AL-JAZEERA - NO OPINION BUT OURS

A first of series -

Since it went on the airwaves back in 1996, and Al-Jazeera has been making waves on the ground. Though it became a permanent fixture on the Arabs TV screens, Al-Jazeera has been steadily losing Arab viewership in recent years to more moderate channels like Al-Arabiya.

Since its first broadcast, Al-Jazeera was confrontational and controversial, though undeterred from the high code of journalistic ethics it chartered for its self. It was indeed quiet refreshing at a time when the intelligence of Arab TV audiences were insulted day in and night out by the governments' run channels. But as it turned out, Al-Jazeera was far more insulting and dangerous than States run channels, preaching one thing and doing another.

Al-Jazeera is housed in Doha, Qatar which finances the channel. This is the tiniest Arab nation in terms of population and hardly amassed any weight on the Arab political scene let alone the international scene. But this tiny country is loaded with disposable cash, ready to use it to buy itself a seat with the big boys. Al-Jazeera came in real handy, it became Qatar's acting Foreign Ministry and its mouthpiece.

WikiLeaks documents which were released some 3 months ago showed an interesting insight into this Arab news giant. An assessment from one of the cables referring to Al-Jazeera as "one of Qatar's most valuable political and diplomatic tools,".  Blake Hounshell at Foreign Policy  described Al-Jazeera acting at times like “the official network of the Qatari Foreign Ministry” .  It did not stop there, Some Western governments accused some reporters to having links to terrorist groups, while others were accused of being spies working under the credentials of their press ID's as a cover.

This clearly shows that if a country rubbed the shoulder of the Qatari Foreign Minister the wrong way– who also happens to be their Prim Minister - then that country should expect a whiplashing from Al-Jazeera. So no longer whimsical Qatar tries to resolve diplomatic issues behind closed doors and proper channels, and why it should when it has the bullying muscles of Al-Jazeera behind it. It is always funny when Qatar distances itself from the editorials of Al-Jazeera claiming that the channel is autonomous of the country's watchful eye.

It is not a secret that this Foreign Minister has a bone or two to pick with Bahrain. Behind the warmth of his yellow smiles during photo ops at a GCC leaders' meeting, a cold vendetta lurks in his heart. Despite repeated efforts from Bahrain and other GCC countries to deter Qatar from pursuing an avenue to The Hague to resolve the issue of the Hawar Islands with Bahrain, it failed due to the stubbornness of the Foreign Minister. He was assured of victory, only to have the court confirmed Bahrain as the rightful owner of the Islands. This was a bitter pill to swallow for the Minister, a one he would not forget.

After the GCC summit in Doha in 1996 he gathered around him scores of reporters and ridiculed the government and leadership of Bahrain in the most demining way. Furthermore, he made public diplomatic communiqués between the 2 nations in direct disdain to diplomatic protocol. Of course, Al-Jazeera always managed to find prime time slots to host him for a monologue of "we are the good guys and they are not".

Hawar Islands is only one of many issues that divided these two neighbors, so when rioting broke out in Bahrain, Qatar could not resist passing on the  chance to get back at Bahrain, unleashing Al-Jazeera dogs mulling the Bahraini regime with fury. Al-Jazeera opened its doors and cameras for the rioters to air out their grievances with the government, and called them "pro democracy activists".  Most of the footage they showed is filmed and written by the rioters themselves, a Western journalist just narrates the clumsy script to give credibility to the gullible viewer.   To put it in simple terms, Al-Jazeera humanized the rioters while demonizing the legitimate government of Bahrain for no purpose other than destabilizing it ,or worse, to feed  the ego of the owners.

It is quiet shameful that Al-Jazeera would resort to reporting rumors and heresy as news. But when their role is shifted from gathering the news to making it then one needs not wonder, just ask why!!?  Al-Jazeera is manipulating the faith and trust of viewers around the world to spread its mischievous and sinister deed on behalf of its masters.

                                                                                                                                                                                                

 Dr. Know                             

Next – Al-Jazeera and the Yankee connections