The steering committee of the project "A Protective Environment against Hate Speech and Supportive of Freedom of Expression", funded by the European Union with some 450,000 euros, held its first meeting via Zoom video conference on Wednesday 29 May 2020.
The meeting was organised by the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution in partnership with Filastiniyat, and covered both parts of the country, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It was attended by the Gaza branch director Eng. Iyad Abu Hjair, the project manager and coordinators, and Ms. Wafa Abdel Rahman, director of Filastiniyat, with the participation of media, party and academic figures, most notably Mr. Jamal Obeid, Dr. Ghazi Hamad, Mr. Dawood Shehab, journalist Abdel Rahman Abdel Ati, Mr. Rajai Al-Shatli, Mr. Shawkat Abu Safiya and Mr. Saadi Abed from Gaza, and from the West Bank Jihad Harb, Majed Arouri, Nisreen Awad, Latifa Al-Jabari and a group of activists working in the field in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A summary of the project, its main partners and the role and importance of the committee was presented. The three-year project aims to create an environment that protects against and rejects hate speech and supports freedom of opinion and expression and social peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It includes many activities aimed at countering hate speech, monitoring its most prominent manifestations and taking steps to reduce it through work with partner organisations and graduates.
The project's activities include forming a national network of 30 civil society organisations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to confront hate speech, building the capacity of the network's members, and partnering with two of them to achieve the project's objectives.
The project includes monitoring hate speech through a team of monitors focusing on three main themes: discrimination on the basis of political affiliation, discrimination on the basis of sex, and discrimination against persons with disabilities.
An online platform is to be created carrying reports and articles on hate speech practices and violations of freedom of expression, along with a complaints system through the same platform for reporting violations of freedom of opinion and expression and hate speech.
Participants discussed mechanisms for countering hate speech and supporting freedom of expression within Palestinian society. They agreed that the main cause of hatred in Palestinian society is political division, stressing that dialogue is the basis for ending this situation, and that the other cause of widespread hatred is the absence of social justice and equality among individuals. They concluded that hate speech can only stop through the achievement of social justice, and agreed to meet every two months to discuss the progress of the project's activities in order to support and back the project's monitoring team.
