Abu Dhabi // Nine months after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, dedicated 2008 to reflection on the threat to national identity, the debate continues to reveal sharp differences among Emiratis over the cause of the problem.
The 200 or so people gathered in the chamber of the Federal National Council (FNC) on Tuesday had no shortage of sources. The competing interests of individual emirates, the failure of many families to speak Arabic at home and the pervasiveness of foreign influences were all cited as causes of the nation's struggle to preserve its character. For more than three hours, until well after 1am, the participants held animated exchanges on the issue.
When Wejdan al Mutairi, a student at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, posed the question of what was actually meant by the UAE's national identity, the head of the FNC committee examining the issue, acknowledged concerns over how campaigns to instil national pride went down with the public. Dr Amal al Qubaisi said: "The Ministry [of Culture] has launched some awareness programmes about it. But the question remains, how effective are these campaigns?"
And Dr Aref al Sheikh, the man who composed the lyrics for the UAE's unofficial national anthem, written at the request of the Ministry of Education by Aref al Hassan in 1986, asked: "Why are our students ashamed of chanting it? Why has the Government not issued a decree to officially recognise it, a quarter a century after it was written?" The discussion had begun with a talk by Prof Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, a political scientist at UAE University, who argued that the gravest threats to national identity were globalism and a growing preference for the local interests of individual emirates. "We're obsessed with everything international," he said.
"National identity equals the federal identity and not the local. The sense of belonging is to the homeland and not to individual emirates that make up the federation." He said the twin threats of globalism and localism should prompt a rethink of the education system, development policies and strategies. "The question is not who am I?" he said. "Or, who are we? The question is about our relationship with the nation we belong to. When I talk about identity, I mean national identity. And when we put these two words together the individual's relationship with the nation and homeland is invoked. The national identity has come under siege. It is going through a very difficult period."
Dr Abdullah's argument sparked a lengthy debate over limiting the threats to two aspects. Among the first who voiced dissent was Ali Jasem, a legislator from Umm al Qaiwain and the FNC's second deputy speaker. He said economic globalisation should not be considered a threat, citing the EU's economic integration as an example where each country has kept its own flag and long-standing traditions. He insisted the real identity crisis was in the endangered Arabic language. "How is it possible that parents don't speak Arabic even at home?" he asked. "What's the role of institutions? It's not only the role of the Ministry of Culture [to protect the language] but the entire society."
Aisha Sultan, a columnist with an Arabic newspaper, said any dangers to the nation's identity had emerged from within the UAE. Without identifying the culprits she had in mind, she called on the Government to hold those responsible accountable. Moza Ghobash, a sociology professor at UAE University, said the identity crisis was not a problem just for the UAE but one that afflicted the most powerful countries. "That means the danger is even graver for smaller countries," she said.
Dr Ghobash explained what she thought were the most relevant threats: immigration, foreign education, naturalisation of foreigners and the adoption of foreign values. Yousef al Hassan, director of the Emirates Institute of Diplomacy, said the concern should be over foreign influence on culture. However, he felt some aspects of the national heritage were not threatened while others needed to be developed. "The real worry is that we have a new generation who don't know their identity, and I am not talking about language or religion; Bangladesh and Pakistan separated even though they were co-religionists," he said.
One concrete proposal to address the issue was made by Dr Obeid al Muhairi, a member of the FNC committee, who recommended that the strategies of individual ministries - notably culture and education - should be co-ordinated. For those listening, this was hardly a controversial suggestion. Whether the meeting produced ideas that will help forge consensus on the principal cause of the problem highlighted by Sheikh Khalifa, or its solution, remains to be seen.
mhabboush@thenational.ae
