Calls for uniting Arabs and Muslims start from Malaysia

2 March 2009 

The Malaysian policy has been proved to be successful in many areas, mainly in forming a unique political identity through enhancing and expanding ties with the Arab and Muslim countries and their peoples.

It is astonishing how this far away country in South East Asia is still keen on bolstering ties with the Arab countries which is situated West Asia and North Africa in spite of all obstacles that hindered and still hindering the attainment of this goal which would grant the Malaysian and Arab leaderships an increasing role to play.

Recently, the Malaysian leadership represented by the Malaysian Minister of Information Ahmad Shabery Cheek presented an unprecedented suggestion during the 8^th meeting for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to enable and qualify the Palestinian people to launch organised campaign to spread awareness on the Palestinian harsh conditions. Malaysia also offered to support and contribute financially to materialise this proposal.

Malaysia has also finished building a comprehensive Arab City on its lands. It will be officially launched on Tuesday 3 March 2009. It offers everything the Arab tourists and visitors need in this Asian kingdom. It is noteworthy that the number of Arab tourists who visited Malaysia in 2008 reached almost 23 million people, 1.5 million are Arabs, mainly from the Gulf states. The figure is expected to hike as the Arab City, or Dhad City as they call it, is announced.

The new Arab City in Malaysia is expected to attract more Arab tourists and to expand the tourism industry in Malaysia since it portrays the true Arab heritage in its architectural. The city includes traditional souks (markets) selling Arab commodities exported from different Arab countries, an Arab and Islamic museum highlighting the historical Arab heritage, a conference center and 15 restaurants serving traditional Arab dishes.

Maybe this country has special and unique relation with Jordan, where 1000 Malaysian students are studying at universities. This was demonstrated in the speech of the Deputy Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak through condemning all kind and causes of terrorism, strongly supporting human rights, establishing the unity of Malaysia that includes under its umbrella more than one ethnicity and respecting the multi-cultural and religious diversity.

The historical beacon that attracts Malaysia to the Arab world is the commitments to Muslim people causes, solidarity, freedom and social development. We hope that one day those countries will realise the importance of creating a comprehensive Muslim union and economic, trade, and social unity in addition to enhancing the interior frontier for all of them.

Source:        Ammannews.com (unofficial translation)