General Assembly Session 56 meeting 43

The President

I should like to draw the attention of the representatives to the third report of the General Committee (A/56/250/Add.2).

In paragraph 1 of this report, the General Committee decided to recommend to the General Assembly that agenda item 169, "Administration of justice at the United Nations", be allocated to the Fifth Committee, on the understanding that any decision requiring amending the statute of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal or relating to the establishment of a higher-level jurisdiction would be subject to the advice of the Sixth Committee.

May I take it that the General Assembly decides to allocate agenda item 169, "Administration of justice at the United Nations", to the Fifth Committee, on the understanding that any decision requiring amending the statute of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal or relating to the establishment of a higher-level jurisdiction would be subject to the advice of the Sixth Committee?

The President

In paragraph 2 of its report, the General Committee decided, with regard to agenda item 12, "Report of the Economic and Social Council", to recommend to the General Assembly that the report of the Economic and Social Council, as a whole, be considered directly in plenary meeting, on the understanding that the Second, Third and Fifth Committees would remain seized of the chapters already referred to them for their usual consideration.

May I take it that the General Assembly decides, with regard to agenda item 12, "Report of the Economic and Social Council", to consider directly in plenary meeting the report of the Economic and Social Council as a whole, on the understanding that the Second, Third and Fifth Committees remain seized of the chapters already referred to them for their usual consideration?

Mr. Negroponte (United States)

The indiscriminate brutality of the 11 September terrorist attacks represented the antithesis of all that we would hope to achieve in a dialogue of civilizations, if by "civilization" we mean a mode of communal existence that expresses a people's finest qualities and greatest gifts and blessings.

Attempting to don Islam's mantle, the terrorists argued that they pursued a holy war whose premise was the non-existence of another people. But these men did not -- they could not -- represent Islam. Instead, criminal actions such as theirs reflected utter alienation and hatred -- a judgement that innocent people had no right to live, a unilateral decision to incinerate thousands of citizens of many lands and many faiths. Men and women died. Jews, Christians and Moslems died. Arabs, Asians, Africans, Europeans and Latin Americans died.

This was neither "dialogue" nor was it "civilization", but it unquestionably adds urgency to our mission here today. While we may be sure that the perpetrators of 11 September will receive justice, questions remain: How can we harmonize differing perceptions of the world's glorious diversity, how can we ensure that the savage impulse to negate the very existence of another people is consigned to humanity's past? To look at these questions within the framework of dialogue and civilization captures much that is essential to our task, and we are appreciative that the Secretary-General has raised our efforts to such a high level.

To begin, the greater danger confronting us in the world today is not that we speak in different languages, but that we don't always listen in any language. The art of hearing one another, the commitment to respond to what one is told: these are the fundamental dynamics of dialogue. And dialogue -- two-way communication -- is of supreme importance in attempting to address the vast complexity of civilizations that have evolved over the course of centuries and, indeed, millennia. For civilization is not static. Civilization is alive; it is the basis upon which dialogue with others is possible. Our civilizations are our voice and meaning; they are capacity for harmonious exchange; they are our capacity for mutual understanding.

The United States, of course, is a manifestation of Western civilization, with deep cultural roots in the ancient world of the Mediterranean, but it is much more than that. During the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, immigrants arrived not only from the parts of Western Europe traditionally associated with the American population, but also from regions in Eastern and Southern Europe and Asia. By the early twentieth century, these patterns had yielded to larger numbers of immigrants coming from Latin America, Asia and Africa.

And many of those who ultimately constituted the United States were not, of course, immigrants at all. They were slaves, or they were indigenous peoples whose arrival in North America predated European settlement by many centuries. These are the darkest facts in our history. Change came slowly. Six hundred thousand died in our Civil War as we put an end to slavery; the struggle for racial equality and civil rights extended through the twentieth century.

More remains to be done, but the difficulties of diversity have given definition to our best efforts and most inspiring accomplishments. E pluribus unum is a motto that captures the American experience well.

Here in New York we have seen the rise of Little Italy, Chinatown and the phenomenon sometimes referred to as "Moscow on the Hudson". On our West Coast, California public schools offer instruction in over 80 different languages, while Los Angeles possesses one of the largest Spanish-speaking populations of any city anywhere. In a world that is globalized, we ourselves are globalized. There is a portion of agony and vertigo in this, but a greater portion of treasure. The dialogue among civilizations as we practice it in the United States is an effort to reconcile what we believe and do together and what we believe and do alone. We are all Americans, but we are also Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Moslems and Hindus. There are 1,200 mosques in the United States. There are Buddhist temples. There are large communities of Sikhs and Eastern Orthodox Christians. This, today, in the year 2001, is America, and we are grateful for the constant challenge to be tolerant, the constant challenge to demonstrate mutual respect, the constant challenge to learn something new from human traditions and beliefs and ethnicities that are very old.

Today, in the shadow of 11 September, the same challenge confronts the world at large. Religion-based and communitarian conflict clouds the dawn of the twenty-first century. Some misguided individuals believe they can manipulate national and cultural values as if their actions took place behind a wall, but they delude themselves if they think their deeds are not seen and their words not heard.

In our modern, globalized world, sewn together with the threads of immigration, economic interdependence and communication, no civilization -- no culture, religion or ethnicity -- can live in isolation. What is not videotaped is faxed. What is not broadcast on radio is transmitted on the Internet. This is good. It gives us all the opportunity to have a sincere, genuine dialogue about the role our civilizations can play in enriching the future of mankind.

The Tehran Declaration of May 1999, issued at the Islamic Symposium on Dialogue among Civilizations, stated among its general principles respect for the dignity and equality of all human beings; genuine acceptance of cultural diversity; and mutual respect and tolerance for the views and values of different cultures and civilizations.

These are more than principles which Americans share. They are principles woven into the fabric of our national experience, and they are principles upon which we believe a wise and effective dialogue among civilizations can, in fact, be built.

Our ambitions for this dialogue should be great. In our globalized world, we should encourage, not hamper, the free flow of ideas. We should respect, not push aside, the values and beliefs of other cultures. We should cherish, not reject, the many manifestations of human diversity. The link between ignorance and violence cannot be ignored.

Culturally-based conflicts feed on prejudice, stereotypes, historical animosities and cynicism. So many tragedies have illuminated this fact for us. Now it is time for us to look into the fire yet again and bring the best qualities of our civilizations to bear on our problems, not the worst.

This dialogue among civilizations, in our opinion, is therefore an important and welcome initiative. We applaud and support it and look forward to its development in the months and years ahead.

Mr. Tuomiojia (Finland)

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