Officials and participants during the roundtable on Islamophobia yesterday in Doha.
Doha, Qatar: The Policy and Planning Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) yesterday organised a roundtable on Islamophobia to raise awareness and promote global partnerships to quell the rising phenomenon. The roundtable also addressed narratives hostile to Islam and Muslims, misleading information in the media, and multifaceted social attitudes antagonistic to Islam.
The discussion titled, ‘Roundtable on Islamophobia: Policy Framework to Meet Challenges,” brought together officials from several countries in the region and partners from the US, Europe and Asia. Islamophobia – the dislike of, or prejudice against, Islam or Muslims remains a prevalent problem globally.
In a statement, the Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater said the malicious anti-Islam rhetoric had reached dangerous levels, adding that Islam and Muslims are deliberately targeted, while innocent people pay the price through displacement, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
She pointed out that Qatar had clarified its position regarding many of those incidents and policies, reiterating Qatar’s commitment to supporting the initiatives that combat racism, including Islamophobia and hatred against Muslims.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the roundtable yesterday, the Director of Policy and Planning Department at MoFA H E Dr. Khalid bin Fahad Al Khater, said, “This workshop aims to gather specialists around the world, as well as representatives of some official authorities in the GCC countries, to discuss this phenomenon and how we can formulate joint projects and policies to advance this issue.”
He said besides raising awareness, it is necessary to focus on teamwork to tackle the situation because Islamophobia has different dimensions and levels, ranging from provocative burning of the Holy Qur’an to racism against Muslims.
“It does not only affect communities around the world but rather affects the cooperation of the countries of the region with the rest of the world, and it has security and political repercussions,” he added.
Dr. Al Khater added that Qatar and several countries in the region are working to reduce this phenomenon, adding that Qatar always expresses “specific positions and fixed values in this aspect.”
On March 10 this year, the United Nations commemorated the first-ever International Day to Combat Islamophobia to uphold the need for concrete action in the face of rising hatred, discrimination and violence against Muslims.
With over two billion Muslims worldwide, Dr. Al Khater said light must be shed on the roots of Islamophobia, and efforts to criminalise it requires commitment from Western countries.
“This phenomenon is widespread in Europe, Asia, and many countries, which must be addressed,” Dr. Al Khater added. Meanwhile, Director of the Human Rights Department at MoFA Dr. Turki bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud told The Peninsula that Qatar pays attention to Islamophobia and plays a “very important role in combating it and presenting this issue to the world.”
“We’ll come up with many recommendations and suggestions about combatting this issue. When we talk about Islamophobia, we also talk about hate speech. All the religions, all the minorities worldwide will benefit from the outcomes of this meeting,” Dr. Al Mahmoud said, adding that Qatar will host more conversations on combating Islamophobia, minority issues and hate speech.
