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The Second Japan-Arab Islamic Journalists Meeting

On February 8 (Thu), the Second Japan-Arab Islamic Journalists Meeting was held in Tokyo. Five journalists from Japan, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were invited as panelists of this symposium under the theme "Role of the Media in Multi-cultural Society," and had active discussions. About 180 people including diplomats and journalists attended the meeting.

Date - Program

• DATE: 13:30-17:30, Thursday, February 8, 2007
• VENUE: Nippon Press Center Hall
     (10th Floor, Nippon Press Center Building)
• THEME: The Role of the Media in Multi-Cultural Society
     1st Session: Do misunderstanding and prejudice against different cultures exist?
     2nd Session: The Role of Journalists in a Changing Society
• LANGUAGE: English and Japanese with simultaneous interpretation
• MODERATOR - PANELISTS:
  • Moderator: Mr. TAKAHASHI, Kazuo, Associate Professor, University of the Air
  • Panelists (alphabetical order by country):
    Egypt: Mr. GABALLA, Kamal,
       Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Al-Ahram Newspaper
    Japan: Mr. IKEMURA, Toshiro,
       Senior Research Fellow, Yomiuri Research Institute, Yomiuri Shimbun
    Japan: Mr. DEGAWA, Nobuhisa,
       Senior Commentator, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
    Jordan: Ms. DUMRA, Abeer,
       Journalist & Hebrew Translator, Jordan News Agency (PETRA)
    Saudi Arabia: Mr. AL-GAMDI, Waleed,
       Manager of Riyadh Office, Al-Hayat Newspaper

Main Comments in the Meeting

(1) First Session: "Do misunderstanding and prejudice against different cultures exist?"
   Keynote Speakers: Mr. Gaballa, Mr. Ikemura, and Ms. Dumra

• Mr. Gaballa referred to Professor Samuel Huntington and Professor Francis Fukuyama and claimed that both of them encourage clashes of different cultures. He raised the issue that the Western media's responses to the controversial incident of the cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad and the statements of the Pope are just fueling the anti-Arabic-culture sentiment. He pointed out, however, that dialogue between Japan and Arab states is progressing and this relationship will be a model for other cases.
• Mr. Ikemura emphasized that those engaged in the media should always have in mind that there do exist prejudice and misunderstanding against different cultures. He maintained that the dualistic views epitomized by Professor Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations' should not be taken for granted (such a view had long existed in the West and at the beginning of the 20th century, Japan and China bore the brunt of it).
• Ms. Dumra stressed that learning about other cultures helps us respect each other and avoid misunderstanding, that Islam is based on peace and generosity, and that it is not any particular religion but economic and social factors that give birth to terrorism. Her conclusion was that people who work in the media must never link terrorism to Islam as a religion.
• In the following panel discussion, Mr. Gaballa pointed out the possibility that if Japanese reporters and correspondents obtained news (on the Islamic world) from the Western media, it could produce misunderstanding and prejudice (Mr. Al-Gamdi offered the same opinion). He requested Japanese correspondents based in the Arab world to report in their own language. Mr. Ikemura replied that the number of Japanese correspondents in the Middle East was limited, and that they could not avoid using news in English or French issued by the Western media due to immediacy. He requested the Arabic media to make their information available in some languages other than Arabic, such as English or French, so that Japanese reporters could read it. "As to individual reporting that could be based on misunderstanding or prejudice, the Islamic journalists and the non-Islamic journalists should make incessant efforts in dialogue and discussion so that they can dispel misunderstanding and fill in the gaps in mutual understanding," Mr. Degawa maintained.
• Mr. Ikemura also pointed out that he could understand the demonstration against the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by the Muslims but that protesting with your life could give an extremely radical image to the international community.
• From the floor came, "Though we, Arab and Muslim, are never terrorists, how long we have to keep insisting that Islam is tolerant and peace-oriented?" or "I am sure that when the word "terrorist" first appeared, it had nothing to do with Muslims."
• As to the latter comment, Mr. Degawa stated, "I scrutinize the situation and its background whether or not I use the word 'terrorism' in the news. He said, "When the word 'terrorism' is not appropriate, I use other expressions. Even well-trained journalists cannot be completely free from prejudice. As long as we deal with different cultures, we cannot escape misunderstanding and prejudice. It is important to make continuous efforts to get rid of misunderstanding and to try to grasp the entire picture."
• There was a comment from the floor that it costs much to have a correspondent stationed in Japan. To this comment, Mr. Ikemura introduced the "Association de Presse France-Japon" in Paris and proposed to have a similar organization between Japanese and Arab journalists. Since 1963 the Association has been offering a forum for interviews or meetings with VIPs and people in the news who have something to do with both Japan and France.

(2) Second Session: The Role of Journalists in a Changing Society
   Keynote Speakers: Mr. Al-Gamdi and Mr. Degawa

• Mr. Al-Gamdi defined the social role of journalists as to present voices that are beneficial to society, give constructive criticism of government policies, and propose alternatives. He insisted that journalists should continue to make efforts to correct mutually distorted images by, for example, exchanges between the media.
• Mr. Degawa showed a TV report in an NHK program, "News Watch 9" that was broadcast on January 18 featuring "Shooting up TV stations in Iraq." He introduced a phenomenon that can be called "Lebannonization" of TV channels in which as many as about 30 TV stations, terrestrial stations alone, came into being, activating sectarian antagonism between the Shiites and the Sunnis. "In an age when even armed insurgents uses TV and the Internet to put out propaganda, professional journalists are strictly required to distinguish a piece of information that can be used as news and to give careful consideration to what effect the news will have," he insisted.
• After that discussions were held among the panelists and the floor. Mr. Gaballa put a question, "Why do Japanese media use the same words as Western media, "terrorists" for example, when they report on Arabs and the Islamic world?" To this question, Mr. Degawa replied, "We do not use the same words as the Western media all the time. NHK pays very close attention to the use of the word "terrorism," for example. Sometimes we use expressions such as an "assault" or an "attack." Every time we scrutinize the situation and background before choosing appropriate expressions, but sometimes we come across situations which we have to call terrorism." Mr. Ikemura also said, "We must consider which words to use, but there are too many cases where we cannot help but call them terrorism." To these remarks, Ms. Dumra maintained that journalists should distinguish "terrorism" that kills a number of innocent people from liberation movements.
• After that, there were some comments from the floor: "The Arabic side always talks about the West to make excuses (for their dissatisfaction), but the Arabic side should take action." "Why don't the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan and Arabic states offer some facilities to Arabic and Japanese media? They need support from governmental agencies because of the intensifying competition among media." "Arabic media do have misunderstanding about Japan but have no prejudice. The Japanese media used not to have prejudice against the Arab world. But I feel that recent reports of the Japanese media started to have biased views against the Arab Islam world to a certain degree. We must pay proper attention to that."
• About an opinion that the Japanese media have come under the too much influence of the Western media, a Japanese journalist from the floor who worked in Cairo said, "Because a news agency should dispatch information as quickly as possible, sometimes I had to refer to the Western media. But in recent years, news in English coming from the Arab world is increasing. As for myself, in retrospect, I met many people and went many places to get information and send it from a Japanese perspective. But I am afraid my news was much on politics or wars and less on social or human interest aspects."
• Mr. Degawa referred to 'Oshin,' an NHK drama that became very popular in Iran and Egypt, and said it meant that we share much common ground for understanding each other. He insisted that we should expand reporting that explains people's daily lives and cultural background. He also proposed to establish a forum between the Arab-Islamic world and the non-Islamic world to discuss individual and concrete matters that easily give rise to misunderstanding.
• Mr. Ikemura said, "The Tokyo University of Foreign Studies translates newspaper articles from the Arabic, Turkish and Persian languages and carries them on its website. I would like to assist such an activity." Saying, "Recently a movie entitled 'Days of Glory,' which depicted how France recruited 'indigenous soldiers' from North African Magreb countries during World War II and abandoned them after the war, was very highly rated. The French Government has therefore decided to review its policies toward the soldiers. This is a very good example of culture winning a victory over politics," Mr. Ikemura indicated the negative legacy of colonialism behind the Arab world.
• Finally Mr. Takahashi stated "I think the mutual understanding with the Arab Islam World is making slow but steady progress. One of the key words of today's discussion was Professor Huntington's book 'Clash of Civilizations.' But I reject his theory of 'the clash of civilizations.'