This dabate has taken place in Groningen (Netherlands) on 14 April 2010, The journalist and publicist Ian Buruma and the philosopher and professor of islamic studies Tariq Ramadan have debated in the Lolle Nauta Forum.
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I did not like the last answer of Tariq Ramadan, although I found his intention illuminating. It is not a good thing feeding suspicions, as if the “enemy” were everywhere. It would be much better to highlight that the “stranger” of the new “we” can only be revealed in the communicative process itself. The other of the new “we” appears when we reveal our thoughtful answers to the problems.
If the doors to the new “we” are all open, so are the doors to the “strangers” as defined by “us”. To be a stranger to the new “we” is to have a dogmatic mindset, not to be a more or less homogeneous kind of social or cultural being.
I listened to the debate again and I changed my mind: Tariq Ramadan’s response took into account very complex power dynamics and my objection was too abstract.