3 - 9 January 2002
Issue No.567
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 3 - 9 January 2002 Issue No.567 |
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Media assaults
Restrictions on the freedom of the press, and on the flow of news, must be counted among the bitter harvest of 11 September. The situation was then compounded by America's resort to extra- judicial measures that compromised individual freedoms, and constitutional rights.The world's self- appointed guardian of civil rights and champion of the struggle against discrimination on the bases of race and religion thus showed the world how such principles might be put on hold in the name of a war on terrorism, revealing that in the end political interests triumph over legal and moral considerations.
Regarding the freedom of the press and the flow of information, America censored its newspapers and television networks, calling on allies and friendly countries to follow suit. It was not enough to obstruct the flow of information about military operations in Afghanistan. The American authorities also controlled the tone and content of news reports. When Al- Jazeera broadcast interviews and statements from the "other side" alongside those of American officials, Washington considered it an act of aggression and called on its allies to employ their influence to quarantine the Arab news network and its correspondents.
Emergency American legislation -- which many European states rushed to emulate -- introduced the detention of suspects without charge. Military tribunals, which once would have provoked virulent opposition in the media, were established in America which willingly conceded discrimination before the law. While American citizens are tried in ordinary courts, after 11 September it became legal to try foreigners before military tribunals set up explicitly for this purpose.
In this overheated environment a violent debate took American public opinion by storm when Time magazine failed to put Bin Laden on its cover as the man of the year, choosing instead the mayor of New York, even though the rules laid down by its founder, Henry Louis, in 1925, stipulate that the man of the year be the figure who has made the greatest impact on the news and public life, whether that impact be positive or negative. Wanted dead or alive, Bin Laden, though he clearly fit the bill, was deemed inappropriate.
It was only natural, under such circumstances, that America should think of establishing a television channel directed at young Muslims in the Middle East, a group that is increasingly seen as being unsympathetic towards America and the West. To this end $30 million have been set aside -- a worrying development when one considers the current level of brain-washing operations.
The media scene has been particularly discouraging -- and in this respect Arab countries have fared no better than the rest of the world in 2001. The Arab media, under predictable enough pressures, sought to appease American anger. It fell into a morass of self- contradiction, verbally defending Islam and Muslims against Western attacks even as they announced support for the American campaign against terrorism. Everybody knows, in the meantime, that the campaign will, for the sake of Israeli interests, be extended beyond Bin Laden and Al- Qa'eda to encompass all the elements of resistance that remain in the Arab body politic. Palestinian and Lebanese resistance organisations have already been placed on America's black list, enabling Sharon to further his assault on the Palestinian people.
In many cases newspapers have been banned, in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco and Yemen, and legislative restrictions on the press are increasing. The restrictions initiated by America have, then, reached the Arab world, rendering the Third World and the West equally repressive.
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