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A security guard and a journalist of Al-Jazeera at the entrance of the network’s office in Baghdad |
“I really oppose my tax money being used to support a regime that does not support freedom of expression and press—What a disgrace this is...”
This is a quotation taken from a reply by an American participant to a debatable topic entitled Closing Al-Jazeera Office or Blocking News from Iraq? in IslamOnline.net’s Discussion Forum Page.
The decision taken by Iraq’s Interim Government to close Al-Jazeera Office in Iraq for a month has been debated in the Discussion Forum. Many participants assured that what happened aimed at hiding the violations committed by the coalition forces and pro-US interim government. On the other hand, some others claimed that Al-Jazeera had been a propaganda tool for the “terrorists” in Iraq.
Blocking the Truth
Ezward, one of the participants, defended the channel saying, “Al Jazeera was one of the channels where you could see all the opponents of the US occupation express themselves freely, something that you will never see on any Western information agency like Fox news or CNN.”
Nunziata, an American participant, expressed her wonder when she wrote, “I have never, here in the USA, seen such censorship and manipulation of the press as I have seen under the Bush Administration.” She added, “Taking away the right to examine all sides is an affront to democratic free speech.” Then she clarified, “Fox is to the USA what Al Jazeera is to the ME.”
“Al-Jazeera represents the views of all for the people and does not play a political role,” said a participant named Islamfalcon. “US organization of terror could only use force to stop the truth, but that seems to be the simplest method by which dictators fall,” he added.
We Are for the Decision: The Terrorists’ Mouthpiece
Backing the decision, some participants expressed their viewpoints promoting Iraq’s interim government. The participants with the nicknames The Sicilian and Aseeker viewed Al-Jazeera channel as “a propaganda piece for murderers” and “the terrorists’ mouthpiece.”
“There are NO mainstream news outlets that so blatantly misreports, uses so many unidentified ‘sources,’ spins the facts and fails to confirm details more than alJazeera,” wrote Aseeker.
Raising doubts on the safety of Al-Jazeera reporters, Neddy wrote, “If they actually reported news in a fair and balanced manner, they’d subject themselves to terroristic attacks.”
Another participant, Kangaroo, hinted in a harsher criticism that the channel had direct contact with Al-Qaeda and people inciting violence. “It has helped in a major way in deforming their image—Arabs—in the west, making them appear as terrorist gangs, showing reports and documentaries, exclusively on the Al-Jazzera,” he said. “I wonder, do they call Al-Jazzera office and make an appointment with wanted criminals?” he exclaimed.
On a similar note Peacemaker wrote, “They are almost always there right where the terrorist hit. Duh, but it’s just good luck on their part, I guess, right?”
Behind the Scene
The participants stated a variety of reasons behind the decision. “There is a presidential election here in the U.S. in November, Bush doesn’t want any unmanaged news coming out of Iraq,” said Very Western.
“Most of the world is probably laughing at the US ... because they know its behind Iraqi interim government decision,” said Islamfalcon. “It seems that American media couldn’t effect the world view as Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabyia and Al-Manar,” he clarified.
“They can close the whole world it won’t remove the fact that in the Iraqi war, the US is the aggressor and thus, the criminal,” said Abw.
Away from the Discussion Forum, many quotations presented some reasons behind the decision.
Muhammad Basher al-Faidhi, a spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) said, “Al-Jazeera is the sincerest channel, although it does not report the whole truth. There are a lot of tragedies that have gone unreported. We used to wonder why Al-Jazeera had not been reporting those facts, and we were annoyed at it, but when we learned about the American pressure on this channel, we understood. He said.
Speaking at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Friday, Rumsfeld said “Al-Jazeera and the other main Arab news channel, Al-Arabiya, are harming the image of the US in the Arab world.” “They are hurting us,” he added. “Al-Jazeera convinced people that the US is an occupying force which is a lie” said Rumsfeld.
Comparison
News4U provided a link to Al-Jazeera’s Code of Ethics “Let us count how many of these are ‘implemented’ by CNN, FOX or any of the Zionist media outlets,” s/he exclaimed.
After quoting some privileges that a prisoner in Guantanamo enjoys, Hamid2000 exclaimed, “The prison actually is not that bad. Is BBC describing Guantanamo. or publishing vacation broachers. Destination Guantanamo.
This is BBC. All media are same. Why target Al-Jazeera. Don’t Muslim have a right. Al-Jazeera is a voice that stands up against the coalition. All are naked in this pool, why pin point at one.”
In the Arabic Discussion Forum
The issue was also discussed in the Arabic discussion forum. The mainstream was against the decision, which was expected by many participants. “The American murderer decided to gouge out the eyes of the eyewitness on his crime,” said Nabil El-Bekiry in his reply entitled “This Is the Promised Democracy of America.”
Um Salama commented, “By Allah, I’m not surprised by this decision. There are many premises that lead to this result. … I do not see a difference between the occupation forces and the government appointed by them. ... The decision was made, it is not our concern who made it, but what matters is that it is against a whole nation. … The viewers are many, but now, they are deprived even of the right of watching.”
Comments and Quotations
“This measure was taken to ward off more assassins coming into Iraq. Let’s see what happens in a month,” commented Wagar.
Dragon Queen provided the following quotation by Thomas Babington Macaulay: “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.”
Shukria quoted Dr. Edward Said: “Arabs will never be free until Americans get their freedom.”
Join the ongoing discussion Closing Al-Jazeera Office or Blocking News from Iraq?
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