Monday, April 17, 2006
If it was up to me, I would not put Israeli propagandists on Arab media. Boycotts and the three "No"s of Khartum (not what Arab governments intended from them), are the last (peaceful) methods of struggle against Israel and its destructive consequences, and yet they want to take that away from us. Today, an Israeli foreign ministry propagandist was on Al-Arabiyya. Now, I am not a fan of the anchor, Najwa Qasim (a Hariri journalist from Lebanon). But she asked him a question, and then he said: "Your bias in favor of the Palestinians is quite obvious." She firmly said: "I am proud to be biased in favor of the Palestinian people." That shut him up. I was pleased. But look at his comment: these are the consequences of Western journalistic "objectivity." That Western "objectivity" requires that you end your sympathy for the Palestinians: these are the rules. Don't be surprised if `Abdur-Rahman Ar-Rashid (the neo-con director of Al-Arabiyya) rebukes Qasim for her handling of that paid Israeli propagandist. The Israeli government protested to AlJazeera last week. AlJazeera had invited an Israeli propagandist along with a Hamas representative. They Israeli propagandist felt "ambushed." He was in pain. Clinton will feel his pain, not me.