5/19/2014 m.jordantimes.com/print.

html
http://m.jordantimes.com/print.html 1/2
Good economy, governance key to curbing
extremism
by Rula Samain | May 08, 2014 | 22:52
Log In
8
Share
0
Tweet 0
i n S h a r e 0
AMMAN Extremism flourishes with the lack of corporate governance and a well-managed economy, a
senator and former Royal Court chief said Thursday.
Speaking at the conclusion of a conference titled Extremism... Reasons and Solution, Senator Jawad
Anani, who is also a prominent economist, said spreading positive attitudes among communities on the
importance of employment and maintaining work ethics, enriches the economy and helps fight extremism.
The conference, supported by the EU, was organised by the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS)
in cooperation with the ministries of awqaf and planning, and the British Council.
The two-day event, which aimed to spread the values of the Amman Message, hosted Muslim and Christian
religious and political figures, as well as university professors from around the Middle East.
RIIFS Director Michel Hamarneh said the institute is planning to publish the recommendations of the
conference in a booklet and distribute it to decision makers who must take action to effect positive change.
Scholars at the conference said education and the media can play a great role in fighting extremist tendencies
among young people.
Hassan Badawy, associate professor of Arab-Islamic and Byzantine history at the University of Thessaloniki,
Greece, told The Jordan Times that focusing more on science in education and disregarding the humanities
fails to promote harmony among cultures.
We must... teach religion, concentrating on common human values, and also teach history, focusing on the
successes and the reasons behind the failures so history wont repeat itself, Badawy added on the sidelines
of the conference.
Father Agapios Kfoury, programme coordinator of the Adyan Foundation in Lebanon, agreed.
He noted that the lack of proper education at university, school and at home leads to extremism.
A drastic change in educational systems is one of the crucial solutions to free any society from [radical]
religious control, by teaching respect of the other, Kfoury said.
Former media minister Nabil Al Sharif discussed the role of the press as a remedy to extremism, stressing
5/19/2014 m.jordantimes.com/print.html
http://m.jordantimes.com/print.html 2/2
that media is now the first rather than the fourth estate due to its huge impact on society.
There should be a media observatory that takes note of all that is published on Arab and Muslim culture,
and assigns media and political specialists fluent in the worlds main languages to answer all the questions we
face.