Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH – An international campaign to strip the Yemeni national Tawakkol Karman of Nobel Prize because of her role in supporting extremism and terrorism was launched on Sunday. The campaign titled the “International Campaign to Strip Tawakkol Karman of Nobel Prize” was initiated by the Arab Women Foundation (AWF), according to Mohammed Al-Dilaimi, secretary general of the foundation and president of the campaign.

“The campaign is aimed at exposing the suspicious practices of Karman in favor of a biased agenda to disintegrate Arab societies and spreading chaos and destruction in Arab countries,” he said while noting that Karman is exploiting the Nobel Peace Prize to carry out plans and plots of forces hostile to the interests and aspirations of the peoples of the region.

Al-Dilaimi said that a host of media and legal initiatives and events ranging from a series of international forums, press conferences and media seminars in a number of Arab and international capitals will be held as part of the campaign. “Media and film materials will be disseminated to the international media, television channels, satellite stations and social media platforms to explicit with substantial evidence the nature of practices and roles, which were entrusted to Karman in supporting terrorism and spreading a culture of hatred among peoples,” he said while emphasizing that the campaign will continue until it succeeds in persuading the Nobel Committee to withdraw its decision to grant the Prize to Karman and tender an apology for awarding the prestigious award to those who do not deserve it and thus harming its noble values.

Al-Dilaimi clarified that AWF took the initiative to embark on a massive international campaign demanding striping Karman of the Nobel Peace Prize because of her practices and conducts that provoked not only all organizations and peoples but also the entire women in the Arab and other parts of the world. He noted that the campaign comes as an initiative of the foundation in order to preserve the unblemished image of Arab women from reckless elements and poor minds such as Tawakkol Karman and others at a time when the world is witnessing the excellence of Arab scientists and researchers and is appreciating the successes of Arab women in various fields of science, creativity, culture and peace. “This happens when some elements in the media are working to distort this bright image,” he said.

Spelling out the objectives of the campaign, Al-Dilaimi said that it will strive to reveal the nature of the role that has been entrusted to Karman to support groups of terrorism and political violence in the region by marketing the ideologies of organizations, political parties and movements that are classified as terrorist groups by the international community. There will also be initiatives to mobilize and rally behind all the voices and events that serve the common goal of necessitating putting an end to the elements that figure high in the public domain through ambiguous ways and means as well as through channels financed by local and regional outfits that employ the dignity of the Nobel Peace Prize to distort the image of the Arab countries abroad as well as to harm Arab leaders.

As part of the campaign, Al-Dilaimi said, a grand Arab forum under the campaign slogan will be held in Cairo with an aim to preserve the clean image of Arab women in which prominent figures from political, legal, media and artistic realms will participate. Paris will host media seminar for journalists and correspondents accredited in the French capital in the presence of French and Arab speakers residing in France to explain the objectives of the campaign and its noble objectives so as to deepen the role of civil societies in the fight against terrorism and its manifestations. A media seminar for the British journalists will be held in London in which there will be screening of film and documentary materials condemning Karman due to her support for terrorism and her spread of hatred and sedition, he said adding that Washington and New York will witness two media events to achieve the same purpose.

The campaign program also includes a legal and human rights seminar in Geneva in the presence of lawyers, jurists and activists to rein in the ideologies of extremism and violence and proposing means that would prevent such abusive models from appearing on the international arena. The campaign officials will pay visits to a number of Nobel Peace Prize laureates to explain to them the reasons for the campaign and its legal and moral justifications in order to win their support. They will also meet prominent international and Arab personalities in the field of culture, arts, and media, as well as writers and legal figures in order to explain to them the reasons and motives of this campaign and its objectives. The visit would also aim to persuade the parent Swedish Academy in Stockholm and the Prize Committee in Oslo to reconsider and tender an apology to the international community so as to preserve the international reputation of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

Al-Dilaimi said the campaign will continue with innovative ideas and initiatives to influence international public opinion through all legal and legitimate means to achieve its goals, and it will not be halted unless the decision to strip the international prize of Karman and brought her to justice through Interpol International. “I call upon all Arab people and organizations on the international arena to confront the phenomenon of an Arab woman casualty, represented by Karman, in order to preserve the bright and honorable image of Arab women in international forums, as well as to safeguard the criteria for awarding Nobel Peace Prize from negative intrusions and harmful practices,” he added.