At the invitation of Dr. Habib El-Malki, President of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco, President of the current session of the Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States (PUIC), Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, participated in a communication meeting held today morning at the headquarters of the Moroccan House of Representatives headquarters in Rabat. The meeting was attended by the ambassadors of Islamic countries accredited to the Kingdom of Morocco to notify on the proposed initiative to establish a world day on combating Islamophobia.

On this occasion, the Dr. El- Malki (PUIC) delivered an address, in which he highlighted that the initiative embodies the endeavours of Islamic parliaments to contribute to raising awareness of the dangers of Islamophobia and its contradiction with the values of peace, coexistence, and intercultural dialogue and that it comes in the context of defending Islamic peoples and communities and minorities in non-Islamic countries.

Dr. El-Malki lauded the positive and proactive response of ISESCO Director General, thanking him for his positive interaction with the idea.

Afterwards, ISESCO Director General delivered an address in which he stressed that the topic of the meeting is at the forefront of ISESCO’s interests to which it has paid great importance and attached special attention to in its educational, cultural, and communication programs and activities since 2007. It also pays special attention to addressing Islamophobia and stereotypes against Islam and Muslims in the Western media from a professional media and legal perspective.

In this context, ISESCO has worked toward ensuring the professional treatment of stereotypes against Islam and Muslims in the media, drawing on the document entitled “Curriculum for Training Journalists to Address Stereotypes of Islam and Muslims in the Western Media”.

Dr. AlMalik pointed out that ISESCO continues to implement an action program in European capitals, which aims at raising awareness of the need to strike a balance between freedom of expression and respect for religious sanctities, and coordinating with intergovernmental and civil society organizations, and urging them to activate charters, covenants and agreements, declarations and resolutions, and national and international laws,  that clearly draw the line between the freedom of opinion and expression, and the various forms of defamation of religions perpetrated by media outlets under the guise of freedom of opinion and expression.

 “Islamophobia is against the movement of history, against international law, and against the will of the world’s sages. It is a serious issue that threatens global peace and security, as it goes beyond the private sphere which includes Islam and Muslims in general, to the public sphere that covers the world and humanity as a whole. The defamation of Islam and the declaration of intellectual and religious war against it would have a negative impact on all religions and their followers”, he added.

In conclusion, ISESCO Director General stressed that those who direct and instigate Islamophobia are anti-peace groups and human rights offenders, who go against the international consensus on universal values shared between nations and peoples, and stand in the face of the human march to promote dialogue between cultures and alliance of civilizations, and dissemination of the values of tolerance, understanding, and mutual respect among all human beings.

Later, Dr. Salem Al-Malik presented Dr. El-Malki with some of ISESCO’s publications on Islamophobia and ways to address and eliminate it.