Qatari Forum for Authors and Qatar National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, in cooperation with Qatar National Library, organized a public lecture entitled “Arabic language: from linguistic security to cultural security”, as part of the joint program celebrating Arabic. Dr. Abdelhak Belabed, a member of the Forum, noted that the security concern has been one of the priorities of nations and societies down the ages. The lecturer explained some concepts associated with linguistic security, namely linguistic empowerment, generalizing the use of Arabic and protecting the Arabic language. He explained that the concept of “linguistic security” is the overarching concept that incorporates the above concepts. This is because it is issued by a political decision on the one hand, and it is endowed with an executive mechanism to disseminate, protect and empower the language among its users, on the other.
He added: “Our children refrain from speaking Arabic on the pretext that it is not the language of science and the current era; and if they learn it, it becomes a language second to English, despite the efforts made by state institutions to promote it in terms of legislation and education, and the huge efforts exerted by the State of Qatar to preserve the Arabic language”. He also praised the efforts of Qatar Foundation, as well as activities offered by Katara through its Arabic Festival, as well as the awards and electronic applications that promote the Arabic language.
In the second part of the lecture, Balabed addressed the concept of cultural security, which is considered as an aspect of national security. If cultural security is achieved, security and protection can be materialized in many other fields as well.