Abu Dhabi: Queen Rania of Jordan opened the Abu Dhabi Media Summit on Tuesday in the capital with a strong message against extremism, urging Arabs to reclaim their identity through social media.
Under the theme of Driving and Sustaining Future Media in Mena (Middle East and North Africa) and Beyond, summit audiences also heard her speak against the loud silence that he majority of Arab moderates are exhibiting.
“A minority of irreligious extremists is using social media to rewrite our narrative … hijack our identity and rebrand us,” she said. “They say, a story is told as much by silence as by speech. Well, our silence speaks volumes. We are complicit in their success,” she added.
Rania also stated that this fight is one between the moderates and extremists of the world. “It’s a fight for the future of Islam and the future of the Arab world. So, it’s a fight that moderates have to win,” she said.
“Winning also depends on our ability to conquer the philosophical battleground as well. Because at the heart of this assault is an ideology,” she added.
She questioned the increase in the number of followers and fans of radical groups in the region. “[The followers are] from classrooms in which they were never challenged to think for themselves, and where they learnt an outdated curriculum. From societies in which a quarter of their peers is unemployed, where there’s inadequate social security to afford a life of dignity, and where opportunities to help to change the status quo are few and far between,” Rania said.
She presented the audience with the options facing the region today, adding: “we either develop our region, or we let others dismantle it. Find solutions to the challenges, or watch the challenges avalanche. Harness the tools to drive the Arab world forward in the 21st century, or let others use those tools to drag us back to the dark ages.”
Education reform topped her to-do-list for the region: “Our strategy must be long-term. And that starts by investing in quality education for all ... Education reform doesn’t come cheap. But the price of ignorance is far, far greater,” she said.
She added that education alone cannot solve the problem as the provision of jobs is also vital. “Recent estimates indicate that we need to create over 100 million jobs by 2020 to absorb new entrants into the labour market,” she revealed.
Acknowledging the job creation challenge, Rania was nonetheless optimistic about emerging opportunities in the region: “The good news is that new industries are emerging. The digital landscape is evolving. And internet connectivity and mobile technologies are creating new horizons for entrepreneurs. Arab internet users are growing at around 20 per cent annually. Mobile penetration at around 110 per cent.
