At a Pal-Think–Friedrich Ebert seminar: questions over the media's and academia's role in advancing national reconciliation

11 July – Gaza – The Pal-Think for Strategic Studies centre, in cooperation with the German Friedrich foundation, held the first seminar of the “Face the Public” programme entitled: “Ways of supporting Palestinian reconciliation academically and in the media”, as a contribution by the centre to enriching constructive discussion of the central issues that concern Palestinian society, attended by a number of representatives of civil society, youth groups, intellectuals and media people.

The head of the Pal-Think centre, Omar Shaban, offered a welcome and spoke about the activities the centre has carried out to support Palestinian reconciliation, expressing his happiness at the partnership with the Friedrich foundation for the third consecutive year.

Shaban pointed out that the aim of holding this seminar is to keep the issue of reconciliation alive, noting that the signing of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement carried glad tidings for the Palestinian people, as the crowds came out to celebrate the achievement of signing an end to a difficult era of division. He said: “But unfortunately there has been a setback that has caused disappointment, and everyone must exert effort in order to influence the politicians who hold the decision”.
For his part, the director of the German Friedrich Ebert foundation, Dr Osama Antar, said in his welcoming address: “All the segments of the Palestinian people are eager for reconciliation, because everyone has suffered from the bitter division, and everyone must work to turn the page of the bitter division, each in their own position”.

The seminar was divided into two parts: the first dealt with “The academic perspective for supporting Palestinian reconciliation” and was addressed by Dr Walid al-Mudallal, professor of political science at the Islamic University, and Dr Mkhaimar Abu Sada, professor of political science at al-Azhar University; while the second part dealt with “The media perspective” and was addressed by the director of the al-Quds channel office in Palestine, Imad al-Ifranji, and the journalist Adel al-Zaanoun of Palestine Television.

In the academic perspective, Dr Walid al-Mudallal focused in his intervention on the decline of the role of the universities in society, warning that the university has lost its independence to the benefit of the political parties. He added that the universities' role in serving society and interacting with it in the required manner has declined. Dr al-Mudallal pointed to the necessity of restoring the universities' genuine and effective role by restoring the independence of the universities in terms of decision and entity and conferring a kind of distinctiveness on their work in a way that keeps them away from political influence, stressing that the independence of the universities would guarantee a positive role in reconciliation. Dr al-Mudallal stressed the necessity of a constructive relationship among the elements of the academic reality, and referred to many visions that would improve the university's contribution at the societal level, pointing to the necessity of establishing a general union of Palestine's student councils, keeping the universities neutral from political tugging and incitement, presenting model images of reconciliation in the universities, activating systems of oversight and accountability, and bridging the gulf between the universities.

For his part, Dr Mkhaimar Abu Sada warned that reconciliation is currently stumbling, attributing this to the absolute Israeli rejection of unity between the two halves of the homeland and the position of the United States, which is witnessing the beginning of the election campaigns, in addition to the existence of disagreements inside the Fatah and Hamas movements, which complicates the issue of reconciliation. He stressed the necessity of pressing the United States and Israel in this framework; yet at the same time, according to Dr Abu Sada, the role of the elites in bringing about positive and constructive change is a central and essential role, and the universities must present a genuine model of societal reconciliation and turn into fertile environments for tolerance.

As for the media perspective, Dr Imad al-Ifranji stressed the necessity for the Palestinian media to go into the depths of the problems connected with the important issues that touch social reality, and stressed the necessity for the media to turn into an independent instrument far removed from defamation, mutual accusations and the fabrication of news. He in turn presented a set of visions that would raise up the internal media reality, stressing the necessity of ending the domination of politicised parties over the media. He also referred to the issue of official television, that it is owned by everyone and no one has the right to monopolise it however great their popularity, and that a clear and explicit decision must be taken that the principal dispute of the people and the parties represented in the media outlets is with Israel, and that the level of criticism should be set within a reasonable and sound framework. He also warned of the necessity of imposing a “silent boycott” on “tension-stirring figures”.

For his part, the journalist Adel al-Zaanoun, correspondent of Palestine Television, divided the media into “official media”, “partisan media” and “independent media confused between the two”, and said that each of these outlets is governed by a set of concepts, noting that the one who determines the policy of any of these outlets is the one who funds it. Yet the existence of an official partisan media is not in itself a defect, but this media must be governed by the ethics of the profession. He stressed the necessity for the media outlets to work to end the culture of hatred and division, pointing out that this issue is not easy and that there is a pressing need for solidarity in working towards it. He also stressed the necessity for politicians to lift the restrictions on the media and for the state of media subordination to the party to be ended.

Those present stressed in their interventions the importance of the role entrusted to the media outlets, higher-education institutions and academic staff in driving the wheel of reconciliation forward and achieving social and political reconciliation.