http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/20091026141150158373.html
Monday, October 26, 2009
18:49 Mecca time, 15:49 GMT
Arab journalists urge more freedom
The two-day workshop was organised jointly
by Al Jazeera and Unesco
Arab journalists have deplored media censorship in their countries and
called for greater freedom at a gathering held in the Qatari capital, Doha, to
discuss freedom of speech in the region.
The two-day forum that ended on Monday was organised by Al Jazeera's
Public Liberties & Human Rights department in co-operation with the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
Speakers condemned tight censorship in Arab countries and blamed a
censorship culture for poorly educated societies and generations ignorant of
their rights and duties.
However, they hailed modern technologies including the internet, saying
they gave people a certain amount of freedom.
Arab governments blamed
Nidal Mansour, the head of the Center for Defending Journalists, accused
Arab regimes of not complying with their constitutions.
He said: "If we look at the constitution of each Arab country, we would
find the most beautiful phrases that hail and promote the freedom of speech.
However, on the ground none of that is practiced. We have hundreds of Arab
journalists killed, injured, jailed or humiliated in their countries every
year."
While many speakers blamed Arab governments for making the suppression of
freedom of speech a priority, several others suggested that the Arab public
should also take part of the blame.
Ahmed al-Sheikh, a news director at Al Jazeera's Arabic channel, blamed
Arab people for loosing their freedom of speech.
He said: "We know there are a lot of wrongdoings when it comes to the
freedom of speech in the Arab world. But let us ask who was responsible for
that?
"I think we have ended up where we are now, because we have forgotten how
to get angry for our rights. We forgot how to be enthusiastic getting our voice
heard. I am not saying Arab people should revolt against their governments, but
they must learn how to show resentment in cases [where] their rights are
confiscated."
Reviving heritage
Hasan al-Ajmi, a Sudanese journalist, argued that Arabs and Muslims
should be the first to promote freedom of speech, because they knew it and
practiced it centuries ago.
He said: "If Arabs and their governments look into history, there are
many examples that freedom of speech did exist in our part of the world
centuries ago.
"I recall the story of Umar bin al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph
whose reign saw the Muslim army destroying two of the world's superpowers back
then - the Sassanid and the Roman Empire.
"This man was speaking in public and a simple woman stood up suddenly and
said, 'O Umar, you are wrong'. After hearing her reason for saying that, he
said to the public, Umar was wrong and the woman was absolutely right. It is a
wonderful example of freedom of speech from our own history, why cannot we
revive that heritage?"
The participants at the Doha meeting ended the two-day workshop with
recommendations to continue the fight for greater freedom of speech and
political opinion.
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