parliaments in the Arab World. Chances and Challenges for Liberal Political Parties”. The opening ceremony was held in the main hall of the Assembly of Councillors, the Upper House of the Moroccan Parliament. It was the first time the Network held a session in an Arab parliament – and, consequently, more than one speaker highlighted the historic importance and the political symbolism of the event. From Palestine Dr. Walid Shomaly and Mr. Aref Jaffal participated in this event as representatives of the Freedom Forum Palestine (FFP), a member in the NAL.

LI-President Hans Van Baalen and FNF’s Regional Director with Egyptian Delegates

Arab-Liberal Working Group on Migration Issues

“I want to pay tribute and respect to the Arab Liberals”, said Hans van Baalen, Member of the European Parliament and President of Liberal International, the world federation of liberal political parties. “We need cooperation, together we can solve problems, alone we cannot”, he said. On the sidelines of his visit to Rabat, van Baalen held political talks with the leaders of the Moroccan liberal parties. These constitute a formidable force in their country and also in parliament.

In his welcoming remarks, Mohamed Abied, the President of Union Constitutionnelle said that Morocco’s “modernization needs a strong liberal component”. Mohaned Lanser, Minister in the Royal Government and Secretary General of the Mouvement Populaire, said that Moroccan liberals “are proud of the renaissance of liberal thought”. He also said: “We are proud to see that this liberal family is extending to all Arab countries”.

In their discussions on the chances and challenges of parliamentary politics in the Arab world, the delegates – most of them sitting or former members of parliament themselves – painted a bleak picture of the situation in their countries: There was a general consensus that most Arab governments do not concede the space that is needed for genuine political competition. This has lead to a diminished role of the opposition parties thus, in turn, effectively eliminating the prerequisites for a peaceful transfer of power from the ruling party. In a programmatic paper, the delegates plead for a stronger role of parliaments in their respective countries as an independent power in a system of checks and balances; they demand transparent and representative elections and an end to the domination of political life by the ruling party. They also ask for a stronger role of women, the youth and minorities in the respective parliaments and uncensored access to the media, which remain under governmental control in many countries.

Human Rights for Migrants

While in Rabat, the Arab liberal politicians continued their dialogue on migration issues with a high level delegation of the European Liberal Democrat Reform Party (ELDR) led by their Vice President Marc Guerrero. This session followed a joint workshop last November in the European Parliament in Brussels where NAL and ELDR hat set out to find common positions in the migration issue. The two sides now issued a joint statement in which they emphasize the importance of protecting the human rights of migrants and call upon the European states to balance between security considerations and issues of development. They also call on their governments to strengthen efforts to develop legal channels of migration and raise awareness among prospective immigrants regarding the economic, social and political situation in Europe.

Please click on the link to read the Joint Statement between the Network of Arab Liberals and the European Liberal Democratic Party on Migration http://www.fnst-egypt.org/arab-europe-liberal-statement-migration-english.html

This text is available in English and Arabic

More than one hundred delegates representing NGOs, political parties, labour unions, international human rights organizations and the European Union joined the Conference on “Freedom of Association. A Roadmap for the Future” organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) from February 10 to 12, 2010. The three-day event marked the formal ending of a three-years regional project aimed at promoting the freedom of association in the Arab world. This project has been supported by the European Union and was – in the initial phase – focused on Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. In a later stage project activities were also conducted in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia

For more information on the conference please click on the following links:

http://www.fnst-egypt.org/eindex.html

http://www.arab-laws-reform.net

This is the title of a symposium, which will be organized by the Foundation’s office in Jerusalem in cooperation with the „Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History“ and which will be held in the premises of the Hebrew University Jerusalem on February 22nd 2010.

[SinglePic not found]The foundation conducts the event on the occasion of the 150th birthday of its patron, Friedrich Naumann. Within the framework of the conference we commemorate the 150th birthday anniversary of another significant liberal personality and Jewish contemporary of Friedrich Naumann: Hugo Preuss, who also carries the title “the father of the German constitution of the Weimar Republic”.

The Foundation’s office in Jerusalem takes this „double-birthday” as an opportunity, to illuminate the life and work of both of these liberal politicians and thinkers.

At the same time the conference will address the German-Jewish tradition of liberalism and its continuation its historical consequences in the time before and after the foundation of the State of Israel.

On the occasion of this anniversary year the Friedrich Naumann Foundation-Jerusalem will also translate the Foundation’s publication about the life and work of Friedrich Naumann into Hebrew. In the framework of the conference the Hebrew-edition of the Foundation’s publication about Naumann, which has been extended by an article written by Prof. Moshe Zimmermann dealing with Naumann’s relation towards the Jews, will be presented to the public for the first time.

President Shimon Peres, has been awarded the Walther-Rathenau-Prize. He received the prize in an award-ceremony by the Walther Rathenau Institute, held in Berlin on January, 28th..

The day before, Peres had given the key-note speech at a special session of the German Bundestag, commemorating the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

German Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Free Democrats, the German Liberal party, Guido Westerwelle, acknowledged Peres as being one of the defining figures in 20th Century foreign politics. Regarding the conflict in the Middle East, Westerwelle stressed, that he agrees with Peres in many respects. He also stated, that in the personality of President Mahmud Abbas, “Israel has a reliable partner on the Palestinian side. Now it is vital to seize the chances this constellation has to offer. Time is running and a stagnation of the peace-process is not an option.”

In his acceptance speech, Peres declared that, while being in the German capital, he does not only feel reminded of the Shoa, but he has a feeling of great friendship as well.

He commemorated Walther Rathenau as an important statesman and a German Foreign Minister during Weimar Republic. He remarked that Rathenau did not want any personal physical protection, despite threats against him as a Jewish German. Rathenau, who had become a symbol of German democracy and active foreign policy, was assassinated by German right-wing radicals on June, 24th, 1922. Peres cited Rathenau`s contemporary Albert Einstein: He declared after Rathenau’s death, that “it would have been acceptable and understandable if Rathenau had decided to stay out of politics. But he was a fighter and wanted to fulfil his duty for Germany.”

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s International Academy for Leadership (IAF) invites leadership engaged in politics, economics, administration and media to join an online seminar on Freedom and Property. The seminar will be from 01 – 21 February 2010.

The seminar is divided into three phases. In the first part, participants are given materials to read to deepen their knowledge. In the second part, they are encouraged to discuss via an online forum their thoughts and insights. Lastly, participants will be asked to write an essay. For more information, please click here: Freedom & Property – Seminar Overview_IAF.

The seminar does not require participants to be online at all times. They have the flexibility to work at their own pace provided they meet the deadlines assigned to each task.

Based on their contribution and quality of their performance, IAF will invite 24 participants to Gummersbach, Germany to continue the discussions from 11 – 18 April 2010.

Application procedure: Please e-mail letters of intent outlining responsibilities and relevance to the seminar applied for and CVs to jerusalem@fnst.org. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

The deadline for submission of applications is 14 January 2010.

Please click here to see the report Final-ceremony-8.12.09

Please visit YEP website at www.yep.ps

This report is available only in English and Arabic

On Wednesday 16 December 2009, the Foundation met in Ramallah with the Foundation’s  Palestinian ex-scholarship holders.  Out of the five Palestinian ex-scholars, only three  attended. They were Dr. Omar Yousef, Mr. Khalil Nijem and Mr. Suleiman Abu Dayyeh. Dr. Kamal Abdulfattah apologized  and Mr. Jamal Nabhan could not come to Ramallah because he is lives in Gaza .

Each ex-scholar talked about his current work and career. The Foundation’s director Dr. Hans-Georg Fleck updated the ex-scholars about the Foundation’s work and future plans in Palestine and the region.

This gathering takes place on a yearly basis.

click here please Greetings from Jerusalem 2009

Through an initiative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty, Liberal International’s key documents have been translated and published in Arabic. The 92-page volume titled ‘The Program of Liberal International – Key Documents of the World Federation of Liberal Political Parties’. If you are interested in ordering a copy, this can be done by contacting Egypt@fnst.org and you will receive a hard copy of the book for free. The book is also available for downloading at http://www.scribd.com/fnfcairo. , plus you can view the Foundation’s office in Cairo website at  www.fnst-egypt.org

At the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Kibbutz Nahsholim (between Tel Aviv and Haifa) the FNF Jerusalem office conducted in the beginning of November a two and a half days seminar for its multicultural staff consisting of Israeli, Palestinian and German members.

In working-groups and in the plenary the staff discussed and worked on various topics among them: improving teamwork and team spirit, deepening the knowledge on liberal issues, dissemination of liberalism, efficiency of administrative work. The seminar served the staff as a good opportunity to discuss internal work related issues lengthily, to improve the mutual understanding and to get to know each other better. Besides the busy working schedule the seminar program also included group dynamic exercises as well as a guided tour through the ancient city of Akko.