The Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA) held on Tuesday a virtual workshop themed, "Media Circulation of Terminology of the Palestinian Cause," with the participation of the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency, UNA member agencies, and a number of diplomats and media professionals. In his opening speech to the workshop, OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha stressed the crucial role being played by news agencies and media in OIC member states to keep the issue of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif at the forefront of the political and media scene. He also noted the importance of forming collective awareness of the Palestinian cause and about the aggression on the territory and sanctities of the Palestinian people. In the speech delivered on his behalf by Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs Samir Bakr Diab, the OIC chief affirmed that the organization is following up with great concern the escalation of the media war being waged by the Israeli occupation, whether through systematic attacks against the media and its staff, or through the promotion of false and fake Israeli narratives denying the existence of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights. The Secretary-General explained that the current conflict is political and embodied in the illegal Israeli colonial occupation of the Palestinian territory. He called on the media covering Palestinian news to emphasize terms such as occupation, racism, ethnic cleansing, the Nakba, and colonial settlement. The Secretary-General also called for considering the development of a reference guide or a set of general media policies to regulate media handling of the cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif in a way that contributes to unifying the terminology used and the efforts exerted to promote the correct narrative on the Palestinian cause. At the conclusion, UNA acting Director-General Mohammed bin Abd Rabbo Al-Yami read the recommendations of the workshop, including the development of a reference guide on terminology related to the Palestinian cause and submitting it to the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers in order to adopt and circulate to the media in the OIC member states. The workshop also called for activating the role of news agencies in confronting misinformation and media manipulation in terminology related to the Palestinian cause. — SPA
