The Arab American University and the Anti-Narcotics Department of the Palestinian Police organized a seminar titled "The Role of Media in Preventing Drugs", as part of a campaign launched by the University in cooperation with the police titled "The Decision is Yours". The launch of training courses on the mechanism of drug prevention was also announced. The campaign includes the University campuses in Jenin and Ramallah, under the sponsorship of the Acting President of the University, Dr. Bara Asfour.

With the presence of the representative of the Governor of Jenin, Mr. Ahmed Al-Qassam, the Director of the Anti-Narcotics Department in the Palestinian Police, Brigadier General Abdullah Al-Alaiwi, the Director of the Public Relations and Media Department in the Jenin Governorate Police, Brigadier General Mujahed Rabaya, the Vice President of the Arab American University for Academic Affairs, Professor Dr. Hazem Khanfar, the Assistant to the President of the University for Community Affairs, Dr. Laila Herzallah, representatives of governmental, religious and health institutions, a number of members of the academic and administrative bodies, as well as University students.

During her introduction to the symposium, the Assistant to the President for Community Affairs, Dr. Laila Herzallah, indicated that the Arab American University is the first university to launch such campaigns from its campus. She emphasized the need to protect young people, in addition to educating and guiding them on the mechanism of prevention from this scourge. She noted that the training courses that will be organized in the coming periods include the mechanism of knowing drugs and their types, the mechanism of dealing with the consumers, and learning about the laws related to consumers and dealers of these poisons.

The symposium began with a speech in which the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor Dr. Hazem Khanfar, welcomed the attendees, conveying the greetings of the Acting President of the University, Dr. Bara Asfour, and said, "The University is not only a place for academic study and obtaining academic degrees, but it is a space for achieving accomplishments, developing oneself, and building an integrated personality," indicating that the University stage is a major turning point in the lives of students, and provides them with the opportunity to learn new skills that qualify them to be an active member of society.

Professor Dr. Khanfar continued his speech, addressing the students, saying, "At this important stage of your life, you are on the threshold of building your future and developing your skills. To achieve this, you must maintain the health of your bodies and minds, and stay away from everything that hinders your academic and personal progress. As such, we feel our responsibility to shed light on an issue that negatively affects the course of your life, which is drugs". He noted that it is a trap that completely destroys a person, in addition to leaving negative effects on the family and society as a whole.

For his part, Brigadier Abdullah Al-Alaiwi, Director of the Anti-Narcotics Department in the Palestinian Police, thanked the Arab American University for hosting them and cooperating in organizing this awareness seminar for University students, as the police launched the drug prevention campaign last month and will continue until the end of this year, with the aim of creating a promising generation that rejects the scourge of drugs that has spread and expanded in the recent period. The most interested groups in this phenomenon are the youth from the age of 20 to 30 years for several reasons, most notably environmental and family circumstances.

He pointed out that the Anti-Narcotics Department has many tasks to achieve its goals, including implementing laws, in addition to partnership with Palestinian institutions, in addition to raising awareness and educating Palestinian society about this scourge and phenomenon that is devastating young people, explaining that there are many obstacles and impediments facing the police in their fight against drugs, most notably the presence of the occupation and security control over many Palestinian areas.

He concluded his speech with advice to Palestinian youth, to stay away from everything that is an easy way to access drugs, and appealed to families who have children who are addicts to hand them over to the police who will deal with them according to the law, stressing the need for everyone to cooperate in combating this phenomenon.

In turn, the representative of the Governor of Jenin, Mr. Ahmed Al-Qassam, stressed that drugs have become a source of harm to societies and the human and material losses they cause and help in committing crimes. He pointed out that those targeted for their destruction are the youth, stressing the need to develop treatment and awareness programs and cooperation from everyone, in order to protect society, especially young people, from this dangerous scourge on society that contradicts our Islamic religion.

For his part, the Head of the Department of Arabic Language and Media, Mr. Sudqi Mousa, stressed that the media is a force present everywhere, shaping ideas, positions and behaviors, and has the ability to enlighten and mislead. In the field of drug prevention, the media has an important and pioneering role, and is a powerful tool for education and inspiration, or it can reinforce harmful behaviors and give them a luster.

He presented a vision for effective media campaigns for drug prevention based on scientific studies, starting from the concept of preventive media and reaching the consolidation of the principle of preventive communication and contact, explaining the factors that cause media campaigns related to drug prevention to fail or succeed, including that the media campaign be based on scientific foundations, the necessity of having a vision, the effective use of media channels and content, as well as the integration of media campaigns with other strategies to combat drugs, such as prevention and early intervention programs. This is in addition to continuation of the campaign in the long term, and not being limited to a specific period of time, and studying the extent of the campaign and its effectiveness and evaluating its impact and building on the results.  

The symposium included screening documentaries, including an introductory film about the Arab American University, a film that showcases the role of the Drug Enforcement Administration in combating the phenomenon, and a film that talks about the most prominent achievements made by the Drug Enforcement Administration during the past month.