Bernard Margueritte, the ICF President, attended a conference organised in Beirut by the Lebanese American University from October 30 to November 3 2002 on the subject “The Media and Arab Culture”.

Thanks to the participation of many bright media people from Arab countries, the USA, Germany and France, the discussion was very intense and lively. Asked to deliver the opening speech, Bernard Margueritte emphasised that, unfortunately, one of the key missions of the media, to inform broadly and honestly about other cultures, other models of civilisation, other people, remains largely unfulfilled. The ICF President pointed out that hatred comes from the lack of sufficient knowledge and understanding of each other. Therefore it is more urgent than ever for media people to work for a better understanding in the world, and this is particularly true if we are speaking about giving the West an honest picture of the realities of the Arab culture and about showing a due respect to our Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters.

Bernard Margueritte’s speech was extremely well received.