Former Minister of Information Affairs, Eng. Sakhr Dudin, stressed the need to work on projects for a unified Arab narrative to capitalize on the commonalities between Arab countries and the capabilities that can support one another to make Palestinian voices heard, as the occupier’s narrative is stronger at the global level and goes beyond the limits of the Israeli presence in Palestine.
During the panel discussion held by ARDD, entitled: “The Palestinian Cause: The Battle of the Narratives”, on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, within the framework of the Palestinian Cause program, and within the second series of seminars to follow up on, record, and document the developments of the war in Palestine, in cooperation with the Human and Economic Development Forum (HEDF), Dudin said that the Israeli narrative is advanced and calculated compared to the Arab narrative, and it is invested in by all means and served by politics and economics, indicating that it relies on fabricating facts and is based on values that are far from moral and ethical accountability and serves a Zionist colonial project embodied by the occupation.
Dudin pointed out that the media plays a central role in building conflicting narratives by repeating content that reinforces one idea and brings it into focus at the expense of another, thus acquiring superiority, not due to being rooted in ethical values and human rights, or for having legitimacy, but rather due to the tools, means, and entities behind it that enhance its presence in the public sphere.
The current Upper-House representative said that the Israeli occupation has “guidelines” and scenarios prepared in advance to market their narrative and play the victim, explaining that they were able to quickly mobilize Western media, diplomatic, and military machine, which contributed to the support they received from Western countries, as well as adopting their narrative and then rushing to provide support.
In one of the statements he made, Dudin referred to the elements of Israeli content and the Arab narrative, pointing out that the occupation controls the international media, research centers, and universities, which affects the space given to the Arabic narrative which requires unity in faith and positions, in addition to translating it into all languages of the world to make sure it reaches everyone.
Dudin also stressed the importance of preparing writers, journalists, and researchers who possess knowledge tools and understand history and analyze it in an informed way to refute the false claims made by Israel throughout history, stating that the occupation’s rhetoric is starting to get exposed, and that Jordan refutes it more than anyone else today, as it has a consistent discourse that constantly calls for an end to the occupation to create a new political horizon, as well as the need to enable the Palestinian people to regain their rights and exercise self-determination.
Dudin praised Jordan’s position, which draws attention to the centrality of the Palestinian Cause and seeks to restore things to normal and direct them to their true compass when new events take place in the region by stressing the need to find a solution to them.
In this context, the participants in the meeting stressed the importance of finding a narrative capable of overcoming obstacles, according to a free and creative climate away from security and political restrictions, which makes this requirement difficult in light of the current challenges, in addition to supporting for young people and raising their awareness of all national issues, and the need to provide them with modern knowledge tools, as well as the importance of focusing on the role of filmmaking to propose a convincing and different discourse to others, in addition to providing institutions that support youth content, while unifying the Arab voice as much as possible.
According to the participants, education is an important source of reliable information, and therefore it is necessary to pay attention to the outputs of the educational process in the Arab region, as well as paying attention to the role of young people who fight all media taboos through social media, as it is necessary to support their efforts, and to invest in building media disciplines to consolidate security and stability in the region as a whole, with a focus on learning Arabic and other languages, and going back to teaching the Palestinian Cause in Arabic and English in schools, universities, and institutes.
Overall, the developments witnessed by the Palestinian Cause, the Arab region, and the world in relation to the Israeli war on Gaza are highlighted in how to build and frame the content of the occupier, and how it can stand in the way of human protection and deprive people of their basic rights. Therefore, it is necessary to be aware of the occupation’s narrative and how to address it and dismantle it, and to build an Arab-Palestinian narrative that reaffirms the issues of the region and the importance of reaching a solution for the Palestinian Cause in accordance with international law and the relevant conventions, as well as protecting the rights of the Palestinian people and the sovereignty of Arab countries.
