DUBAI, 27 April — More than 200 media personalities around the world will gather here tomorrow to debate and discuss perceptions and schisms between the West and the Arab world in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa will deliver the keynote speech at the Second Arab Media Summit, which will be inaugurated by Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defense Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum.
Moussa is expected to set the theme for the summit’s ensuing discussions.
“The added attraction of the Arab media summit is that it has started a dialogue between Arab media personalities and their counterparts in the Western world — which I hope would continue and be beneficial to all,” Mohammed Al-Gergawi, chairman of the summit’s organizing committee, said in a statement.
“This summit assumes the greatest importance given the fact that it is being held at a time when the world is going through a major crisis with the focus on the tense situation in Palestine,” he added.
“It is not only a human tragedy, but also a crisis of confidence wherein accusations of prejudice and personal bias have been leveled by both Arab and Western media against each other,” Gergawi said.
He pointed out that this year’s Arab media summit brings together leading lights from both the Arab and Western media world, and hoped that their discussions would lead to better understanding between them.
“We are overwhelmed and encouraged by the tremendous response to this conference. Delegates seem to have been enthused by the success of the inaugural summit last year and have shown eagerness to participate in greater numbers,” said Mona Al-Marri, executive manager of the Dubai Press Club, which organizes the summit.
More than 400 registrations have been received via the Internet alone because announcement of the summit on Web editions of regional newspapers has generated a lot of inquiries. “We expect to host more than 1,000 delegates from all over the world,” said Al-Marri.
“The Summit has projected Dubai as the annual meeting place of all major Arab media personalities and institutions,” she said, while pointing out that “until now, there really was no occasion where Arab journalists from around the world could gather and discuss issues of importance to themselves and their readers.”
The Arab media summit this year features names in journalism, thought and comment such as
Ben Bradlee of The Washington Post, Jihad Al-Khazen of Al-Hayat, Eric Roleau of Le Monde, Martin Woollacott of The Guardian, James Zogby of Arab American Institute and Tim Llewellyn of the BBC are some of the well-known media figures expected to attend.
The Dubai Press Club has set up a state-of-the-art media center, which will offer a full range of facilities and services including arrangements for interviews with leading media personalities.
