Officials and experts from the press and media participated, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Rabat, in the work of an international symposium on the theme: on “the role of the media in the promotion of the civilizational identity of Al Quds Al -Sharif”, organized by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication of the Kingdom of Morocco in cooperation with the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency, on the sidelines of the work of the 53rd session of the Council of Ministers Information Arabs.

The organization of this symposium, which was attended by ministers and heads of information departments of the participating Arab countries, as well as representatives of Arab diplomatic missions accredited to the Kingdom of Morocco, is part of the Arab appreciation for the role played by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in his capacity as Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, in defending the Holy City, protecting its Arab and Islamic sanctuaries and supporting the firmness of its Mourabitine inhabitants.

The symposium, which was also attended by Palestinian media professionals, academics, journalists and content creators from Al Quds, is a concrete expression of the commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco to implement the decisions and recommendations issued by the previous sessions of the Council of Information Ministers and who spoke of the roles that should be assigned to the Arab media in supporting Al-Quds and the holy sites, with the Palestinian will, expressed at the highest level, to strengthen Arab action in the media domain.

In this regard, the participants in the symposium, whose work was divided into two axes, agreed on:

* Axis (1): The question of Al Quds in the Arab and international media: content and orientations;

* Axis (2): Towards an effective media treatment of the question of Al Quds in the Arab world;

The importance of developing an Arabic reference document to engage with Arabic messages and terminology related to the Palestinian cause, which can be adopted, in cooperation between the competent organs of the Council of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and also by the specialized federations, organizations, news agencies and media in the Member States.

And since no one disagrees on the Arab and Islamic identity of Al Quds, colloquium participants warn of the danger posed by the disinformation and deception campaigns carried out by the experienced media machine to promote the Israeli narrative. and fighting against the right of Palestinians to protect, maintain and preserve their religious and cultural sacredness, is the growing narrative in Western circles, despite efforts by some Arab media outlets to refute their claims.

The participants underlined that the Arab media’s defense of Al-Quds, as a common heritage of humanity, must be based on a discourse understood by the Western observer and its institutions, moving away from the terrain of abstract defense, despite the enormous sacrifices incurred by the Palestinians, to the bold initiative that relies on promoting stories of the steadfastness of this defenseless people in the face of the heavy propaganda machine, which has not affected the presence Arab and Islamic in this blessed land.

Consequently, the participants consider that it is necessary to review the content and the orientations of the media treatment of the question of Al Quds within the Palestinian question, because it carries the elements of its strength in the intimacy and pluralism of the Holy City, its religious dimension and civilizational status, and the desire for life of its Palestinian people, through the genius and excellence of its children, and its commitment to hope for a better future despite the difficulties.

From this perspective, participants see the importance of taking care of social media platforms to support elements of media advocacy on Al-Quds, as it is the cradle of religious and civilized coexistence, and to fortify the collective human perceptions, which reinforce Palestinian rights, without compromising what our Arab media believe in terms of constants that do not go back to its subject.

In this regard, the participants considered that a decisive intervention by the media authorities of the Arab world is inevitable to improve the media content directed abroad on priority Arab issues, foremost among which are the Palestinian question and the question of Al Quds, and to make it more likely to be promoted on the platforms of international media companies such as Google, “Facebook”, “Amazon” and “Netflix”, in which counter-speech finds great popularity and makes it more prevalent than others.

The participants underlined that the idea of creating a unified Arab media platform seems appropriate to constitute a force of proposal, and a serious source of indicators, figures and studies on the presence of Arab media, its extent and its impact. on Western audiences, particularly in the media’s treatment of the Palestinian cause and the question of Al Quds.

Colloquium participants called for investing in the spiritual and cultural dimension of the city of Al-Quds as a subject of media advocacy directed at religious circles in the Western world, and working to provide financial capacity to produce media stories written, visual and audio.. addressed to adults and young people in all available media about the will and desire of Palestinians to live in Al Quds and open up to international media to promote these stories.

And to face the media incitement machine against the Maqdessis, the participants expressed the need to recall the historic appeal “The Call of Al Quds” signed in 2019 by Ami Al Mouminine, His Majesty King Mohammed VI , Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, and His Holiness Pope Francis, who intends to preserve and promote the special character of Jerusalem to remain a city of religions, with the spiritual dimension and the unique identity of the Holy City… as a common heritage of humanity, and as, above all, a land of encounter and a symbol of peaceful coexistence for the followers of the three monotheistic religions, and a center of the values of mutual respect and dialogue.

The participants praised the realistic methodology with which His Majesty King Mohammed VI directs the work of the Al-Quds Committee, through the political and legal component, in which Moroccan diplomacy plays an appreciable role, and through the social field component. , which is carried out by the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency with an impressive effort according to the testimonies of the Maqdessis and their institutions. .

Source: Burkina Information Agency