| Event Model #5: “Coexistence: The Role of the Media in Intra-Muslim Tension” |
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 Summary: Abdullah, a young Yemeni cyber journalist who has faced censorship for his writing on religious issues, convened an afternoon discussion of elite leaders to discuss growing tension between Yemen’s Sunni and Zaidi sects. Participants included a member of parliament, editors of newspapers, and NGO executives. The goal of the discussion was to produce positive recommendations for how civil society leaders and the media could help promote coexistence. The event was widely covered in the local press.
Challenge Addressed: Many of the challenges to religious freedom occur within the Muslim community. In Yemen, Sunnis and Zaidis are often in conflict. Tensions can even become violent, as in the case of the on-going civil war in Yemen’s north. In this charged environment, the question is how can members of civil society address the conflict without making it worse.
Participants: 21 people attended the event. They included leading members of parliament, editors of newspapers, lawyers, human rights activists, and NGO executives. Also, Al-Tagheer Rights and Freedom Defense, two local NGOS, helped me secure the meeting space.
Quantitative Benchmarks: (1) Have 10 participants; (2) Get 3 newspapers cover the event. Both of these benchmarks were met.
Qualitative Benchmarks: The main goal of the seminar was to get a group of civil society leaders and members of the media to come together to discuss the taboo issue of tensions between Yemen’s Sunni and Zaidi sects, propose solutions, and promote tolerance in Yemen. These benchmarks were also met, as the participants concluded the meeting by proposing several concrete things to do. It was the first meeting to deal with this subject and included open-minded participants from both sides.
Marketing: To market the event I sent out invitations to people who work actively in the area of human rights, freedom, and development. I also created a Facebook event page, and called people personally.
Event Description: The event took place between 3:30PM and 7:30PM on June 1 The program was moderated by myself, Gameel Subia, a photographer, and Qasem Abbas, a local human rights activist. The following served as lecturers: Zaid Almuhatwari, a Zaidi leader; Ahmed Saif Hashed, a member of Parliament; journalist Abdullah Ameen; and Ali Addailami, executive director of a local NGO. Participating journalists included Sadeq Ghanem, Editor-in-chief of Almostashar; Waddah Maktari, Editor-in-chief of Yemenat; Ghazem Saif, a social expert and writer; and Basheer Alsaid, Managing Editor of Alneeda.
The event centered around two discussion topics: the nature of the conflict between Sunni and Zaidi sects; potential risks & solutions to the conflict; and the role of the media in promoting tolerance. At the conclusion of the discussions the following recommendations were purposed by the attendees: (1) That participants would form a committee to create a public program on religious and ethnic tolerance; (2) that the committee monitor cases of religious intolerance in the media; and (3) that specific training conferences/workshops be held for members of the media on religious tolerance.
Press Coverage: The event received reliable press coverage from the following sources: Mareb Press, Al-Tagheer, News Yemen, Yemen Portal, Al-Majalis, Almost Ashar.
Lessons Learned: I would definitely next time make sure participants stay focused on the subject and not allow comments that are off-topic. I would also next time make sure that my event space comfortable fits all of the participants.
Is This a Model Event?
I would recommend in other communities a similar event. Here are the basic steps:
- Find a subject of division in your community where you can have representatives from all sides;
- Find a location that you can hold the event;
- Announce the event on Facebook and on your blog, call people directly;
- Use personal connections to invite important people in society, if you want;
- Set a clear event schedule with what topics will be discussed, and who will be speaking;
- Announce a clear goal of the meeting: to generate suggestions for positive solutions;
- Keep the discussion focused and make sure participants stay respectful of different opinions.
Reviewers' Comments:
It is impressive to see the readiness of the organizer to deal with tough issues that undermine people’s commitment to pluralism. The identification and involvement of influential stakeholders, including an MP, newspaper editors, and NGO executives, is outstanding. Additionally, their further steps, including the formation of a committee to promote public understanding of the issue and monitor cases of intolerance in the media, and the goal of executing conferences/workshops for media tolerance, are highly ambitious.
But can an issue as complex as this one can be dealt with well in such a short period of time? Sometimes it is helpful to find a very discreet subject to discuss and then keep people on task. The authors comments that future workshops would need to be better focused suggest that the event might have benefited from better structure. The goals of the event would likely need to be clarified (focused) in order for it to succeed. This event is possible to replicate, but relies upon specialist facilitator with good professional contacts.
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