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Queen says Arabic can bridge East-West gap, fight stereotypes

By JT - Jul 27,2015 - Last updated at Jul 27,2015

AMMAN — On the occasion of the launch of The Huffington Post Arabi, Her Majesty Queen Rania wrote an Arabic blog post about the richness of the Arabic language and the importance of creating more online Arabic content that reflects the true values, history and heritage of Arabs. 

In her blog post, Queen Rania noted that languages are not just tools for people to “speak” with each other; language can communicate to a world audience who we are, what we stand for and how we think.  

Her Majesty stressed that the richness and beauty of the Arabic language cannot only express the true values of Arabs, but also bridge the gap between the East and West by fighting negative stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims, according to a statement from her office. 

“Many conversations happen online,” Her Majesty added, “but unfortunately, Arabic content constitutes less than 1 per cent of the cyber platforms’ content.” 

Worse yet, the Queen added that extremist groups have dominated much of the conversation, “depicting us as an intolerant people who reject diversity and dialogue”.

These groups have taken advantage of the weak presence of Arabic content online to target young Arabs and further their agendas.  

Her Majesty stressed the importance of creating more Arabic platforms that draw on Arabs’ rich and ancient cultures, history and sciences.

 

She called for investing in the Arabic language to promote dialogue that is built on tolerance and respect, and to challenge irreligious extremists who are using the Internet to narrate their own ideology of violence and hatred. 

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