 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Seeking a greater 'slice' of freedom
By Nadia Abou El-MagdAn enormous cake, shaped like a book, and embellished with the legend "Freedom and Responsibility", was the centrepiece of last week's celebrations to mark the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ), attended by Ibrahim Nafie, chairman of the press syndicate, the FAJ and the board of Al-Ahram, accompanied by Arab ambassadors and leading journalists.
Earlier in the day Nafie had told reporters that "our focus will not be the hosting of parties and receptions, but the promotion of serious and objective discussions aimed at delineating major journalistic trends in the Arab world."
Together with his guests Nafie toured the two-floor downtown headquarters, converted at a cost of LE2 million. The old headquarters were closed 20 years ago in the wake of the inter-Arab rift that followed Egypt's signing of the Camp David Accords.
Nafie also presided over a three-day general secretariat meeting held under the banner of "No to jailing journalists". And in his opening speech the federation's chairman was keen to underline the organisation's motto, saying "we believe that freedom of the press should be met with clear responsibility."
Thirteen out of the 15 member delegations attended discussions of the 9th general secretariat's agenda. Topping the list of priorities were developments in the Arab world, particularly the Palestinian issue and conditions in Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Algeria. The harshness of existing penalties for publication offences in the Arab world were also discussed.
Salaheddin Hafez, secretary-general of the FAJ, presented a report to delegates in which he lamented the pace of democratic development in the region, characterising it as "alarmingly slow and lazy". Following recent events in Jordan, Bahrain and Morocco, he concluded "that death appears to be the only reason for change".
"But we have to admit, out of self-criticism," he continued, "that our own federation has yet to achieve its goal concerning radical reformation of the state of the press in the Arab world, despite efforts to intervene in crises and defend both the practice of journalism, and its practitioners, in more than one Arab country."
One rare area of unanimity concerned the on-going question of normalisation with Israel, with delegations vying to impose ever harsher penalties on those who disagreed with their anti-normalisation stand.
The final communiqué stressed once again the importance of working towards Arab reconciliation and demanded the immediate lifting of the embargo against Iraq. Concerning the peace process, the secretariat insisted that any settlement that fails to return Arab lands or recognise an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital "is a settlement that will not last." The federation also announced its intention to make the year 2000 "the year of a liberated Jerusalem".
On a professional level, the federation condemned abusive measures against journalists "as an expression of enmity towards freedom and the spirit of the times". It announced its support for all jailed Arab journalists and demanded that leaders use their constitutional authority to release them immediately. The federation also asked Arab governments to amend existing laws to guarantee freedom of the press and expression, and agreed to reactivate its Permanent Liberties Committee.
The Kuwaiti delegation, headed by Ahmed Youssef Bahbahani, was virtually silent on the case of political scientist Ahmed Al-Boghdadi, recently sentenced to a month in jail for allegedly defaming Prophet Mohamed. Delegation member Adnan Al-Rashed, responding to a question put by Al-Ahram Weekly, commented by saying only that the "pen is a responsibility", and that "Dr Boghdadi could have used more appropriate language in dealing with the Prophet". They were, however, more vociferous over demanding the release of Kuwaiti POWs, allegedly held in Iraq, including the journalist Ahmed Al-Mutaeiri.
For his part, Ibrahim Nafie expressed satisfaction over the proceedings. "The political and professional decisions are more than excellent," he told the Weekly.
