«I came to Iran, graciously invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, to research and do some fact finding about the country, its life and institutions, perceptions and reality. As this conclave coincided with my coming, I intended first to be present here only as a silent witness, to report back what I saw and what I heard.
But controversies about the real significance of these proceedings made me feel I had the moral duty to say some words, and concoct this text.
It is not by any means systematic and scientific, but rather impressionistic. I hope it is, at least, clear in its message.
First of all, a personal introduction, or, as Louis Pauwels used to say, something about «the things I believe in» (ce que je crois).
I come from Portugal, in the outmost Western part of Europe, where land ends and the ocean starts.
I come from Portugal, where in the very early Middle Ages there was a sort of Golden Era of coexistence of Muslims (mostly from Northern Africa) and other faiths. It was the time of Princes who were scholars and poets. It was the time of Almutamid (1040-1095), of the Al Andalus Emirate and successor taifa governorates (711-1492), of an Edenic Age of «Dialogue of Civilisations» (to pick on the theme of a very recent and very welcome initiative from the governments of Spain and Turkey)(*).»
O resto pode ler-se em
http://ofuturopresente.blogspot.com/2006/12/em-teero.html
