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‘Hijacking Our Identity’

November 20th, 2014 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, The National

Sometimes someone says something that makes so much sense, you have to share it.

So it was with Queen Rania of Jordan, who at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit this week said Arab and Muslim extremists are using social media to drown out the peaceful majority.

“A minority … is using social media to rewrite our our narrative, hijack our our identity and rebrand us,” she said. “This is their version of their Arab world story — their narrative, their plot, their heroes. And the rest of the world is listening and watching.”

Among other points she made:

–Extremists are afraid of educated women, and education of women and girls sbould be a priority among the peaceful majority. Said Rania: “Why else would the Taliban, Boko Haram and ISIL be so afraid of them?”

–A broad coalition must be formed to “conquer the philosophical battleground” that extremists are attempting to dominate.

She said the Muslim majority must act.

The risk being that tech-savvy killers like the Islamic State will be what the rest of the world thinks of when they hear “Arab” or “Muslem.”

“It is a fight for the future of Islam and the Arab world, so it is a fight we have to win,” she said. “We must create a new narrative and braodcast it to the world. If we don’t decide what our identity is and what our legacy will be, the extremists will do it for us.”

She pointed out that the majority have weapons, too.

She said: “We have the values, the money, the minds, the youth, the technology, the market, the networks and, God knows, the motuivation like never before to tap into these reserves and create lasting change.”

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