Tuesday, 29 December 2020 11:45 AM
Company Update
WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / December 29, 2020 / The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) published its 2020 Editor's Picks of MEMRI TV clips from the Reform Project and on peace in the Middle East from 2020. MEMRI will publish additional lists of top reports and clips from the year in a series of end-of-year reports.
2020 Editor's Picks: MEMRI TV Clips From The Reform Project
The MEMRI Reform Project broadens the audience of those promoting reform in the Arab and Muslim world, while highlighting the obstacles that they face in advancing such reforms. The goal of this project is to provide reformists a much-needed platform that will enable them to reach out to their societies and to religious, political, and educational leaders while also providing cogent suggestions to Western policy makers constructing long-term strategic plans in support of the reform effort.
The following are selected MEMRI TV clips from the Reform Project in 2020.
Former Saudi Minister of Justice Sheikh Muhammad Issa, who currently serves as the Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, said in a June 17, 2020 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that some people misunderstand the Quranic verse that says that Jews and Christians will never be pleased with the Muslims until they follow their religion. He clarified that this was referring to the direction of prayer or other matters of faith. In addition, he explained that Muslims, Jews, and Christians are "brothers" because all of humanity comes from the same source and he emphasized that Muslims have never benefited from having a hateful or provocative approach. Saying that there are Jews who have stood alongside the Muslims against Islamophobia, Sheikh Issa added: "We do not deal with extremists, fanatics, or haters, [but] people should not bear the consequences of mistakes committed by some of them."
Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya Network aired a report on a visit to Auschwitz by a delegation of the Muslim World Leagues on January 23, 2020. The delegation of senior Islamic scholars was led by Secretary-General of the Muslim World League Dr. Muhammad Issa. According to the report, the purpose of the visit was to express the Muslim World League's message against violence, hatred, and extremism. Dr. Ahmad Abadi, Secretary-General of the Mohammadia League of Scholars in Morocco, who was a member of the delegation, was interviewed from Auschwitz. He said that no one in the "extended human family" is immune to the "virus of hate," which penetrated into the scholarly German nation. Dr. Abadi added: "We should learn this lesson […] so that we do not repeat such a tragedy anywhere on our planet." Dr. Abadi stated that this visit can refute the "widespread belief that Muslims can accept crimes against humanity." The visit took place in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation.
On March 5, 2020, Qatari women's rights activist and dissident Aisha Al-Qahtani gave an interview to Al-Hurra TV (U.S.), in which she spoke about the discrimination against women in Gulf states. In the interview Al-Qahtani points out that there is no law protecting women from domestic violence, saying that "we cannot ask for other rights so long as there is no law that protects women's dignity."
Egyptian researcher Ahmad Abdou Maher said in a November 16, 2020 interview on Al-Hadath Al-Youm TV (Egypt) that young people are becoming atheists because they see unscientific facts in religious texts, such as claims that the sun hides under God's throne when it sets or that a woman's pregnancy can last as long as four years. He also said that the proportion of the religious texts that such statements comprise is irrelevant, much the same way the proportional weight of coronavirus in a person's body is irrelevant. For more about Ahmad Abdou Maher, see MEMRI TV clips No. 5999, 5669, 5409, and 5234.
French-Tunisian Islamic scholar Hassen Chalghoumi, President of the Conference of Imams of France, said in a November 2, 2020 interview on Sky News Arabia (UAE) that political Islam is a cancer in France and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Qatar's Al-Jazeera Network are behind a planned campaign that promotes a "discourse of victimhood." Chalghoumi said that political Islam and the far left have instilled a sense of victimhood in Muslim youth and caused them to believe that they really are the victims of colonialism, Freemasonry, and Zionism. He argued that this mentality creates an "internal impulse for revenge" against France. In addition, Chalghoumi said that the Muslim Brotherhood-led countries and organizations, which he referred to as the "leaders of the devils," send innocent youth to do their bidding and carry out attacks. Furthermore, he said that the Muslim Brotherhood must be outlawed in France and that its affiliated organizations must be dissolved.
For the full list of Reform Project clips, see the report here.
2020 Editor's Picks: Clips In Support Of Peace In The Middle East
This year MEMRI produced dozens of reports and clips on reactions in the Middle East and South Asia to the historic Abraham Accords Peace Agreement normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. These reactions, from these countries as well as from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, and Palestine, as well as from ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hizbullah, Hamas, and Fatah, range from support and praise for the agreements and criticism of those, especially Palestinians, who oppose them to harsh condemnation of the agreements and even predictions that they will set the the Palestinians back on the path of terrorism.
This research is part of the MEMRI Reform Project, which informs our constantly growing audience about promoters of reform in the Arab and Muslim world, while highlighting the obstacles that they face in advancing such reforms.
The following are selected MEMRI TV clips in support of peace in the Middle East from the Reform Project in 2020.
Lebanese Singer Elissar Zakaria Khoury, known by her stage name Elissa, said in a November 12, 2020 interview on MTV (Lebanon) that the recent talk about demarcation of Lebanon's borders with Israel is evidence that Israel is not really Lebanon's enemy, and that there has been a conspiracy to spread this lie. She said she supported peace with any country. She also said that Lebanese politicians Dr. Samir Geagea and Saad Hariri should be held accountable for bringing Lebanese President Michel Aoun to power. In addition, Elissa said that Lebanon's leaders would all quit if they had any self-respect or if they contemplated what the people think of them.
Iranian journalist Ghanbar Naderi, a columnist for Kayhan International, said in an October 20, 2020 interview on CGTN Network (China) that Iran should change its policy towards Israel and its neighbors, that it should stop threatening to destroy Israel, and that it should recognize the sovereignty of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the region. Naderi, who was speaking from Tehran, added that the COVID-19 pandemic, which he described as a missed opportunity for cooperation between the United States and Iran, has changed the stance of even hardliners in Iran, to the point that Iran will engage with the United States if it rejoins the JCPOA, if it lifts the economic sanctions against Iran, and if it stops threatening Iran militarily.
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan's Sovereignty Council, said in an interview with Sudan TV on October 26, 2020 that "reconciliation is legitimate even with enemies." He explained that you can sign a reconciliation agreement with any country if it serves the interests of both parties, and he said that lifting sanctions on Sudan is part and parcel of this agreement. Al-Burhan added that a lot has changed since the "Three No's" resolution at the Khartoum Summit in 1967. He explained that the PLO and several Arab countries have signed agreements with Israel since then, and asked: "Why should we stay in 1967?" Al-Burhan stated that Sudan still believes that a Palestinian state must be established within the 1967 borders, but the Sudanese people cannot be left to carry the brunt of this responsibility alone.
Saudi politician Yousef Al-Othaimeen, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, said in an October 18, 2020 interview on Sky News Arabia (UAE) that in order to achieve a resolution to the Palestinian issue, people need to "think outside the box." He said that war has not resolved the issue, so maybe the Palestinians should try different ways to reach a two-state solution. He asked what the point is of insisting that boycotting Israel is the only viable course of action.
Egyptian Journalist Abdel Moneim Saeed said in a September 15, 2020 interview on Ten TV (Egypt) that "the time has come for our Palestinian brothers and their political elite to rethink things." He said there is no reason that the Palestinian cause must oblige all other Arab countries to remain in conflict with Israel, the Palestinians must resolve their cause on their own. Saeed added that a future independent Palestinian state will have to maintain a monopoly over the use of weapons, and no other military wings of Palestinian factions will be able to keep their weapons. He added that Hamas had jeopardized attempts at regional reconciliation in the 1990s and he then compared the movement to Al-Qaeda, Jabhat Al-Nusra, and Hizbullah.
For the full list of clips in support of peace in the Middle East, see the report here.
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Exploring the Middle East and South Asia through their media, MEMRI bridges the language gap between the West and the Middle East and South Asia, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends.
Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. MEMRI's main office is located in Washington, DC, with branch offices in various world capitals. MEMRI research is translated into English, French, Polish, Japanese, Spanish and Hebrew.
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SOURCE: Middle East Media Research Institute