The Palestine International Forum for Media and Communication will be held between 23 and 24 April in Istanbul.
The conference is a coordinating group connecting various media organizations who support the rights of Palestinians. Approximately 400 local and foreign participants - mainly from media, academia and politics will discuss how the latest technology and media applications can influence public opinion in the Arab and Western world regarding the Palestinian cause.
Yasin Aktay, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling AK Party, criticized the role of western media in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict at the opening of the forum, and said, "the injustice that has been imposed on Palestinians is the mother of all other conflicts in the world."
“There is a current campaign to discredit Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the international media and one of the most important reasons behind this is Erdogan’s strong support of the Palestinian cause,” added Aktay.
Abdel Bari Atwan, one of the world's acclaimed Palestinian journalists, said that they are expecting another Mavi Marmara ship in Gaza. In May 2010, Israeli commandos killed eight Turkish nationals and an American of Turkish origin in international waters when they attacked the Mavi Marmara, a ship in a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials to the Gaza Strip, which is under an Israeli blockade.
“This time we also expect a Mavi Marmara ship from the Arab world,” Atwan added.
The event caused international outrage and soured Turkish-Israeli ties. Since then, Turkey received an apology from the Israeli government and the two states are looking to normalize relations with a deal involving compensation for the victims’ families.
Media elites slam news coverage of Palestine issue
Media elites from the Arab and Western world have criticized media coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, accusing it of being biased in favor of Israel.
Speaking at the Palestine International Forum for Media and Communication in Istanbul, Dawood Abdullah, the director of a news website, London-based Middle East Monitor, said there is a huge gap in Western media between what we would like to see and what really exists.
"The BBC recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which is in conflict with international law. They explain that Jerusalem is the de facto capital of Israel and the BBC has no choice but accept it. This example clearly shows that they are on the side of power, not truth," he said.
The conference is a coordinating group connecting various media organizations which support the rights of Palestinians.
Approximately 400 local and foreign participants - mainly from media, academia and politics - will discuss how the latest technology and media applications can influence public opinion in the Arab and Western world regarding the Palestinian cause.
Islamophobia connection
Explaining that French media had a different approach toward the Palestinian cause in the 1970s, Alain Gresh, Editor of Le Monde Diplomatique and a specialist on the Middle East, said this approach had changed in favor of Israel.
"There is a connection between Islamophobia and the Western media approach towards the Palestinian cause. To change that we first need to take on the Islamophobia," said Gresh.
Egyptian columnist and writer, Fahmi Huwaydi, said there had been changes in the Arab world in the sense of media and voicing expectations of the world and themselves.
"After the Arab Revolution, the vision that we see in Middle Eastern countries is that the Palestinian cause has been dropped out of the agenda of Arabic society. However, it remains in the mind and heart of each and every Arabic family," said Huwaydi.
Since the founding of Israel on Palestinian land in 1948, millions of Palestinians have found themselves in exile, mostly in neighboring countries.
Under siege
About 1.8 million Palestinians live in Gaza under siege by Israel.
Nearly 70 percent of them are refugees who live in five camps set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
As their numbers increased, many moved to the cities of the five provinces, while the camps still house hundreds of thousands of people.
Arguing that Arab media gets weaker in Palestine, Muhammad al Musfer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Qatar, said there had been a lack of coverage on mutual meetings between Hamas and Fatah and Israeli attacks on Gaza in 2006 and 2009.
"Palestine is responsible for media itself. Arabic media should give enough support for Palestine channels," he added.
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