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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Arab journalists join the fray
By Shaden Shehab
It was no ordinary gathering of Arab journalists. The ongoing massive repression of Palestinians by Israel in the occupied territories dominated the three-day-long ninth conference of the Federation of Arab Journalists that ended last Saturday. During the sessions, dinners, and in the conference resolutions, the main issue was the one-month-old Al-Aqsa Intifada.
Crown Prince Hamza honours Nafie
Representing 15 Arab countries, the 150 delegates demanded that a number of measures be taken against Israel and announced complete solidarity with the Palestinians and the Intifada. "The Intifada broke out at the right time to prove to the world that resistance is always the way to combat occupiers and invaders," the final statement entitled, "Al-Aqsa Martyrs" said.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the federation demanded "a firm stand to stop the continuous Israeli aggression and the formation of an international criminal court to try Israeli war criminals for their actions against the Palestinians." The same request was made by Arab leaders during their summit in Cairo two weeks ago.
The federation, which re-elected Al-Ahram's Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Nafie as its chairman for a second, four-year term, also affirmed in its final statement that the only way to achieve comprehensive peace in the region is through Israel's full withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories.
Arab journalists, meanwhile, reiterated their firm opposition and condemnation of any form of normalisation of relations with Israel, asking local journalists' syndicates to take firm action against members who visit Israel and not to publish their dispatches from there. "Any journalist who visits Israel will be considered to be involved in the normalisation of relations. Syndicates should not permit such visits and the Arab press should not print the material written by those journalists," the final statement said.
Arab anger concerning the massacre of more than 150 Palestinians, including scores of children below the age of 14, moved Arab journalists to back a growing call throughout the Arab world to boycott US products. The US's blind support for Israel and refusal to admit that the troops of the Israeli occupation bear full responsibility for the killing of innocent Palestinians was seen as implicit support for the Israeli aggression. The statement asked journalists to write in support for the call to boycott US products as a form of pressure on Washington.
As for the plight of the Iraqi people, who have suffered 10 years of severe UN sanctions, the federation condemned what it described as the daily American-British aggression against the so-called no-fly zones in north and south Iraq. The statement said that such air attacks "violate the sovereignty of the [Iraqi] state, contravening international law." Journalists also appealed to Arab countries to continue breaking the air embargo against Iraq, by sending more planes to Baghdad's airport, in order to express their support for lifting the sanctions. The federation urged Arab leaders, scheduled to hold a summit meeting in Amman in March, to solve intra-Arab differences, specifically those between Iraq and Kuwait, on an objective basis in order to restore coordination among Arab countries.
To support such a goal, the federation resolved to host an open dialogue between the Iraqi and Kuwaiti journalists in Cairo, upon a recommendation by federation secretary-general and prominent Al-Ahram writer, Salaheddin Hafez. During the opening session, Iraqi and Kuwaiti journalists exchanged harsh words, but towards the final session they agreed to the dialogue. The Kuwaitis, however, made their participation conditional on an investigation into "what happened to Kuwaiti journalists taken prisoner during the invasion." Iraq denies Kuwaiti charges that it continued to hold more than 600 Kuwaiti prisoners after it was forced to evacuate Kuwait in March 1991 after seven months of occupation.
Turning to professional concerns, Arab journalists presented their suggestions for a draft press law that they advocate be adopted by Arab governments and parliaments. They suggested that penalties other than imprisonment be handed down for publication-related offences. Nearly all Arab journalists face the possibility of imprisonment for up to two years if convicted of libel. Journalists said that such sentences should be replaced by hefty fines and other measures to be taken by local syndicates. The threat of imprisonment is considered by journalists to be a restriction on their freedom of expression as it acts as deterrent to writing openly about governments or influential figures. The federation also urged the release of all journalists held in Arab prisons for publication offences.
Before the concluding session, the federation, which meets once every four years elected its new board. In addition to Nafie's re-election as chairman, Egypt's Hafez, Syria's Saber Falhout, Lebanon's Melhem Karam were also re-elected as deputy chairmen. Newcomers to the board were Ahmed Bahbahani of Kuwait, Abdullah Al-Baqali of Morocco, and Mahgoub Ali of Yemen. Six other journalists from Jordan, Sudan, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, and Palestine were also elected as assistants to the secretary-general.
At the closing session, Nafie said that "the conference was a great success since it produced important resolutions concerning political issues, especially regarding the Arab-Israeli struggle." He added that "we are facing a crucial phase which could present great danger threatening the security of the entire region."
During the three-day conference, Jordan's Crown Prince Hamza decorated Nafie with a prestigious medal, the Wessam Al-Istqlal [the Medal of Independence].
In a show of solidarity with Palestinian victims of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Al-Ahram Weekly's representative at the conference, along with a group of Arab journalists, visited the injured father of the now well-known Palestinian martyr, 12-year-old Mohamed Al-Dorra. Rami Al-Dorra was not broken by the brutal killing of his son, but he was full of anger for Israeli occupation troops who shot Mohamed in cold blood. He recounted the brutality of the event to the moved journalists. "The Americans and Israelis say it was crossfire. Can crossfire go on for 45 minutes? They were deliberately targeting my son. It is their plan to kill children," he said. "The Arabs should do something rather than acting like an audience to the killings."
While bidding farewell to the journalists, Al-Dorra thanked the Egyptian people and President Hosni Mubarak for the support they gave to Palestinians. Speaking with determination, his final words to the delegation were that "the Intifada must go on. It is the only means for restoring our land."
Related stories:
Shifting borders
The Intifada this time
'Those times are over'
Snipers, gunships and now death squads
'Our blood is sacred too'
Blaming the victim
Exporting typhoid and guns
It's war -- virtually
Arab journalists join the fray
Blinded by the truth
Deciphering ZNN
The message is the medium
Also see Focus on Intifada 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000
and Focus on Intifada 19 - 25 October 2000© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
