MovieChat Forums > Control Room (2004) Discussion > AL-Jazeera Gets Tarnished by Terror

AL-Jazeera Gets Tarnished by Terror

posted 19 years ago by viglen
5 replies | jump to latest

The following is for all you I-hate-Fox-so-i-wil l-love-jazeera without actualy watching it idiots!

That was the headline of an article written by a progressive Arab writer in liberal website Elaph.com. The author was commenting on the bombing in Doha. I wish I can translate his article and post it here.

I wrote a post not long time ago about how the ruler of Qatar thought that he can "buy terrorists" and prevent attacks on his tiny country. He finances Al Jazeera, a channel with clear Islamist leanings and a mouthpiece for Al Qaeda, he hosts radical Sunni figures ranging from Algeria's Salafi leaders to Chechen seperatists, and he tries to portray his country as sempathatic to those radicals. In return for having the benefit of living under the auspices of his royal highness, those figures should keep their mouth shut regarding the huge US base nearby and the ever growing relations between Qatar and Israel. Islamist leaders from around the world flocked to a conference in Doha where they issued a communique calling for the "fighting of everything that attacks Muslims and their lands". The guys didn't mention a single word about the US base nearby that was used to attack both Afghanistan and Iraq!

It was so interesting to see how Al Jazeerah reacted to the bombing. First, they kept using the word "suicide bombing" over and over again when refering to what happened. Previous suicide bombings in Saudi and Iraq got labels such as "bombings", "someone bombed himself", "attack". The word "suicide bombing" was never used repetitively to describe attacks on Saudi and Iraqi soils. The words "suicide bombing" is more powerful than the words "someone bombed himself" due to the grave sin that suicide is in Islam.

Second, there is no tape until now! Whenever a terrorist attack occurs in Saudi, Al Jazeera airs a tape of the perpetrators who claim how their attack was directed at "the puppets of America and the infidel royal family". This time there is no tape telling us how this attack was a result of "the infidel Qatari ruler who hosts the largest US base in the region and who's wife invites Israeli ministers". Even after Hariri's death, Al jazeera had a tape for all of us to see. Where is the Doha tape Al Jazeera????

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw Sheikh Qaradawi gather his cronies in a demonstration against the bombing. I'm wondering why we haven't seen such protest when over 120 Shias were killed in Hilla or when the Saudi ministry of interior was bombed. What a pathetic idiot.

Emir Hamed Bin Khalifa, you cannot protect yourself from terror. You cannot write a contract with terrorists. Now, I can hear Saudi, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Egypt, USA, Spain, and Indonesia telling you: JOIN THE CLUB SIR.

( http://bigpharaoh.b logspot.com/2005/03 / terrorist-media-hub - gets-tarnished-by.h t ml )

[–] AntonyCrowley 19 years ago

I'm forced to disagree. I do not watch Jazeera, but I do read the news on their English website daily, and find their reporting to be far more balanced than any American news agency (Fox, CNN, CBS, NBC etc). The thing is, they simply report the facts from both sides, of course there's some opinion involved, but from the way you and most Americans talk, you'd think that they're religious extremists. As this fine documentary demonstrates, they're actually a very progressive news agency. Everyone with a stake in manipulating the truth hates them, the Americans call them "The mouthpiece of Usama Bin-Ladin", and the Ba'athists call them "Spreaders of vile American propaganda". The simple fact is, they present a wider spectrum than many other news agencies, which in large part have strong political or corporate interests removing any objectivity from their reporting. I wouldn't rate them as highly as the BBC or CBC for the quality and trustworthiness of their news, but I would rate them high above all American outlets, with the possible exception of PBS, the others have simply become an extension of the White House press office.

[–] viglen 19 years ago

"I'm forced to disagree. I do not watch Jazeera,"

Then dont give your opinion my friend...the fact that you have not seen the channel at hand makes your whole post irrelevant

"As this fine documentary demonstrates, they're actually a very progressive news agency"

hmmm...a documentary done by an anti-war activist about jazeera....what are they gona show?? hmm...??? of course they're going to show themselves as progressive and un-biased

i would give you some sites showing you how the baathist regime was with jazeera (specific meetings to discuss their news , money incentives)...but oh yah , you dont understand arabic...so useless

[–] UberZoldat 19 years ago

Well well well Viglen it appears we meet again

Then dont give your opinion my friend...the fact that you have not seen the channel at hand makes your whole post irrelevant

Interesting that you cut his post short or perhaps you forget to read the part where he writes "I visit the website daily" which counts as the same thing as watching.

"My enemy's enemy is my best friend."

[–] viglen 19 years ago

Well not really...there's a differnce between their arabic and english site ,
if you have not seen the channel then you cant really comment on how great the TV station is....

so uber...how are you? yo'uve dispaeared for a while

Senator Viglen

[–] UberZoldat 19 years ago

Ya, I thought the entire political-Iraq spectrum was getting tiring and I thought I'd follow your lead and start fighting for my nation too. Like you, I enjoy posting images of the soldiers who are protecting my country and a display of might as well.I've read your posts lately and I have a better understanding with you and the Iraq conflict. Truth be told, I have no desire in particpating much longer with this topic. We may have quarlled however, the way I see it we, as one Assyrian friend I met put it, are cousins.

The thing with this movie was that the Al Jazeera admitted to having a bias, bringing in people on interviews who didn't present complete info, etc. It was pointed out many times in this movie. Here in the United States, we really don't get the picture on Iraq, this documentary provided a better depth field of Iraq than any of the American channels.

I've been on the "Ararat" boards lately arguing with Turks about the Armenian Genocide in 1915. If you're interested in learning about it, PM me or just ask.

Keep it tight bro.

"My enemy's enemy is my best friend."