Ayoon wa Azan (From The Third Arab Media Forum)

Jihad Al Khazen      Al-Hayat     2003/10/13

Al-Hayat won the biggest share of awards at the Dubai Press Club, during its third meeting last week; my colleague Ghassan Charbel won the best press interview award, while Hazem Al Amin won the political press award, and I would be revealing a secret when I say that Ghassan is preparing a new press interview that shall be published and earn another prize.   

Earlier, my colleague George Semaan, editor-in-chief, had run the most exciting sessions of the forum, as it addressed the situation in Iraq and examined its case through the Arab media war coverage. Abdulbari Atwan stimulated the talks, while some of the Iraqi and Kuwaiti participants were voicing their opinions out loud, as one interrupted the other.

Among the attendants were colleagues of mine such as Mohamad Al Robhi, Jaber Obeid and Youssef Ibrahim. Dr. Mohamad asked calmly as if he were coming from abroad, to soothe the tension and discuss issues as objectively as possible. Then Salaheddine Hafez intervened and warned from the fact that the session was drifting away from its main topic, turning into a political and personal debate; hence, he asked to abide by objective standards and criteria during the discussion.

I said that I was expecting a heated session, so I sat next to Mr. Ghassan Tueini, waiting for the countdown to finish. However, what I did not expect was the fact that our colleague Jalal Al Mashta, who used to be extremely quiet when he worked as head of Al-Hayat's Moscow bureau, turned into an angry Iraqi after his return to Baghdad, and was interrupting everyone excitedly.

George Semaan managed eventually to contain the situation and gave Jalal Al Mashta five minutes to speak in the name of Iraq, or in the name of his wing following Saddam's downfall. The session ended like every other Arab session, with kisses and admonition. But I lost Abdulbari or failed to see him after the session, and I was scared that someone might have kidnapped him; however, I did find him in safe hands. I also looked for Dr. Ahmad Al Roubhi to feel at ease, and I found him safe and sound.

The session I participated in was relatively very calm, although it also addressed the foreign media war coverage, and it turned out that all the attendants supported the peaceful solution.

Several people and I thought that the Arab satellite networks covered war much better than the international ones, particularly the American ones, which aired incomplete images, sometimes even false ones, regarding the course of the war. They also practiced self-censorship to please the American troops, knowing that they also submitted to other censorship terms.

I admit that I had never imagined myself saying that the Arab media has beaten the Western one in relating facts of a major event such as war on Iraq. However, this did happen and some of the foreign journalists who were present at the session did not like it, so they objected but I did not seem to find any logic or objectivity in their arguments, but rather the behavior of a Prima Donna, or the first ballerina.

I know that the superiority of the Arab satellite channels in covering the war on Iraq was an exception, as we are underdeveloped in everything, and always look for new reasons to sink lower.

And yet, none of the 500 participants at the Third Arab Media Forum, whether the media professionals or guests, some of whom are most eminent in their fields, noticed any sort of underdevelopment. On the other hand, the management of the convention was excellent, as Sheikh Mohamad bin Rashed, Crown Prince of Dubai was the sponsor of the event, and attended the opening with the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Personally, I think that the best people who worked at the Dubai press club were the young men and women, including my friend Mona Al Mari, executive manager of the club, who was busy all through the convention, keeping an eye on everything like the mother of the bride.

I stood with Mohamad Al Qarqawi, president of the Dubai Investment Committee, watching the participants at the press awards party, were hundreds of personal friends and colleagues were gathered. Such conventions provide an opportunity for all of us to gather and exchange opinions, as well as speak and listen, although I hoped there would be more listening.

I shall not mention any names as there will definitely remain little space, nor will I mention a friend and disregard another, but I do want to thank my colleague Ghassan Tueini, because I gave him a copy of my 40-page paper, which I did not read, and he gave me a copy he had of the book called Israel, America And The Arabs, Predictions Since Half A Century. This book is strange because it is based on a report sent by our Ambassador to Washington Charles Malek, to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry in 1949, and addresses the future of Arab relations with the U.S., the presence of Israel and its expansion; it's as if it were written yesterday. Had I not had total confidence in the authenticity of the report, I would have thought it were forged, as the author seems to be a fortune teller.

My dear friend Salaheddine Hafez also offered me a copy of his new book called Hatred under ice: Israel the complex of Arab-American relations, which was presented by Mr. Mohamd Hassanen Haykal. I shall read it on my way to London.

I shall return holding in my heart the memory of baby Fatima who had on her chest the picture of her father Tareq Ayoub, Al Jazeera's reporter who was killed in Iraq. I escorted her mother to receive the honoring prize of the late colleague. I fought the tears in my eyes, but I saw one welling up in the eye of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zeid, the UAE Information Minister, as he held the baby girl in his arms. I leave the reader with this equation, as more journalists than soldiers were killed during the war, considering both numbers, and that is no coincidence, nor is it innocent.