Hundreds of journalists from the Islamic website Islamonline.net have started an open-ended strike at the premises of the website in 6th October City outside Cairo to protest what they describe as the interference of their financiers in their work and the editorial policies of the website. The journalists vowed to continue to stage their sit-in until they got their rights from Media International, a Qatar-owned company, that funds the website. “True the Qatari company funds the website, but it doesn't have the right to dictate its own brand of editorial policies to us,” said Mugaheed Sharara, the head of the Interaction Section at the website. “They should consult with us first,” he told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. The striking journalists say a new board of directors wants to hush the moderate tone of the website and replace it with a more extremist one. Between one and three million people visit the website (www.Islamonline.net) every month to read its content which focuses on Muslims' news. Inside the expansive complex of the website yesterday, hundreds of workers kept chanting slogans for hours and held placards to demand intervention from the Egyptian Government. They called on renowned Egyptian cleric Yusuf el-Qaradawi, who is the chairman of the website, to save them. “Oh Qaradawi say it aloud, we are the voice of moderation,” they shouted. They have launched an interactive website (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iol-on-air) to offer readers and the media live coverage of their protests. Some experts say the latest crisis inside Islamonline boils down to political rivalry between Egypt and Qatar, while the latter wants to weaken the former's standing as an Islamic cultural motor, some of the striking journalists say. These journalists are not members of the Egyptian Press Syndicate, which does not offer its membership to Internet journalists or bloggers. But they have received support from some members of the syndicate who promised to offer the necessary backing. Several local human rights organisations are getting involved as well and announcing solidarity with the journalists.
