Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks to reporters. UN Photo/Mark Garten
21 November 2013 – Broad based cross-cultural education is crucial to defeating terrorism, much of it fed by religious extremism, since security measures will not succeed alone, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the main United Nations counter-terrorism body today.
“The challenge of extremism based on a wrong and perverted view of religion is huge, dangerous and urgent. It is time to mobilise,” he said, speaking as head of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which provides practical support to prevent religious prejudice, conflict and extremism.
Mr. Blair stressed that it is not just a question of mere educational attainment. “It is a sobering fact that many highly educated individuals are involved in religious extremist activity. But research shows that there is a link between a lack of cross-cultural education and religious extremism,” he told the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) at UN Headquarters in New York.
“The battleground between us and the religious extremists is to win over the hearts and minds of those with low levels of religious and cultural literacy. It is this type of education which is key. We must educate about diversity and difference, about tolerance and respect, in the same way as we teach humanities, sciences and languages.”
Also addressing CTED, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Chef de Cabinet Susana Malcorra underscored the role education in countering extremist ideologies that provoke hatred and violence and opening the doors of understanding. “Sadly, we are all too aware of the dangers posed by violent extremism and acts of terror.
“The images have come to us at an almost incomprehensible pace: markets, schools, places of worship, neighbourhoods and communities torn apart by senseless acts of violence. We must work together for strategies to confront this terrible phenomenon – and, in particular, to reach young people and to help them see a world of fairness and justice, of opportunity and empowerment.”
Mr. Blair stressed that values of love for your neighbour, compassion and social justice are common to all the world’s major religions. “It is the most grotesque abuse of faith to commit acts of terror in the name of God,” he said, noting that those who do so fill young minds with hate and often exploit deep-seated political issues for their own ends.
“Security measures are necessary but alone won’t work. And they are expensive and usually have unforeseen effects which can aggravate the situation,” he said.
“The choice for the future is very obvious: either people regard those who are different as a threat to their culture - the closed minded approach; or they regard those who are different as an enrichment – the open minded approach,” he added.
“It is surely obvious that if our young people are educated to understand and know about those who are different, if they can put a human face to them, they are far more likely to accept them and be open to them. Ignorance is our real enemy; knowledge our friend. “This is why education is the answer. Not just any education, but education specifically for the open mind.”
Mr. Blair noted that his foundation’s Face to Faith schools programme emphasises the imperative that religion taught in the classroom be inclusive and mindful of the beliefs of all students.
“It is my view that there must be real emphasis on reforming education systems to incorporate cultural openness,” he said.
At a later meeting with reporters CTED Executive Director Jean-Paul Laborde assured Mr. Blair of continued UN collaboration with his foundation in the interest of combating violent extremism.
Asked to speak about Islamists and terrorism, Mr. Blair replied: “This is most frequently viewed in relation to Islam, although I do think it’s important that we acknowledge that within other faiths as well, the Christian faith, the Jewish, Buddhist, Hinduism there can also be extremism.
“But sure, one of the reasons why it’s happening is the desire – by the way because many of the victims of terrorism are indeed Muslims – a desire to make sure that we put this issue out on the table and all of us work on achieving a change in the way that people view religion.
“Obviously that is a challenge for Islam but it’s a challenge that we should all engage in.”
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