ASSILAH - Experts, politicians and scholars hailed late President and founder of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, as a leader with an exceptional wisdom that has marked the history of politics in the Arab world.
Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Cultural Adviser to the President of the UAE and Chancellor of UAE University, said that Sheikh Zayed inspired the people in both his country and overseas through his political vision, strong moral compass and his dedication to alleviating human suffering, leading the UAE the become one of the thirty largest economies in the world.
“The UAE as sought by Sheikh Zayed, was able to build a state of development and prosperity that matches the most advanced modern countries, occupy a leading position on both regionally and globally scenes and to be an active player in the international and Arab scenes,” said Nusseibeh, who had been close to Sheikh Zayed for forty years, at a televised speech broadcast during the opening of “the Sheikh Zayed: the vision of a foresighted leader” colloquial organised by the Assilah Forum Foundation.
“We cannot talk about unity and the internal and external policies of the Emirates without mentioning the wise vision of Sheikh Zayed the founder, that vision that refused to accept the bitter reality that the country was going through during the years of isolation,” he said.
The chancellor said that Sheikh Zayed strongly believed in the possibility of representing the union of the emirates, which his grandfather failed in unifying their ranks in the beginning of the 20th century, on the basis of the common bonds that sprout between the different emirates, in addition to the history and heritage of their son.
Sheikh Zayed worked on translating his principles and ideas of the union, cooperation and mutual support by allocating a large part of the UAE’s oil income to the Trucial States Development Fund before the advent of the United Arab Emirates, which showed his genuine intentions to exploit the country’s oil wealth for the benefit of all emirates.
“The desired transformation and bringing about radical changes in the life of society in which the course of history was transformed to reach a new reality and a different future required the will of one of the greats of history who had a miraculous vision and the convenient methodology to embody the hopes and aspirations of his people and transforms their dreams into reality,” said Nusseibeh.
Sheikh Zayed laid the first brick for the country’s foreign policy approach. He then said that the UAE’s foreign policy “aims to support Arab and Islamic issues and interests, and to strengthen friendship and cooperation with all countries and peoples on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations and international laws.”
Nusseibeh said the UAE was now enjoying a prominent position in the Arab world and internationally thanks to its moderate and balanced policy.
He pointed out that Sheikh Zayed valued very much the humanitarian aspect by reducing poverty, eliminating hunger, building development projects for everyone in need, and establishing relations with countries in need to achieve sustainable development goals.
“This humanitarian policy of the UAE embodies the practical application of the culture of tolerance and moderation,” he said, adding that the Gulf Arab state’s financial aid in the form of grants and loans worldwide over 98 billion dirhams ($26.7 billion) until late 2000.
The UAE leadership continued Sheikh Zayed's approach to charitable work since the beginning of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, delivering millions of dollars of humanitarian aid and COVID-19 vaccines to countries that have been badly affected by the pandemic worldwide regardless of their ethnicities, religious beliefs and political conflicts.
Ali Rashid Al-Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee in the Federal National Council, said that Sheikh Zayed was the first Arab figure who managed to make the Arab unitary experiment a success despite the challenges that the region had experienced.
“There was an overlap between the Emirates and international scepticism after the United Kingdom announced its withdrawal from East of Suez, prompting Sheikh Zayed to take responsibility and focus on building a wall of trust and positivity with everyone, whether inside or outside the region,” said Nuaimi.
Sheikh Zayed formed the Federation on 2 December 1971 and had served as President of the UAE until 2004.
Nuaimi highlighted Sheikh Zayed’s most important achievements since he became President, including the improvement of infrastructure in various sectors, such as education, healthcare and transport.
“Many educated Arab elites were sceptical about this unitary project and were viewing the UAE as a reactionary country and Sheikh Zayed as a reactionary leader,” said Nuaimi.
“The world is now witnessing that Sheikh Zayed was more progressive than any progressive leader they were looking at,” he added.
Haitham El-Zobaidi, Chairman of the Al Arab Publishing House, emphasised the tough period that followed the UK’s withdrawal from the Gulf region which was left in shock and fear for its future.
Zobaidi mentioned the testimony of Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah in 2009 about Sheikh Zayed’s role in that critical stage in the history of the Gulf Arab region.
He recalled that Sheikh Sultan described Britain’s pullout as shocking, leading to the rise of Sheikh Zayed who took the lead and unified his people.
“People became like sheep on a rainy night. Groups separated and insulted one another by nicknames. Nations fell upon us. And there was a star looming on the horizon. That was Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan,” said Sheikh Sultan in a speech when he was selected as the Cultural Personality of the Year for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2009.
Zobaidi explained that Sheikh Zayed’s patience and wisdom could be seen as tactical and strategic to achieve the union.
"Starting with the name, the Trucial States, we understand the reality of the region. Abu Dhabi's moral and material investment in the Trucial States began early, before Britain showed its intentions to withdraw,” said Zobaidi.
“The belief in the union was present in Sheikh Zayed’s thought. He was aware that a historical window had opened in which various factors, many of them harsh and difficult, were converging. Sheikh Zayed may have inherited the idea of the union from his grandfather, Zayed the First. The difference, however, is that beyond a major strategic crisis in the region, Sheikh Zayed saw that it was the awaited opportunity to achieve the union,” he added.
Between February 18, 1968 and the declaration of the UAE state on December 2, 1971, negotiations took place between the Emirates that make up the current UAE in addition to Bahrain and Qatar.
Zobaidi said all factors seemed worrisome for any politician in the classical sense, but it was an opportunity for a leader with a vision in the person of Sheikh Zayed who led the negotiations with an exceptional calm and wisdom.
“We do not want to make any comparison with the Arab unitary experiences; experiences of domination, secession and civil wars. Look at the political, psychological and governmental spaces left by the emirates that form the union for each other, to know the nature of flexibility that Sheikh Zayed established and made this nation rise to reach what it has reached today,” he concluded.
Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, UAE Cabinet Member and Minister of State for International Cooperation, said in a televised message broadcast during the opening of the colloquial that the first comprehensive vision that distinguished Sheikh Zayed since he assumed the presidency of the UAE, had had a great impact on every Emirati achievement until today.
“The UAE is attached to the strategic dimension of Sheikh Zayed and his strategic vision, which enabled its citizens today to reach space and discover the planet Mars,” said Hashemy.
“Since the beginning of the founding of the state, Sheikh Zayed had been keen on the dimensions of the transformational development vision that led to radical and systematic changes in planning, management, governance, sustainable development and the environment and was was keen on developing human capital in this pioneering process,” she added.
Moroccan journalist Fatima Nougue emphasised Sheikh Zayed’s leading role in empowering Emirati women in all fields throughout his rule in a region where women’s rights were undermined because of cultural, tribal and religious beliefs.
“Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was long interested in women's issues and their empowerment, and his initiatives were ahead of his time, in changing their reality, educating them and pushing them to work, leadership and political activism,” said Nougue.
She said that some of his sayings summarized his forward-looking vision of building a society and a nation with the help of women and men.
“I support women, I always say it to confirm their right to work, and the importance of their active and full participation in building the nation,” Sheikh Zayed then said.
Nougue recalled that Sheikh Zayed started this liberating process of women’s capabilities in a societal context marked by the dominance of the conservative view of women’s roles.
She said that Sheikh Zayed realized the necessity of educating and qualifying women to be able to play their role in the family and society and encouraged girls to engage in education and persuaded their families to send them to schools and pay monthly bonuses to girls involved in education.
“Sheikh Zayed's vision for women foresaw benefiting from their capabilities as citizens as a condition for building a modern state,” said Nougue.
“Focusing on the achievements of women in the UAE makes me particularly proud, because they represent a model for an Arab country that believes in its women and provides them with all the capabilities and energies of development, a pride that stems from my follow-up to the conditions and issues of women,” she concluded.
