I have a hundred reasons to object to Al-Jazeera, and a thousand reasons to support it. After the explosion of Arab anger revolutions from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf, I felt that Al-Jazeera has earned the status achieved by CNN after the Gulf War of 1991. I then discovered that politicians and media people in the West shared this opinion, and were talking about the “Al-Jazeera moment.” I would like to begin with my personal reasons for objecting to Al-Jazeera's coverage, and then move to my reasons for support, which are more important and more numerous. Al-Jazeera speaks for Arab Islamists, as we can see from the “weight” assigned to new items on them, and the station's bias toward them. There is no need to remark on the many bearded announcers, and especially station executives, and the “chasing away” of female announcers. I would have passed over this bias, because I share an opposition to Israel with the Islamists, if it were not for the fact that the station supported Hezbollah against the March 14 coalition. Once again, I support Hizbullah absolutely against Israel, and I wish that Al-Jazeera, with its huge media capacity, and the strong and influential support of the government of Qatar behind it, would try to achieve a reconciliation, and not incite one side against the other. Al-Jazeera's bias is more evident in its support for Hamas against the Palestinian Authority and Fatah. I support Hamas and Fatah, and have good relations, if not excellent relations, with the leaders of both factions. If, because of my limited position in journalism, I can have these ties, and pass on messages, while trying to encourage the two sides to reconcile, then Al-Jazeera can play a much bigger role than I, especially since the issue in the end involves Palestine, which is more important than any personal motivations. I hope that Al-Jazeera accepts my advice on Lebanon and Palestine, because its correspondents are patriots, and have the capacities that enable them to play a role that brings the sides together, and does not push them further apart. The above comments are important, but they are nothing compared to the station's achievements since its founding in 1996, followed by the launch of its English station five years ago. There is no medal greater than the suggestion by George W. Bush to Tony Blair in April 1994 to strike Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, to stop its coverage of the American occupation of Iraq and its crimes in that country. Bush's suggestion came after the criminal US attack on Fallujah, and only Al-Jazeera was at the center of events in that steadfast city, relaying the details to the world, with pictures of phosphorus bombs, for which Iraqi children continue to pay the price even today. This month, in the session of the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, Al-Jazeera received the same exalted “medal.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Al-Jazeera's coverage, instead of proposing to bomb it. She said, “You may not agree with it, but you feel like you're getting real news around the clock instead of a million commercials.” Al-Jazeera has paid a high price for these two medals. US forces bombed Al-Jazeera's office in Afghanistan in 2006, and bombed a hotel in Basra where its correspondents stayed, in 2003. Then, they killed its correspondent, Tareq Ayoub, in Baghdad, and arrested some of its correspondents, some of whom ended up in Guantanamo. Recently, a photographer for the station was killed in Libya, and one of its crews was arrested as well. The government of Iraq, which was installed by the Americans, banned Al-Jazeera time and time again, and when the revolution of anger exploded in Egypt, the authorities there detained six of its employees and released them under pressure. The young people there put of a giant screen of Al-Jazeera at Tahrir Square, as a victory for the station. Al-Jazeera was banned in Morocco, Tunisia and Bahrain as well, and two of its correspondents were kicked out of the trading floor of the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange, while its coverage of the 2010 World Cup was subjected to deliberate jamming, which was supposedly from a location in Salt, Jordan. This month, Americans themselves have been asking for an expansion of Al-Jazeera's coverage in their country, since cable networks are fighting against it, and even its English version is only broadcast in a small number of cities, such as Washington DC, and Toledo, Ohio. I was also happy to see my young “sister” and colleague, Ghida Fakhry, on the cover of The Sunday Times, while announcing the news on Al-Jazeera English. I was happy to see the television news star Sam Donaldson say on CNN, “Thank you Al-Jazeera,” and this is a medal, while Bill O'Reilly on Fox News described the station as “anti-America,” which represents another medal. It would have been very embarrassing if this pro-Israeli extremist anchor had praised Al-Jazeera. I put all of my objections aside today, and say, thank you Al-Jazeera. [email protected]
