The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has adopted a recommendation to activate a Saudi proposal to allocate $25 million to a fund to develop contacts with Western media to present a true picture of the Muslim world. A communique issued at the end of a two-day meeting of OIC information ministers here Friday also adopted a recommendation to establish a mini-ministerial committee urging it to prepare a comprehensive plan to reach out to the Western world. The communique lauded the role of media institutions and departments in OIC member states and invited them to contribute to highlight their actions in different media outlets. It also recommended coordination among various information institutions, departments and the Information Department of the OIC General Secretariat in order to acquaint the Muslim world with their important role in supporting joint Islamic media action. The conference supported the need to reinforce communication and to establish a mechanism of coordination among media specialists in the Muslim world and the OIC General Secretariat. It also recommended establishing the “Muslim Journalists' Forum” within the OIC to unite journalists and promote communication between them so that it becomes a forum for facilitating cooperation and developing specific mechanisms in joint Islamic media action. The communique said it was incumbent upon media outlets in OIC member states to highlight the Israeli atrocities on the Palestinian people and usurpation of their human and civil rights by the Jewish state. It also commended UNESCO's recognition of the State of Palestine and affirmed support for Palestine's quest for full membership of the United Nations. The meeting commended the efforts of the OIC General Secretariat in interacting with Western media, including holding a workshop in February on the subject: “Defamation of Islam and Muslims in Western Media” in Brussels. Civil society representatives, media specialists, intellectuals and academics from both the Islamic world and the West participated in the forum.
