شهدت فعاليات معرض "ثقافة الشرق الأوسط" المنعقد بـ"تايوان"، دعوة كثير من ممثلي الدول الإسلامية في "تايوان"
ورجال الأعمال بها لمعرفة المزيد عن أحكام الدين الإسلامي؛ لتفادي حدوث
أزمة مماثلة عقب الأزمة الأخيرة، التي بينت تعرض المسلمين للمنع من الصلاة
والصيام، والإجبار على تناول لحوم الخنزير، والتهديد بالطرد من العمل إذا
تم مخالفة ذلك.
فقد أكد مدير مكتب "سلطنة عمان" التجاري أن الأزمة الأخيرة أكدت جهل "تايوان" بتعاليم الإسلام، ولذلك فإنه من المهم معرفة المزيد عن التعاليم الإسلامية، في حين أكد ممثل "تركيا" على أهمية احترام تعاليم الأديان.
وجدير بالذكر أن "تايوان" يعمل بها 60 ألف مسلم، كما أن "تايوان" تحصل على 83% من احتياجاتها البترولية من الدول الإسلامية بالشرق الأوسط، إضافة إلى أن حجم التجارة بين "تايوان" والشرق الأوسط قد بلغ 1.27 مليار دولار في النصف الأول من عام 2009.
Abuse case shows lack of knowledge of Muslim culture: Arab officials
A
recent scandal in which a Taiwanese employer forced Muslim workers to
eat pork exposed a lack of knowledge of Islam in Taiwan and could harm
Taiwan's international image, representatives from the Middle East said
in Taipei Saturday.
While
most of them accepted that it was an individual case, the diplomats
urged the government to take notice of the severity of the incident,
which has drawn international criticism and a protest by labor activists
and migrant workers May 16 to demand respect for religious freedom.
"It
shows that the Middle East is misunderstood here. And it is an
opportunity for Taiwan to learn more about Muslim culture, " said
Sulaiwan Al-Mughairy, Director of the Commercial Office of the Sultanate
of Oman-Taiwan, on the sidelines of a Middle Eastern Culture Exhibition
organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and representative
offices of various Middle Eastern countries.
He
said he had learned of many cases in which Muslims are prohibited from
praying five times a day and observing Ramadan -- the Islamic month of
fasting -- and that such employers should be punished severely.
Muzaffer
Eroktem, representative of the Turkish Trade Office, said the incident
was an individual case but emphasized that all religions should be
respected.
Taiwan
has good reasons to know more about the Middle East, as there are
60,000 Muslims in Taiwan and bilateral trade between Taiwan and the
region in the first half of the 2009 reached US$27.1 billion, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou said, adding that 83 percent of
Taiwan's oil imports come from the region.
Hou
admitted that Taiwan's understanding of the Middle East is limited,
which is why the cultural exhibition will also be held in the central
city of Changhua May 29-30 and in Pingtung City, southern Taiwan, June
5-6.
Representatives
from Jordan and Saudi Arabia also attended the exhibition, which
showcased food, artifacts, paintings, clothing and travel information
relating to the Middle East.
