JEDDAH: The intellectual and media openness during King Abdullah's era offers an opportunity for constructive criticism, regardless of its intensity and sharp tone, because it fuels reform, said Dr. Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information. The minister's comments came Wednesday during a cultural gathering organized by Dr. Rasheed Al-Baidani at his residence in Jeddah. The gathering was attended by several intellectuals and academics. Dr. Khoja emphasized that this openness and freedom should not be used for criticizing individual cases or accidental matters and that a wide range of achievements throughout the country's sectors should not be ignored. He said the King's directives always stress the importance of giving all people the right to express themselves in media, but he warned that this freedom should not be used to target public figures just for the sake of satisfying ulterior motives. He made it clear that there is no person above criticism, but it should not exceed the limits and stressed that “King Abdullah copes with the age and rejects the restriction and confiscation of freedoms, but it should not encroach on others' rights. We have to know the boundaries of freedom and we try to benefit from it in the development rather than exploiting the margin of freedom to provoke people.” Commenting on the huge growth in satellite TV transmission and reception, he said, “The phenomenal development in telecommunication has turned the world into a small global village so we can't deal with this stream of satellite channels through a blockade or censorship. If we close any satellite TV channel, it will be transmitted from other locations in the world.” Dr. Muhammad Khidir, a professor of Arabic language at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, expressed strong support for Dr. Khoja's comments. “We go all the way with you that we should deal with this rationally and transparently,” he said. Commenting on a remark by Dr. Al-Wahabi about the role of literature in creating the nations' cultural reality, Dr. Khoja said, “Literature creates the cultural reality and this always been the case throughout history.” Dr. Khoja held the men of letters responsible for what they write and said their work should advocate and encourage the virtues of fidelity, scientific progress and positive openness. In another comment, he stressed the importance of not touching on peoples' beliefs and doctrines or branding them with infidelity, blasphemy or other classifications that lead to nowhere but rifts and disunity. He also touched on the task of media men in disseminating culture and advocating righteousness.
