U.S. ambassador outlines activities to preserve Yemeni culture

By Edmund F. Scherr
Washington File Special Correspondent

Washington -- Cultural interaction is the way to encourage understanding and dialogue between Arab and Islamic peoples and the West, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Speakers at a Washington symposium on the cultural heritage of Yemen pointed to the exchanges between the two cultures over hundreds of years, and the need today of a desire and will to renew those ties.

At Washington's Freer Gallery of Asian and American Art, scholars from the Middle East, Europe and the United States gathered as part of the September 5-6 symposium.

U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Edmund Hull described the conference as a "very positive phenomenon," noting that it had brought guests from Yemen, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Iraq, Egypt and the U.S. together to talk in "intelligent ways" about the Middle East.

Much of the day's discussion centered around the long history of cultural links between the Arab and Islamic worlds and the west, and whether current political tensions between the two threatened to rupture those links.

Hull said the answer to that threat was a "matter of will" on the part of both sides. "Do we have the will to overcome cultural divides? Do we have the will to create cultural links?" he asked, despite political and economic obstacles.

He said cultural influences in Yemen were "a product of ancient globalization," due to its ancient trade ties with India, Africa and countries in the Gulf area.

While scholars must play a major role in forging cultural understanding, the ambassador said that governments can also play a role.

Ambassador Hull said the United States government is contributing to the preservation of Yemen's cultural heritage and is increasing educational exchanges. He listed four actions designed to strengthen its cultural ties with Yemen:

-- An ancient alabaster stella, stolen in 1994 from a museum in Aden is now being returned by the U.S. government to Yemen. It was discovered last year at an auction house in the United States.

-- The United States is giving $500,000 to the American Institute for Yemeni Studies (AIYS) so that organization can have a permanent home in Sana'a "to serve as a base for our cultural dialogue." The funds are part of the Middle East Partnership Initiative announced by Secretary of State Powell.

The work of AIYS includes sponsoring research on Yemen's cultural heritage and supporting archaeological projects in that nation.

-- The U.S. proposes to give some two million dollars for the construction of a museum in Ma'rib, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Sabean and the biblical home of the Queen of Sheba. The museum would house the discoveries of American and German excavations in Ma'rib, and serve as an educational and preservation facility. The ambassador called for other parties to make contributions to this project.

-- Recognizing the importance of educational exchanges, the U.S. government has taken steps to expand exchanges with Yemen. The Fulbright academic exchange program is being expanded, and new types of programs are being created to include high school and undergraduate college students.

Ambassador Hull described Yemen as "an ornament of the world," pointing to its rich heritage and culture. He said it is worth the international community's best efforts to reveal this ornament, to conserve and restore it.

The symposium's keynote speaker, Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Iryani, a former Yemeni prime minister, said the world should not allow the "murderous terrorist act" of September 11 to "obliterate a brilliant history of cultural links between Islam and Christianity" during the more than six hundred years of Arab-Islamic culture.

This cultural exchange continued, he said, even though there were bloody conflicts between two great religions "which have so much in common."

Dr. Al-Iryani noted that the Arab/Moorish kingdom that flourished in Spain has been called the cultural "ornament" of the world. It was a golden era not only because literature, science and the arts flourished there, but also because the kingdom's Muslims, Jews and Christians created a culture of tolerance in Medieval Europe.

This cultural interaction, Dr. Al-Iryani stressed, was not limited to Spain. The Moorish centers of learning were the "daughters" of cultural developments in Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo. Cultural links, begun in the east, moved westwards to Europe, sparking greater enlightenment and ultimately, the Renaissance.

Another Yemeni official speaking to symposium participants was Amat Alaleem Ali Alsoswa, the Minister of Human Rights. She said that cultural understanding makes people "feel closer, and enables all of us to look at our own cultures and see how we can be closer."

The symposium, sponsored by the Embassy of Yemen, the U.S. State Department, the Freer Gallery, and the American Institute for Yemeni Studies, drew an overflow crowd of some 400 persons each day to its sessions. The visitors were able to hear lectures on the fabrics, silver jewelry and music of Yemen and reports on efforts to dig up, restore and maintain the artifacts of the country's 3,000-year-old heritage.

Dr. Al-Iryani described the symposium and its related events as a milestone in Yemeni-U.S. relations. He said the sessions allowed Yemen to introduce itself to "our friends in the United States" and present the culture of Yemen.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)