nefertiti
08-12-03, 14:28
A letter from Dyab Abou Jahjah to all AEL members
Bismillah arrahman arrahim,
Dear brothers and sisters,
At this critical moment in the history of our Nation, our movement has reached a crossroads. After more than three years of its foundation in February 2000, the Arab European League is ready for maturity. Many things happened along the road of our struggle for equal rights and identity, against exclusion and assimilation. We had our ups and downs, we made good and bad decisions and we tasted victory and defeat. But not one moment did we feel weak and not one moment we reconsidered the essence of our commitment to realise our goals in the service of our community and nation.
When we founded the AEL three years ago we could only dream of the magnitude of the impact that we now have on the political and societal scene in both Belgium and the Netherlands. But we stay humble and aware of the fact that our
struggle is still at the beginning, and that if we are to reach our goals a lot more is needed.
We need more determination in the face of the ongoing criminalisation of our movement. Anything thrown at us should be returned in ten folds to where it came from. The more we are attacked and accused and faced with defamation and
lies, the more we should realise that we are really causing the oppressor a lot of trouble, that he is shaking.
We need more dedication to our ideals and principals, more discipline for it is only through discipline that we can move forward. We need more awareness of our own strength and weakness, and of our environment. More knowledge about
our own history and roots so that we can base ourselves upon it to forge our future. Therefore we need to spend more time learning and teaching each other. We need to revive our knowledge of our Arabic language as being the way for a
good understanding of our religion, culture and history. Our language is also the first line of defence against assimilation and the mean of communication among our people all across Europe.
Next to our Arabic common language we should respect and cherish our regional tongues and dialects. Only when we
recognise and accept our differences we will be able of consolidating our unity. We should be capable of exercising self-criticism and accepting it from our brothers and sisters. At the same time we have to always keep our criticism of
each other constructive and meant for the best of our cause and avoid demoralising each other.
The most important element to preserve and develop is the popular character of our movement. The AEL is a popular political movement defending and organising all groups of the Arab Islamic community without making any class
distinction but with extra attention to the most oppressed and excluded. The AEL should never become an elite club or a think tank, it should develop its activities from the grassroots up. If we fail to mobilise and represent the most oppressed group of our community we will be doomed to failure. The oppressed and the poor always form the most dynamic component of a movement for change, and we are a movement for change. Another crucial element is ideological clarity.
The Ideology of the AEL is the result of a synthesis between two political movements: the Arab
Nationalist and the Islamist. The AEL is an Arab National movement with a Muslim-democratic project for society. This vision is outlined in the Ideological note that is included with this text. That note was approved in the Congress of AEL in
Holland at the end of May 2003 and approved as such by the representation of AEL Belgium at the same congress. Every member of the AEL should defend this line as explained in the note and be loyal to its principals. Without Ideological clarity no political movement can ever succeed. Our critics will argue that our ideology has no relevancy in Europe, and that it is just a burden to our struggle as they understand that struggle only along economical lines. But
we know that economy and social-economical rights are not the only important dimension in the lives of people. Identity and spirituality are at least as crucial if not even more important. We do not want to lose our culture and religion in order to be accepted and included economically, and the fact that we want to preserve them should not be used as an argument to exclude and oppress us. At the same time we do not want to choose between our national identity and our
religion. It is not up to anybody to allow us only one of the two, we need the two and we will preserve the two. People building their identity policy only on religious lines and for the rest neglecting cultural identity are on their way to total assimilation and to losing even their religion. National/cultural Identity (Arab/Amazigh) is the first defence line of our religion. If we lose that, the next thing will be to lose Islam. Building an Islamic and Arab pillar of institutions within Europe enabling us to preserve and promote our identity and religion is necessary to fight back against the natural and forced assimilation process. Only with such a pillar we could turn back the tide. We should not only be accepted as individuals but also as a group, a community, a people. In a Europe of peoples and regions the Arab-Islamic community should be recognised.
There is no other movement in Europe that is openly working with such an analysis, and here for is our responsibility even bigger. Our National policy in Europe does not limit itself to the struggle against assimilation but also it is important in keeping the bound with our original homeland. Struggle for al shoura in our Arab Homeland and for its liberation from occupation and oppression is one of our main goals. The Arab Federal State under Al Shoura is our ultimate goal. This Arab state will be the heart of the Islamic Umma and will be a huge step towards realising a confederation of all Muslim states. It is very clear that all these goals are not in line with what the current establishment wants for our people whether here or in the Arab Homeland. It is from the context of exclusion, oppression, assimilation and occupation that we are departing. This means that all the forces of the status quo
are against us. Established structures within and without our community will try to stop us and the pressure against us will be enormous.
There for it is imperative to lift our self to a new dimension through internal organisation and structuring. We have for the moment members in more than 12 countries in Europe and two established national branches in Belgium and the Netherlands. The Belgian Board dismissed itself as a federal board and gave me the duty to form an interim federal board of the movement in preparation of a general AEL Congress in 2005. It also has elected Ahmed Azzuz as president of AEL-Belgium till the Congress of AEL-Belgium in February 2004. Brother Azzuz is one of the 5 founders of the AEL and has proven himself by building the strongest branch of our movement in the city of Antwerp. I will preserve my mandate as member of the National Board of AEL Belgium till 2004 and will fully support the presidency of brother Azzuz.
At the same time the Congress of AEL-Holland elected me as temporary president, I see my task there as one of coordination and support in setting up the local branches, but above all finding a new president from within the movement. I hope to achieve this goal by October 2003 so that I can concentrate on my work as Federal president and work on structuring our members in France and preparing the European Congress of 2005.
From my position as a federal president I will always be involved in the ideological issues and the strategy issues of the national branches. The movement should grow as one and think as one while act according to local necessities. A draft constitution of AEL international is being worked out for the moment and will be discussed and voted in 2005. On the election front the AEL will launch the Muslim Democratic Party – MDP- as its political election structure. The MDP will be our political party and the AEL our movement. MDP is the body and the AEL is the soul to put it in these terms. The MDP will formulate a general and comprehensive political program on the lines of the general political vision of the AEL. The MDP is also open for other Muslims who share our Muslim-democratic vision and are not member of the AEL. It is also open for non-Muslims who believe in the Muslim democratic project of society. This coming year will be a crucial year on many levels and a lot of work has to be done; this work is a duty of all of us and an obligation towards Allah swt, our Nation and our community.
Assalamo alaikom wa rahmato allah wa barakatoh
Your Brother, Dyab Abou Jahjah
Bismillah arrahman arrahim,
Dear brothers and sisters,
At this critical moment in the history of our Nation, our movement has reached a crossroads. After more than three years of its foundation in February 2000, the Arab European League is ready for maturity. Many things happened along the road of our struggle for equal rights and identity, against exclusion and assimilation. We had our ups and downs, we made good and bad decisions and we tasted victory and defeat. But not one moment did we feel weak and not one moment we reconsidered the essence of our commitment to realise our goals in the service of our community and nation.
When we founded the AEL three years ago we could only dream of the magnitude of the impact that we now have on the political and societal scene in both Belgium and the Netherlands. But we stay humble and aware of the fact that our
struggle is still at the beginning, and that if we are to reach our goals a lot more is needed.
We need more determination in the face of the ongoing criminalisation of our movement. Anything thrown at us should be returned in ten folds to where it came from. The more we are attacked and accused and faced with defamation and
lies, the more we should realise that we are really causing the oppressor a lot of trouble, that he is shaking.
We need more dedication to our ideals and principals, more discipline for it is only through discipline that we can move forward. We need more awareness of our own strength and weakness, and of our environment. More knowledge about
our own history and roots so that we can base ourselves upon it to forge our future. Therefore we need to spend more time learning and teaching each other. We need to revive our knowledge of our Arabic language as being the way for a
good understanding of our religion, culture and history. Our language is also the first line of defence against assimilation and the mean of communication among our people all across Europe.
Next to our Arabic common language we should respect and cherish our regional tongues and dialects. Only when we
recognise and accept our differences we will be able of consolidating our unity. We should be capable of exercising self-criticism and accepting it from our brothers and sisters. At the same time we have to always keep our criticism of
each other constructive and meant for the best of our cause and avoid demoralising each other.
The most important element to preserve and develop is the popular character of our movement. The AEL is a popular political movement defending and organising all groups of the Arab Islamic community without making any class
distinction but with extra attention to the most oppressed and excluded. The AEL should never become an elite club or a think tank, it should develop its activities from the grassroots up. If we fail to mobilise and represent the most oppressed group of our community we will be doomed to failure. The oppressed and the poor always form the most dynamic component of a movement for change, and we are a movement for change. Another crucial element is ideological clarity.
The Ideology of the AEL is the result of a synthesis between two political movements: the Arab
Nationalist and the Islamist. The AEL is an Arab National movement with a Muslim-democratic project for society. This vision is outlined in the Ideological note that is included with this text. That note was approved in the Congress of AEL in
Holland at the end of May 2003 and approved as such by the representation of AEL Belgium at the same congress. Every member of the AEL should defend this line as explained in the note and be loyal to its principals. Without Ideological clarity no political movement can ever succeed. Our critics will argue that our ideology has no relevancy in Europe, and that it is just a burden to our struggle as they understand that struggle only along economical lines. But
we know that economy and social-economical rights are not the only important dimension in the lives of people. Identity and spirituality are at least as crucial if not even more important. We do not want to lose our culture and religion in order to be accepted and included economically, and the fact that we want to preserve them should not be used as an argument to exclude and oppress us. At the same time we do not want to choose between our national identity and our
religion. It is not up to anybody to allow us only one of the two, we need the two and we will preserve the two. People building their identity policy only on religious lines and for the rest neglecting cultural identity are on their way to total assimilation and to losing even their religion. National/cultural Identity (Arab/Amazigh) is the first defence line of our religion. If we lose that, the next thing will be to lose Islam. Building an Islamic and Arab pillar of institutions within Europe enabling us to preserve and promote our identity and religion is necessary to fight back against the natural and forced assimilation process. Only with such a pillar we could turn back the tide. We should not only be accepted as individuals but also as a group, a community, a people. In a Europe of peoples and regions the Arab-Islamic community should be recognised.
There is no other movement in Europe that is openly working with such an analysis, and here for is our responsibility even bigger. Our National policy in Europe does not limit itself to the struggle against assimilation but also it is important in keeping the bound with our original homeland. Struggle for al shoura in our Arab Homeland and for its liberation from occupation and oppression is one of our main goals. The Arab Federal State under Al Shoura is our ultimate goal. This Arab state will be the heart of the Islamic Umma and will be a huge step towards realising a confederation of all Muslim states. It is very clear that all these goals are not in line with what the current establishment wants for our people whether here or in the Arab Homeland. It is from the context of exclusion, oppression, assimilation and occupation that we are departing. This means that all the forces of the status quo
are against us. Established structures within and without our community will try to stop us and the pressure against us will be enormous.
There for it is imperative to lift our self to a new dimension through internal organisation and structuring. We have for the moment members in more than 12 countries in Europe and two established national branches in Belgium and the Netherlands. The Belgian Board dismissed itself as a federal board and gave me the duty to form an interim federal board of the movement in preparation of a general AEL Congress in 2005. It also has elected Ahmed Azzuz as president of AEL-Belgium till the Congress of AEL-Belgium in February 2004. Brother Azzuz is one of the 5 founders of the AEL and has proven himself by building the strongest branch of our movement in the city of Antwerp. I will preserve my mandate as member of the National Board of AEL Belgium till 2004 and will fully support the presidency of brother Azzuz.
At the same time the Congress of AEL-Holland elected me as temporary president, I see my task there as one of coordination and support in setting up the local branches, but above all finding a new president from within the movement. I hope to achieve this goal by October 2003 so that I can concentrate on my work as Federal president and work on structuring our members in France and preparing the European Congress of 2005.
From my position as a federal president I will always be involved in the ideological issues and the strategy issues of the national branches. The movement should grow as one and think as one while act according to local necessities. A draft constitution of AEL international is being worked out for the moment and will be discussed and voted in 2005. On the election front the AEL will launch the Muslim Democratic Party – MDP- as its political election structure. The MDP will be our political party and the AEL our movement. MDP is the body and the AEL is the soul to put it in these terms. The MDP will formulate a general and comprehensive political program on the lines of the general political vision of the AEL. The MDP is also open for other Muslims who share our Muslim-democratic vision and are not member of the AEL. It is also open for non-Muslims who believe in the Muslim democratic project of society. This coming year will be a crucial year on many levels and a lot of work has to be done; this work is a duty of all of us and an obligation towards Allah swt, our Nation and our community.
Assalamo alaikom wa rahmato allah wa barakatoh
Your Brother, Dyab Abou Jahjah