I listened to you with deep admiration while you were addressing the Arabs in the town of Surt. You talked on our behalf, we the Arabs of the east and west, the centres and edges, the north and south, Arab intellectuals. You conveyed our desire to the leaders or their representatives at a summit held amid significant events. Everybody was thinking about everything, but you were thinking about the most important thing: Arab culture.

My admiration is based on my knowledge of the contemporary history of our nation, which is beset by all sorts of divisions-border disputes, tribal conflicts, bogus policies, civil wars and sectarian strife. Like all Arab intellectuals, I am of the opinion that it is culture that combines the genes of the Arab nation, rejuvenates it and guides the new generations.

I m not the only admirer. Since you announced your intention to hold an Arab cultural summit, following calls by the Arab Thought Foundation and Arab Writers Union, many thinkers and creative writers have supported holding this long-awaited summit as soon as possible because they feel that their nation is facing imminent danger never experienced before. They are putting forward views and plans a century or even more old, as progress was hampered during these decades and ideas born dead. These people and many others later will carry their aspirations and dreams in the hope that you will make them come true rather than being buried at their hands.

Culture and education, the basis for planning

Culture and education are well worthy of more than one specialized summit, like the economy, security and policy, as they are the basis for a nation s stability and progress. They are also the key to the success of development. No economic plans may be implemented or security maintained without culture and education, which are the key elements of resistance to backwardness and lack of awareness in society.

Mr. Secretary-General of the Arabs League

I don t say that I ve read many of the views and plans presented or will be presented to you by those engaged in culture, but I m sure they are all optimistic and are after rapid reform for this nation. I could have personally presented these views to you, like creative friends, thinkers and intellectuals in the Arab world, but I preferred to present them in the form of an open letter so that all, particularly intellectuals and creative writers, may read and discuss it in public, for transparency is the key to the success of the prospective cultural summit.

I d like to present my views as one concerned with culture and education across the Arab world. As our plans for economic unity are lagging behind, sporting partnership delayed, social partnership hampered, joint defence pacts shelved, let s hope that our plans for the cultural summit will be more optimistic and effective and bring about more mutual openness. I hope the summit will be a special one which opens a new door to the freedom of creative Arabs and makes the Arab world a safe haven for Arab thought and creativity. To this end, we may need to consider the following ideas:

First: The prospective cultural summit s agenda should be drawn up by the intellectuals and creative writers themselves rather than be imposed by bureaucratic officials who do not want any change. Intellectuals have to put forward their views for progress. This is an important initiative, but, more importantly, they should represent all ideologies, and the summit should be preceded by a plenary preparatory meeting to agree on the agenda rather than leave it to Ministries of Culture and Information agencies responsible for policy implementation in the Arab countries.

Culture is the domain of intellectuals

We can t do without the views and suggestions of these agencies officials as they are abler to work out implementation, programming and administration plans. However, culture remains the domain of intellectuals and creative writers, the builders of societies and the leaders of enlightenment for peoples and governments with their ideas and future vision. Aren t they the nation s careful eye? Won t the resolutions of the prospective cultural summit affect them negatively or positively?

Second : Arab culture depends heavily on the success of human development; there is no reading without readers, nor are there readers without the eradication of illiteracy. Therefore, the resolutions, recommendations and work plans of the summit should come in the context of human development as far as education is concerned, as education in the Arab world today is so poor that it hampers development and progress.

Third: Arab culture is not a subject on the curriculum but a lifestyle. That s why it is not related to reading only but it combines all arts, and it can only be revived through audio-visual and written materials produced by all classes in the Arab world. Cultural activities should not be confined to capital cities but should draw new blood from the younger generations. There should be a theatre, a cinema and a public library everywhere. Above all, the building of institutes and universities should be considered with efficient leaders from the younger generation in charge of them.

Strict censorship

Fourth: Creative writers have suffered so terribly in recent decades that they are all objects of suspicion. It is hoped the summit will open up new horizons for creative Arabs and lift strict censorship so that Arab culture can fly freely away from backwardness, ignorance and persecution. Intellectuals therefore hope that the summit resolutions will ensure freedom and protection for culture with all its ingredients as well as for all intellectuals, whatever their ideological inclinations may be. All forms of creativity printed, electronic or otherwise should also secure further freedom.

Fifth : The too many cultural festivals in the Arab world, which are costly and time-consuming, should only be for media and delight purposes rather than a substitute for culture and creativity.

Sixth : The public and private sectors should also share in cultural mobility out of their national role and social responsibility. The summit should support these sectors and give them freedom to share in cultural development.

Seventh : The summit should give priority to the protection of ideological differences, so that the authorities can play their role in ensuring equality and respect for differences of opinion.

Eighth : The summit must have a vision for the future so as to clear our societies and minds of superstitions, narrow mindedness and fear, help ideas flow freely and discover life s wonderful achievements in all fields.

An imported culture

Mr. Secretary General of the Arabs League

Let me voice some of my concerns about the prospective cultural summit. These relate to a widespread phenomenon in the Arabian Gulf: imported culture, which is part of a common lifestyle which imports everything : ghutras , iqals , dishdashas , shoes, in addition to cars, pens, mobiles, TVs, even cuisine. What we export is only oil, which, strangely enough, is also imported as it is found underground, a bounty from The Almighty like the sea and desert. We also export out-of-date ideas to others who use them to deride the Arab peoples, our great heritage and Islam, the True Religion.

Racing to import foreign culture and languages, as we do everything else, will not produce a new culture or useful knowledge, and we ignore our peoples and their history and heritage and, more importantly, their future! We close a centre for the study of our heritage and arts, and open an institute for the study of foreign arts and heritage!

Isn t this a drain on our resources which require rational use in order to provide an infrastructure for the peoples and future generations of this part of the world? This is the only way to ensure a safe future for the coming generations in this region. Irrational use of wealth is a disaster as it misses being a basis for production. Let me reiterate that we in the Arabian Gulf are still keen on urban rather than human development. We race to build a variety of styles of high rise towers, but fail to promote the values of human development. It is apparently the same case in all Arab countries. We hope the summit will usher a new era in which we develop our real culture, having defended, preserved and promoted it. We hope that you, in your capacity and thinking, launch an initiative before the summit designed to gather the views of elite Arab thinkers, writers, poets, dramatists and critics wherever they are to be used as guidelines for the Arab leaders at their prospective cultural summit.

Yours sincerely,

Sulaiman Al-Askary

Kuwait, 1 July 2010