Islam versus Europe

JEDDAH,19 Rabi al-Awwal/12 Feb (IINA)-The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will convene a media workshop, the first of its kind, in Brussels, Belgium, on 15 and 16 February 2012 to develop media-related mechanisms to address the smear campaigns of Islam in newspapers and media institutions in the West.

The media workshop on stereotypes of Islam and Muslims in the media, which will be attended by Muslim and non-Muslim leading civil society organizations, journalists, intellectuals, and academics, represents a quantum leap in media action as it discusses, beyond rhetoric, the practical steps to address the phenomenon of Islamophobia.

The workshop comes in implementation of the outcome of the Mecca OIC Extraordinary Summit of 2005, the OIC Ten-Year Program of Action and the various Islamic Conferences of Information Ministers (ICIM). It will discuss at length the reasons behind and the results of Western media offensive campaigns directed against the symbols and sanctities of Islam and Muslims, which still occur from time to time.

The workshop is of particular importance as it will be held only weeks before convening of the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva next March, which will put Resolution 16/18 to vote for the second time after its unanimous endorsement in the previous session.

Worth noting that Resolution 16/18 aims to combat intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of discrimination, incitement to violence, and violence against persons based on religion or belief. The resolution came as an outcome of bilateral talks between the OIC and a number of Western countries including the USA. The OIC and USA held two meetings in Istanbul and Washington on this issue in order to develop operational mechanisms to implement the resolution at the level of the United Nations.

The two-day long workshop will take the format of brainstorming sessions to develop mechanisms for cooperation with external partners and to develop an action plan to address the phenomenon of Islamophobia. The recommendations of the media workshop will be presented to the 9th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM) which will be held in Libreville, Gabon, in April for endorsement and implementation.