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Name
tasleema
- United Kingdom
Profession
contract manager
Question
There is obviously a huge difference on the coverage that we see on terrestial and that on aljazeera for example. There is an increasing need to exert pressure on the media to provide unbiased coverage as many British are not exposed to the truth. I believe that as tax payers we have a right to determine and expect to hear the truth from the likes of BBC. They have a duty to their stakeholders (the British and World public)What means of petitioning can we engage in to ensure that this takes place?
Answer
As-Salamu`alykum.
If we look at this historically, there has actually been an improvement in the reporting from British broadcasters such as the BBC, however, this change was the result of campaigning and no doubt further campaigning is required to reach a real balance.
To exert greater pressure, we need to ensure we are monitoring the media and responding via email and letters where necessary. So, if unfair bias is seen in a report, unless there is a response from the public identifying this, it is unlikely to change in further reports.
Name
aidah
-
Profession
Question
Then missiles Hamas used are only small one unable to cause the amount of damage the media makes it out to be why does no one in media ever mention that. I think this time Jews want to wipe out entire population of Gaza what do you think?
Answer
There are disproportionate capabilities on both sides to this conflict which I believe the world media has not done enough to portray. Instead, reports suggest there are two comparable armies which is grossly inaccurate. Palestinians do not have an army and no military hardware which could in actual fact challenge Israel's military capability.
A point of clarification - there are many people of the Jewish faith who stand firmly against what the Zionist state of Israel is doing, and this should be borne in mind.
Name
Rashed
- United Kingdom
Profession
Doctor
Question
How can we influence media reporting of the conflict? More air time is being given to Israeli representatives and Palestinian officials have been ineffective in arguing their case.
Answer
Israel has openly stated that this battle is being fought on two grounds - via the military and the media. They are currently winning on both fronts. According to Israel's Foreign Ministry media tracking department - the eight hour period between 4 p.m. and midnight on Sunday during which they tracked CNN, the BBC, Sky News, Fox, Al-Jazeera English and France 24 channels, there were 335 combined minutes of Gaza coverage. Of these, 58 minutes were given to Israeli representatives, while only 19 were given to Palestinian ones. This shows that great effort is required in lobbying the media to be balanced and presenting appropriate and articulate Palestinian speakers.
Name
Shan
- India
Profession
Adv
Question
Most of the media covering this as a part of war on terror...even I felt Al-Jazeera English is not giving a deserving coverage to the war on Gaza.
Answer
It is important for Israel to maintain that their battle against the Palestinians is part of the War on Terror in order for them to justify the killing of Palestinians to the West. Unfortunately, many media agencies have towed this line. However, NGOs and Human Rights organizations around the world are highlighting the humanitarian impact of Israel's actions which amount to War Crimes rather than the War on Terror.
Name
Zeenat
- United Arab Emirates
Profession
Student
Question
How do we get our governments more involved in media dialogue on the issue in support of Palestinians?
Answer
Politicians need to be challenged in the media to support the cause for justice. Programmes which allow interaction with the public need to have more guests from the political arena so that the actual thoughts and feelings of their constituents and citizens are put to them. We should request 'call in' programmes on radio, net and TV to invite Politicians as guests so that we can question them.
Name
islam
-
Profession
Question
As-Salamu'alaykum, how does the money reach those suffering people?
Answer
Wa'alykum assalamu warhmatullah.
Charities are currently struggling to get aid into Gaza due to Israel's blockade. However, as we noticed on Tuesday, Interpal managed to get a few trucks of supplies through the Rafah crossing when it was temporarily opened. All charities are waiting for a window of opportunity to get the aid through so it is important for people to keep donating.
Name
Mahmoud
-
Profession
Question
Why does the media always focus on portraying that Hamas is firing rockets that kill thousands of people on the Israeli side, while boldly mentioning the unprecedented bombardment by Israel causing maximum damage?
Answer
The facts are not black and white. Some media are portraying an imbalanced image while others are challenging Israel at every turn. It is important for all of us to carry the message and spread the truth to those whom we know, and this would at least ensure that people question what they are being told by some of the biased media outlets.
Name
Huzayfa
- United Kingdom
Profession
Student
Question
What can we do as Muslims?
Answer
As Muslims we are required by the Qur'an to uphold justice even if it is against ourselves. In this case, we are all obliged to act in some way. In Britain, we need to lobby our MPs and the media to put pressure on Israel to stop this aggression. Attending vigils and demonstrations are an active way to voicing concern. Most importantly, we should make du'a' (supplication) for those in Palestine.
Name
Saima
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
As-salamu`alykum, which Western news channels would you suggest give's the fairest views of what is occurring in Gaza?
Answer
Wa`alykum assalamu warahmatullah.
Reporting depends very much on the reporter so there is no easy answer to this question. The BBCs reporting fluctuates widely. Channel 4 is reasonable most of the time, and its journalists are more likely to ask the hard hitting questions. Sky and CNN are more likely to report Israel's version of events.
Name
omar
-
Profession
student
Question
Why do western media show very little when it comes to causalities and death toll?
Answer
Some Western media are selective in reporting and the excuse of sensitivity of the viewers are often cited. However, this is not applied as a blanket rule and when emotions are deliberately being stirred, shocking images are displayed. This was seen for example in reports from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Sudan. However, there has been a lot of footage of the carnage in Gaza on some UK based stations.
Name
Khaled Assaf
-
Profession
Question
What is the right response to the media when they argue that it is Hamas that provoked Israel by firing rockets and Israel has the right to defend itself?
Answer
This is total nonsense and it is important for us all to be aware of this before tackling the media.
During the so called truce, Israel killed and imprisoned dozens of Palestinians BOTH in the PA controlled West Bank and Hamas controlled Gaza. They showed no differentiation between the two territories and the reality is that all Palestinians are targets of Israeli gun fire and missile strikes.
As for security, it is totally absurd to demand security for Israel while they are occupying and subjugating the Palestinian people. The question should be - do Palestinians need security from Israeli attacks? With over 4,000 Palestinians killed by Israel in the past five years, it is Palestinians who need security.
Name
tasleema
-
Profession
Question
I am surprised that there hasn't been any coverage of the Lloyds TSB and Interpal situation which will undoubtedly affect Palestinians. How can it be that a Bank can get away with their careless and misconceived vies without providing any justification whatsoever for it's reason to close Interpal's account?
Answer
Stopping aid reaching Palestinians is part of Israel's war as they are seeking to make the population of Gaza more and more desperate. The closure of charities Bank accounts need to be seen in this larger framework. Media coverage has been relatively muted over the past few days due to the events on the ground in Gaza. However, we should continue to watch the situation and challenge the banks decisions wherever necessary.
Name
Fatah
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
The media portrays Israel has been always a victim of rockets being fired on its own people, and that it about time they stopped those terrorists or at least teach them a good lesson. What is the proper response to that?
Answer
We need to have facts at hand to address this. The rockets from Gaza has killed around 12 people, while Israeli missiles have killed over 400 Palestinians in the last 5 days alone. You cannot expect people in Gaza to sit by idle while Israel blocks all entry and exit ports; block water and electricity reaching Gaza and stop humanitarian reaching them. Palestinians are doing what any human being would do - and that is to resist the occupation and its brutal policies.
Name
Denis
-
Profession
Question
At least when Israel kills civilians they apologize and repeat their warns for people to leave areas near Hamas headquarters, while Hamas celebrates civilians being killed....is it part of the culture of martyrdom vs suicide?
Answer
Perhaps you missed Israel leaders calling Palestinians; cockroaches, snakes and Barak calling them crocodiles.
To Israeli leadership killing of Palestinians has become a badge of honour and gets them political points for re-election. This says a lot about the Israeli Zionist and their psyche.
Name
Denis
-
Profession
Question
Gazans are to be held accountable for electing a terrorist organization to represent them. Unless they say no to Hamas, and they are able to say no, they should know that Israel will not jeopardize their own safety for the sake of anyone.
Answer
The western world is fighting in order to bring democracy throughout the world, yet they fight the Palestinians for choosing a democratic path. Your logic has no basis because most of the Palestinians would not accept the choice of the Israeli leadership. However, no Palestinian would want to kill Israelis for their democratic choice. So why is it the Israelis just justify killing the Palestinians for making a democratic choice.
Name
Ziadh
- Sri Lanka
Profession
Student
Question
Salam alleykom, recently in the Live Dialogue, Prof.Joshua Muravchik mentioned that US defends Israel because US believes that Israel is morally right. Also, He mentioned that Israleis are not immigrants to Palestinian lands rather they were born there. Are Muslims wrong on these issues or else is that the influence of the western media that make the US people to think like this..
Answer
In order to justify the occupation of the Palestinian land, Zionists have spun many myths. One of them is to claim Palestinians never existed. However, history and objective analysis shows the continuous presence of Palestinian people on the Palestinian land, whilst the present population of Israel is made of immigrants that have been brought from Russia, Europe and America.
Name
Abubakar
- Nigeria
Profession
Engineer
Question
It is a popular adage that those who pay the dictates the tune. The Jews and their stooges own the media,therefore that will dessiminate the Israeli side of the News to attract our sympathy. The Question is what effort Muslims are doing to establish own media to provide a justified perspective of any event or issue? Apart from this website which other websites can we refer to obtain the real unbiased News?
Answer
Some media are owned by Zionists, however most that take a Zionist stance is because of the efficient lobbying by them. People who want justice must send in hundreds of e-mails complaining to media outlets against biased reporting. It is this campaign that will change the present media biased position. There is a merit in having an organ that does honest reporting but we still have to continue with our campaign to ensure that other outlets are telling the truth.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
-
Answer
Finally, we would like to thank Ismail Patel for taking the time to answer the questions of Islamonline viewers today, and we also thank all those who participated in this dialogue. We apologize for not being able to accommodate any further questions. We encourage our readers to join us in upcoming sessions.
