(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)
Amman, May 14 (Petra) -- United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres, said hate speech is spreading like wildfire in social media, stressing the need to cooperate to extinguish it.
During his visit the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch in New Zealand, attacked by terrorists about two months ago, Guterres said: "there is no room for hate speech - online or offline."
"In Christchurch for this year's Ramadan solidarity visit, I expressed my support and admiration for the Muslim community after March's horrific mosque attacks." the UN official noted.
Guterres said he usually pays a "solidarity visit" to a Muslim country during the holy month of Ramadan but, this year, he decided to visit the Muslim community in Christchurch, "to pay tribute to their courage, resilience, and most of all to praise the extraordinary unity the message of solidarity that was given by the people and the government of New Zealand."
"As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, I had witnessed the generosity of Muslim countries opening their borders to people in distress in a world where so many other borders are closed," Guterres said.
"This is in line with what I regard as the most beautiful prescription for refugee protection in world history. It is found in the Surah Al-Tawbah of the Holy Quran: ‘And if anyone seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he can hear the words of Allah. Then escort him where he can be secure,'" quoted Guterres.
The Secretary-General spotlighted two recent initiatives to protect holy sites and to address hate speech.
He has asked the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Moratinos, to develop an Action Plan for the UN to be fully engaged in support of safeguarding religious sites.
Meanwhile, Guterres has also asked his Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, to bring together a UN team to scale up our response to hate speech and present a global plan of action.
Again quoting from the Holy Quran, he said "We made you into races and tribes so that you may know one another."
WH
14/05/2019 10:19:55
MENAFN1405201901170000ID1098521045
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.