At this workshop, organized by the Arab NGO Network for Development, members of civil society from Egypt, Morocco and Palestine shared their past experiences and future plans for an Arab Social Forum.
In these countries social movements are young. A huge step forward in the articulation between Arab organizations was the creation of the Arab NGO Network for Development. The successive versions of the World Social Forum contributed to the strengthening and consolidation of this tendency towards a great organization of Arab civil society.
The challenge now is to hold an Arab Social Forum, following the experiences of the Asian and African social forums.
The Egyptian delegate offered a conceptual analysis of African social movements, focusing on goals and challenges. Among the priorities of this recently formed movement are opposition to neo-liberal policies and to the interests of transnational corporations. One of their main concerns is the strengthening of citizen guarantees and democracy. The biggest challenge they face is broadening the movement to include the grassroots of society, transforming a group of organizations headed by an elite into a more popular movement. Another aim towards which they will work in the future is coordination with international organizations.
The delegate from Morocco gave an account of the Moroccan Social Forum. The idea for this forum took shape at the last WSF. The participants from Morocco were surprised to discover that many of the issues that were being discussed were the same as those they had been working on. There was just one difference: in Porto Alegre everything was discussed collectively.
Back in Morocco, several NGOs decided to undertake the task of organizing a social forum. Although it was not easy, since the Moroccan organizations were not accustomed to this kind of encounter, the forum was a success. NGOs from Tunisia, Palestine and the Lebanon also participated. Views were exchanged and the participants were fired with enthusiasm. The facts speak for themselves: the Moroccan Forum was possible, an Arab Forum is also.
The last participant at the workshop spoke about the history of social movements in Palestine. At first their aim had been to resist the land invasions and confiscations, and protect the refugees. In its first stage the struggle of the NGOs focused on defending Palestinians national rights and on providing services to guarantee their survival. When the Palestine National Authority was created, the organizations changed the focus of their work, to ensure that the democratic rights of Palestine citizens were respected.
Today Palestinian civil society has four basic objectives: to contribute to the establishment of a democratic regime; democratize civil society; protect the interests of the poor and marginalized; and lobby for legislative reform that reflects the needs of the population.
Different cultures and languages converged in this workshop, but the public managed to overcome the linguistic barriers, helped by the volunteers who immediately came forward to interpret the one Arabic speaking panelist. And once the workshop was over, the other barriers that separate us from the Arab world.
