Media 'can play key role in dialogue with west'

Sharjah: The publication of the blasphemous cartoons in Denmark and elsewhere showed Islamophobia is rising, and the media could play a key role in creating a dialogue with the West, academicians said yesterday.

Professors and students took the floor yesterday to offer suggestions and solutions on how Arab governments should tackle the aftermath of the cartoons.

The University of Sharjah held a seminar in response to the protest that has swept across Muslim nations as a result of the publication of the cartoons by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Hassan Al Subaihi, a professor of mass communications, saw the publications as an obvious manifestation of Islamophobia that is on the rise in the West. Commenting on the reactions following the publications, Al Subaihi praised the boycott against Danish products by individuals but believed that it would have been more effective if it was an official boycott.

Al Subaihi believed that a more organised and peaceful action should take place, and that the violence in Arab countries "gives people the opportunity to portray Islam as an intolerant religion that promotes terrorism."

Emphasise tolerance

Mohammad Kirat, associate professor in the Communications Department, emphasised the important role of the media in creating a dialogue with the West. "We don't know how to convey the right picture of our culture," he said.

Kirat stressed the importance of the media and official bodies to play an active role to explain who we are, "by emphasising tolerance, because after all, that is what Islam is all about."

All on the panel stressed the importance of creating an official body in order to pass universal laws to monitor the violations of all religions.

"Of course we respect freedom of the press and it is constitutionally protected, but there should be a moral responsibility within journalism," said Dr Said Mustafa, another academician. Many in the audience called for a one-day workshop to discuss the issue.