Hate speech fuels divisions across Middle East
Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Beirut/ Cairo
The normalization of hate speech during periods of political tension, economic pressure, and regional conflict is increasingly threatening civil peace in Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt, according to religious, civil, and rights figures speaking on the International Day for Countering Hate Speech.
Despite coming from different backgrounds, the speakers converged on one conclusion: laws alone cannot contain the threat unless schools, families, religious institutions, media outlets, digital platforms, and civil society work together to prevent hatred before it turns into behavior.
Speaking to Shafaq News, Mohammed Nouri Jassim Al-Hatami, deputy head of the Rabat Mohammadi Scholars Council and member of Iraq’s Supreme Endowment Council, linked the spread of hate speech to weak religious and cultural awareness, declining moral education, ignorance of others, and political, social, and economic crises that sharpen public tension.
Social media has expanded that reach, allowing hostile content to spread quickly and widely, though the same platforms can promote tolerance and rapprochement if used responsibly.
Lebanese activist Maha Mohammad Jaafar drew a distinction between hate speech and freedom of expression, noting that legitimate opinion does not include defamation, degrading language, sectarian or ethnic incitement, or prejudice against individuals and groups. She identified minorities, women, public figures, influencers, journalists, and politicians as among the most exposed groups, especially in countries facing political polarization, economic pressure, and recurring crises.
The danger, she warned, is not only immediate violence but the gradual normalization of hostility until internal conflict becomes easier to justify.
However, punishment alone cannot address hate speech, Iraqi minorities rights activist Hanaa Hussein argued, but also through moral and spiritual education that “raises generations to respect diversity and reject all forms of religious, ethnic, national, and class prejudice.”
Laws still remain necessary to prevent incitement and discrimination, but they function only as an external deterrent unless backed by a belief in human dignity regardless of identity or affiliation. Loay Yedgo Al-Kaldani, a civil activist who monitors hate speech in Iraq, defined its tools as “insulting, degrading, or hostile” language directed at people because of ethnicity, nationality, religion, skin color, gender, or opinion.
In Egypt, Mirhan Metwally, a member of Adyan Foundation, further called for a response built on legislation, education, media policy, and civil-society initiatives, with schools and religious discourse promoting tolerance while media outlets and digital platforms adopt clear rules against incitement. She also backed laws criminalizing hate speech, provided they include safeguards against being used to restrict legitimate expression.
