Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

A giant step forward

During the Dark Age of Europe, the Middle East maintained civilization’s interest in intellectual pursuits. Baghdad, and then Moorish Spain, became the centers of the Islamic Golden Age. Arab scholars made significant discoveries in mathematics, medicine, chemistry and astronomy. And the numerals used in the Western world to this day were originally propagated by the Arabs.

As is the case with many nations, prominence rises and falls with the waves of history. The Islamic Middle East has experienced a decline in intellectual pursuits since its Golden Age, but a new program might well restore that proud tradition of scholarly achievement.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, has donated $10 billion to establish a foundation to help develop knowledge and culture in the Middle East. The Foundation press release states that it “will facilitate and promote knowledge creation and dissemination, and will nurture future leaders, providing them with equal opportunities with the aim of building a knowledge-based society.”

The importance of this project for world peace cannot be understated. Islam now claims about the same number of adherents as Christianity, and is the fastest growing of all the major religions. Unfortunately, the misbegotten foreign policy of the present U.S. administration has created the erroneous impression in the Muslim world that the American people have launched the new Crusades.

Fortunately, the benefactor of the Foundation clearly understands that the citizens of the Middle East can be disabused of false impressions only if they feel secure and optimistic about the development of their own talents. He points out that 18 percent of the under-15 age group is illiterate, as are 43 percent of women. Without a dynamic literacy project, too many will fail to qualify for the technologically-oriented jobs of the future.

According to the Foundation report, its funds will also be used to encourage entrepreneurship to create 15 million jobs that are needed now in the Arab world, as well as 74 million to 85 million more jobs over the next 20 years.

Americans must move beyond thoughts of September 11 and vigorously support the objectives of the foundation. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has generously established a well-reasoned program to create academic and employment opportunities in the Middle East, and thus alleviate the oppressive economic conditions that spawn hostility and conflict.

Through the cracks

When gang-bangers callously shoot it out with the police, it is indeed time for the community to take notice. That happened in Dorchester on May 23. Antonio Franklin, 21, allegedly shot Officer Stephen Romano, 39, when approached by police.

While the community certainly has compassion for the injured officer, there is also compassion for Franklin. According to a report in the Boston Herald, he was working to overcome the burdens of a dysfunctional family, but after being shot in the leg in March, he became depressed and suicidal. One common form of suicide is to force the police to shoot you.

The most disturbing aspect of the story is that Franklin was under the care of a nonprofit agency. The case worker reported that he was overloaded. But where were the church groups that publicly asserted that they were able to look after the hardcore cases?

The Banner has questioned for some time whether the church groups are really capable of being effective with the serious cases. As the Herald story states, here’s one who “slipped through the cracks.”

“I know these kids need help,
but we close at 5 p.m.”