Princess Rym of Jordan calls on Arab world to fight discrimination

DUBAI, UAE – HRH Princess Rym Ali of Jordan called on the Arab world to fight discrimination, saying it is not the West’s role to correct “negative stereotypes” about the Middle East region.

DUBAI, UAE – HRH Princess Rym Ali of Jordan called on the Arab world to fight discrimination, saying it is not the West’s role to correct “negative stereotypes” about the Middle East region.

Princess Rym, founder of the Jordan Media Institute in Amman, spoke at an event held on Saturday to mark the relaunch of the Al Arabiya News website and the 10-year anniversary of the Al Arabiya News Channel, the region’s leading news station.

“I am aware of the negative stereotypes portrayed in Hollywood, but also of the discrimination in covering Arabs or Arab affairs in some Western news outlets. It remains our duty to fight every word that is anti-Arab or discriminating against us,” Princess Rym said.

“When I am asked why we are given a bad reputation, my answer is to ask in turn, ‘whose responsibility is our image?’ At the end of the day, is it not our role to work on our image as Arabs, rather than expect the West to take up our battles?”

Princess Rym said that people from the region should not believe the notion that there is a “systematic plot” against them.

“It is my experience that there is also a lot of innocent or naรฏve ignorance about who we are,” she said. “And here, we have another duty, that to inform the other about whom we really are and help them stay away from stereotypes.”

Speaking at an event held at the Armani Hotel in Dubai, Princess Rym offered her congratulations at the relaunch of the Al Arabiya News website.

She said the website’s new translation service of Arabic-language TV broadcasts by the Al Arabiya News Channel would help boost understanding of the Middle East.

The state-of-the-art translation service, part of the Al Arabiya News website’s View More video section, will broadcast regular news bulletins and programs first aired by the Al Arabiya News Channel.

Abdulrahman al-Rashed, General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, said the video service would help “bridge the gap” in boosting understanding of the Arab world among Western audiences.

The video-translation service provides a true picture of the news that is consumed by Arab audiences – and not one tailored for a Western viewers.

“Al Arabiya is not a station catered for Western audiences – this is what the Arabs see and watch,” he said.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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