ISTANBUL: The Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM) kicked off today to discuss joint efforts to confront the Israeli occupying authority’s disinformation and hostilities against journalists and media outlets in the occupied Palestian territory.
The session began with opening remarks by President of the Directorate of Communications of Turkiye Fahrettin Altun, followed by a statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information of Palestine Nabil Abu Rdeneh.
The Malaysian delegation was led by Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa.
The session was followed by the statement delivered by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation secretary-general Hissein Brahim Taha, who called for further space for the journalists and media outlets to cover all the development relevant to Palestinian issues.
Earlier, the ICIM Extraordinary Session began at 9 am (local time) with a closed-door Senior Officials Meeting Preparatory to the ICIM Extraordinary Session of the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Meanwhile, President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan via a video message shown at the conference, paid tribute to all the brave journalists for speaking up for the oppressed in Palestine and wished Allah SWT grant mercy to those who passed away.
He said Israel has utilised its influence in global media outlets simultaneously to accelerate its disinformation activities and employs every means available to cover up its war crimes as well as crimes against humanity, including distortion of facts and propaganda.
“Given this outlook one of our responsibilities as Islamic nations is to ensure that lies do not overshadow the truth. One of our most important responsibilities is to document and publicise the atrocities commited against our Gazan brothers and sisters, as well as to combat Israel’s disinformation efforts,“ he said.
A total of 199 participants from 42 countries attended the one-day conference organised by OIC and Turkiye is hosting the conference in its capacity as Chair of the current session of ICIM
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since Oct 7, 2023, killing over 29,000 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities leading to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. – Bernama
