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OIC
plans TV to counter Islamophobia, stereotypes against Muslims
Saturday April 21, 2012 10:44:15 AM,
Agencies
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Jeddah: The 57-member Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) announced on April 19 its plan to
establish a satellite channel and promote investment in the
media to fight Islamophobia and enhance exchange of information
among the member states.
“We have a number of important proposals to strengthen Islamic
media activities. They including the launch of an OIC satellite
channel,” OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told a
conference of information ministers from the Islamic world.
According to Arab News, the OIC chief also called on Muslim businessmen and women to
finance the new channel as well as to invest in major media
organizations that are already successfully making substantial
profits in order to “exchange information and news of the
Islamic world and project the true picture of Islam.”
Riyad bin Kamal Najm, deputy information minister for media
affairs who was leading Saudi’s delegation to the conference backed the new proposals to strengthen the Islamic media
including the OIC channel. He said Saudi Arabia is ready to host
the first forum for broadcasting regulators in Jeddah in June.
Twelve draft resolutions have been presented to the ministers
for discussion and potential adoption. They include the
restructuring of the International Islamic News Agency (IINA)
and the Islamic Broadcasting Union (IBU), formation of an OIC
Journalists Forum and opening of OIC media offices in different
parts of the world.
The OIC, which is the second largest international organization
after the UN, has set out a strategy to combat what it calls
“rising intolerance against Islam and Muslims in the West.”
One resolution says negative news in some Western media has
resulted in negative stereotyping and racial discrimination and
victimization directed against Muslims. Stressing that the
Islamic faith is based on the core values of peace, tolerance,
moderation and peaceful coexistence with all other religions and
faiths, the OIC labeled the emergence of Islamophobia as a
“contemporary form of racism and xenophobia motivated by
unfounded fear, mistrust and hatred of Muslims and Islam.” It
also added that Islamophobia manifested itself “through
intolerance, discrimination, hostility and adverse public
discourse.”
The OIC also dismissed suggestions that Islamophobia is equal to
classical racism and xenophobia, saying that Islamophobia is
mainly based on stigmatization of a religion and its followers.
“As such, Islamophobia is an affront to the human rights and
dignity of Muslims,” the resolution pointed out.
The OIC has been working on a comprehensive plan to combat
prejudice against Islam and Muslim communities with a view to
developing campaigns to foster respect for cultural and
religious pluralism and diversity, while raising awareness of
the positive contributions of Muslims to promote tolerance and
understanding.
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