ROLL IT AGAIN SAM!

Sam Katiela, Managing Director of Mamemo productions is part of the Palestinian diaspora in Germany. Born in Damascus, Syria, and brought up in Germany where his grand father started a new life, Katiela is the only Palestinian journalist working for a German Television Company.

By Vm Sathish (Contributor)

Published: Fri 22 Oct 2004, 3:18 PM

Last updated: Mon 20 Feb 2023, 12:52 PM

He produces programmes in German, which are aimed at projecting a positive image of the Middle East and Islam to audiences in the west.

Katiela believes that Arabs and Muslims, in general, all over the world are friendly people. According to him, their (the Muslim people's) culture of peace is most transparent in the way they greet one another. "Asalaam Alaikkum" and "Ma Salaam" — used to welcome and say goodbye, respectively — are basically Arabic sentences, which when translated into English mean "Welcome in peace" and 'Go in peace". And Katiela wants to make this culture of peace and harmony known to his viewers in Germany.

Katiela, who has lived in Germany — the homeland of the Nazis and Neo Nazis — for two and a half decades agrees that life has for Arabs all over the world changed since September 11. Thanks to the US' hunt for the so-called Arab and Islamic terrorists, the western world is being fed with biased media reports, which picture Arabs from the Middle East as terrorists. He feels Arabs are being discriminated against and being looked at suspiciously. And this is exactly what he intends changing. "I am the only Arab journalist working in Germany's broadcasting media. After my studies in economics and media, I went to Osaka in Japan and New York for media training. I then started my own production company — Mamemo — to make programmes in German for leading national channels in the country."

"My first production in German was made in Dubai and it had a major impact on the perception of Germans about Arabs and the Middle East. I have already produced 35 TV programmes in German and these have reached over 80 million viewers in Germany and the Arab world," says Katiela.

His media mission in Dubai started in 1997. However, his real challenge came only after the 9/11 attacks. "I believe the perceptions people in Germany had about Dubai and the entire Middle East changed considerably. A number of German celebrities and businessmen have visited Dubai now, despite the negative publicity in the international media about terrorism in this part of the world. But the programmes seem to have helped because many Germans are now keen to start business here in the UAE. German celebrities who've been here include Formula 1 driver Ralph Schumacher, singer Haddaway," informs Katiela.

"After my first was telecast through a German TV station, other German media company representatives came to Dubia to do follow up stories," he claims. Through popular German TV stations like RTL, the biggest TV station in Europe, Proseven - ARD and ZDF, Katiela's programmes reached viewers across Europe.

Katiela claims to have organised a number of celebrity events in Dubai to promote the culture and traditions of Arabs living here to German investors and media. "I had organised the world's first beach polo event here at the Metropolitan Beach Hotel last year, and it turned out to be a huge success and my next event has already been scheduled for November. I have done three stories on Dubai's horse races and polo. Another story was about the city's manmade paradises. I featured all the big projects in the city in that one. One more interesting story was about the city's water system. It showed how a desert was converted into an oasis. My stories keep the German audience updated on the positive developments in the UAE. At present I am also setting up a TV production company here. My programmes project the general concept of the UAE Government and the long term vision of General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defense Minister who was willing to invest into the future."

Katiela has waged a war on the media's negative campaign against Islam and Arabs. "My mission is to fight these negative vibes through my stories and documentaries. I am trying hard to spread the right image of Arabs through the media by involving big companies as sponsors and celebrities. By marketing infotainment stories, I will entertain German viewers with positive images without any political colour. My media principle is: 'Don't talk, but present'."