Key Leaders Discuss Freedom & Democracy at Mobile Monday Palestine

Key Leaders Discuss Freedom & Democracy at Mobile Monday Palestine

An impressive group of Sr. leaders from the ICT sector joined Mobile Monday Palestine in Ramallah on March 7th to discuss the critical role of mobile communications, via social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, on freedom and democracy.

Dr. Yahya Al-Salqan, founder of the local Mobile Monday chapter, moderated a panel discussion with the participation of Mr. Jari Tammisto, CEO of Mobile Monday Global, Dr. Mashhour Abu-Dakka, Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology, Dr. Naser Al-Laham, Editor-in-Chief of Maan Agency, the most widely used Internet news portal in Palestine and Ammar Al-Aker, CEO of Paltel Group.

Mr. Tammisto started the meeting, via online video from Finland, making three main points. The first discussed how a new model of future leadership should be based on transparency working together with open societies. His second point targeted the mobile ecosystem (policy makers, telecom operators and vendors) which has treated customers as subscribers, focused on growth, rather than empowering them for value creation and prosperity: “Educating and inspiring users to seek more value from this new connectivity will encourage positive change”. Finally he stated that the rise of social voices have no borders, for example: Ushahidi, a crowd-sourced mapping tool born during the violent post-election crisis of 2007 in Kenya, and more recently deployed after the earthquake in Haiti, has become one of the most notable people-powered open platforms available. Kenya has since made significant gains in the area of mobile development; winning the GSMA Governmental Leadership Award at Mobile World Congress in Feb. 2010, with winners of the Nokia Innovation campaign during the Mobile Monday Peer Awards of Sept. 2010 also coming from Kenya.

Tammisto finished his speech by re-stating the global objectives of Mobile Monday, which include; fostering an open and independent community of connections between small and large mobile industry players, bridging exchanges between domestic and international organizations, by enabling the presentations of innovative visions, products and trends for local members to effectively participate in global initiatives.

Dr. Mashour Abu-Dakka pointed out that “the situation in Palestine is quiet tranquil in which the Palestinian Authority doesn’t block or prevent the use of any websites.” He also pointed out that “the Palestinian Authority policy has proven its efficiency in which the use of internet increased between 2009 and 2010 and we expect more. The authority role is to organize this sector by making the internet available for all users” He also said that his ministry is working hard with all parties concerned to decrease the prices.

Abu-Dakka also pointed out “that the internet came as a revolution to replace the traditional communication techniques and is available for all.” However, he said that “we believe that people are the agent of change not Facebook or other communication tools.”

Dr. Naser Al-Laham said that “social networking is rooted in the Arabian culture so it is not surprising to see the use of social network techniques in the Arab World” What’s happening now across the region indicates the necessity of updating and defining the unknown. Security limits, for example, are not well-defined but should be in order to protect freedoms whether it is on internet, Facebook.. etc. Dr. Al-Laham also criticized the traditional opposition parties believing they will be part of the traditional regimes if they don’t follow the update. Al-Laham also pointed out to the role of press which needs to be enhanced particularly on the internet.

The dictatorships in the Arab World consider the youth and their thoughts as enemies. Israel, for example, is the first country that prevented the spread of phones in Palestine until 1996 where it was almost impossible to get a home phone line, but now the situation is different and the power is owned by the community.

Al-Laham criticized the style of current Arab leadership pointing out that awareness and social foundations are the main factors to establish democratic communities.

Ammar Al-Aker, Paltel’s CEO, pointed out to the role of Palestinian communication companies in providing the capabilities to access the internet. He stated their capacity has expanded over the last year in order to meet Palestinian demand.

Al-Aker also pointed out that the adoption of Facebook across the Arab World has increased some 66% in the last two years which represents the largest percentage gain in globally. He also noted Facebook usage by mobile phones has more than 200,000 members, in addition, the Jawwal page has more than 155,000 members. Al-Aker said: “that is beyond our expectations to the extent that we are working on increasing Jawwal capabilities as soon as possible.”

Finally, Dr. Yahya Al-Salqan said: “this timely meeting coincides with the current environment in the Arab World where communications, particularly by mobile phones, as well as social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube play a significant role”. He also pointed out recent events and revolutions taking place in the Arab World where dictators started the disconnection of internet and mobile communications.

The attendees then focused on the importance of not violating the rights of citizens in accessing communications under any circumstances. Abu-Dakka confirmed that the Palestinian Authority policy will not violate such rights. On the other hand, all confirmed the necessity and the importance of using technologies and social networks techniques so as to have a democratic society and to use it to end the division between West Bank and Gaza.

This gathering, its’ participants and their passionate comments, reflects the long-held and clearly stated charter of Mobile Monday: There is a direct relation between mobile connectivity and political, economic and social freedom, the power of democracy, the rational management of our future and the triumph of reason and enlightenment. Our most sincere congratulations and praise to all involved with these continued good-will efforts.