Egypt expresses 'deep dissatisfaction' to Netherlands over embassy attack    Global pressure mounts as Gaza fighting intensifies and death toll surges    Egypt, India's BDR Group in talks to establish biologics, cancer drug facility    AUC graduates first cohort of film industry business certificate    At TICAD, Egypt's education minister signs pacts with Casio, SAPIX    Egypt holds special importance for our investments across diverse sectors: Japanese minister    Cairo, Tokyo sign LOI to expand educational cooperation, support for persons with disabilities    Madbouly invites Japanese firms to establish industrial zone in SCZONE    Egypt to tighten waste rules, cut rice straw fees to curb pollution    Al-Sisi meets Qatar PM, Bahrain security adviser to discuss Gaza crisis, regional stability    Indian tourist arrivals to Egypt jump 18.8% in H1-2025: ministry data    Egyptian pound down vs. US dollar at Monday's close – CBE    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Ignoring Al-Jazeera
Published in Daily News Egypt on 06 - 04 - 2008

It appears that Israel is taking a page from the George W. Bush book of public diplomacy: attempting to influence coverage by Arab media by boycotting the most influential television station in the Arab world.
In the latest news from Jerusalem, it seems the Ehud Olmert government has decided Al-Jazeera favors Hamas over Israel in the Gaza conflict and will now refuse to deal with its reporters.
You have to admit, Israel and Al-Jazeera were unlikely bedfellows. But the fact that we are even discussing banning Al-Jazeera reporters from the Knesset speaks volumes about what had previously been a very pragmatic relationship.
Israelis understood from the start what the Bush administration has only lately come to realize - that it was better for Israeli officials to use Al-Jazeera to explain the country s policies to the Arab world in their own words than to demonize the station and let its presenters put their own spin on Israeli policy. Not only does Al-Jazeera have a bureau in Israel, but Israelis can watch both the Arabic channel and Al-Jazeera English, neither of which is readily accessible in the United States.
It s not that Israelis are naive. They know the Qatar-based channel s policy of presenting the opinion, and the other opinion does not change the fact that it is - according to its own mission statement - an Arab media service . And that means it reports events in the Occupied Territories through an Arab camera lens, just as it reported the Afghan and Iraq invasions from an Arab perspective, incensing the Bush administration.
Even so, successive Israeli governments have continued a policy of engagement with Al-Jazeera because it made good, strategic sense. The new boycott was apparently sparked by the fact that, in the latest round of Israeli attacks on Hamas in Gaza, Al-Jazeera focused heavily on Palestinian casualties - zooming in on the dead and wounded for close-ups, a practice Israeli television has stopped doing with Israeli victims to avoid exacerbating trauma and desire for revenge.
But should anyone be surprised? According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Three Israelis and more than 120 Palestinians were killed, including dozens of civilians, before the fighting subsided earlier this month.
All this naturally raises the question, What is balance?
Various studies have found that US media gives substantially more coverage to Israeli deaths than those of Palestinians, even though the Palestinian death rates are much higher. That s true in spades for Israeli television. Shouldn t we then expect that Arab journalists, reporting for an Arab audience, are going to focus on Arab casualties?
As Ahmed Mansour, Al-Jazeera s correspondent in the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the US siege, once told me, When I was in Fallujah, every girl I saw reminded me of my daughter. When I tried to [separate myself from what was happening], sometimes I could not. I saw a child injured or dead, and I d remember my son. They are Arab like you, Muslim like you.
Granted, Al-Jazeera is far from perfect. It can be sensational, opinionated and irresponsible. But, the same can be said about many Western channels.
Lately, many observers, even inside Al-Jazeera, say there has been a decided tilt in favor of Hamas over the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. But Al-Jazeera, like the Arab world, is no monolith. Its newsroom is divided between pro-Hamas supporters of political Islam and Arab nationalists, who tend to favor the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority. At the moment, the pro-Hamas faction has the upper hand.
The claim that Al-Jazeera s coverage of events in Gaza builds support for Hamas is essentially true. But any time people see their own dying, it tarnishes the attacker and helps whatever army happens to be defending the attacked. We saw this most recently during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war in which Lebanese - and Arabs - of all political stripes rallied to Hezbollah cause.
The irony of this tempest is that Israel s ally in its attempt to control Al-Jazeera s message is none other than the Arab League. Arab information ministers recently adopted a new Arab Satellite Charter that gives them the right to pull the plug on channels that jeopardize social peace, national unity, public order and general propriety, and those broadcasting any materials that would incite violence and terrorism [or] imply that [a] crime or its predators are heroes or justify their motives.
The Qatari government, which funds Al-Jazeera, abstained from the vote. It knows the channel is about as popular in the palaces of the Arab world as in the halls of the Knesset. Which is precisely why it is so influential among the Arab public, and why non-Arab governments - whether Israeli or American - seeking to influence Arabs ignore the channel at their own peril.
Lawrence Pintakis director of the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at the American University in Cairo, publisher and co-editor of the online journal Arab Media & Society, and author of Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam & the War of Ideas. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.


Clic here to read the story from its source.