Why Does Israel Believe The World Would Be Better Without Al Jazeera?
12 August 2017By Hossam Shaker
According to the official Israeli perspective, the world was better without Al
Jazeera, the network that occupied our eyes and ears when it launched a new
media era in the Arab world in 1996. The Arabs were exposed to something else
other than the monotonous official propaganda channels in their capital
cities. Public discussions took place and opposing views were expressed when
Al Jazeera paved its own way, followed by other Arab media outlets later. With
the flourish of electronic networking, communities began to show their
presence in an unprecedented manner, interacting with news material presented
by Al Jazeera and others.
The situation was different 20 years ago. The Israelis stood in their
corridors, boasting about their media experience that included, for example,
the establishment of a radio station speaking in Arabic, called "Voice of
Israel". It had a number of Arab listeners, who showed interest in the station
in order to know what was happening in their countries.
This era ended with the emergence of Arab media experiences that rivalled
others in the world, such as that of Al Jazeera, which broadcasted in several
languages and whose screens showed the faces of the world. Successive Israeli
governments were angered by the fact that this media openness directly showed
the Israeli occupation authorities and their forces' actions on the ground.
The problem wasn't with Al Jazeera itself, but with the reality its screens
were showing to the Arabs and the world. This reality is imposed by the
occupation via its forces, violations, bombings, settlements and walls, and in
the era of Al Jazeera it cannot sweep any of this under the rug.
The Israeli governments slept well when they made major deals with Egypt, the
Palestinian leadership and Jordan. All this went smoothly before the emergence
of Al Jazeera, satellite channels and social networking sites. What happened
was that weak Arab leaders who feared the future were pushed by their fears to
accept agreements they were not honest with their people about. They didn't
even present them to experts and specialists in their own countries. The
official Arab media promoted the agreements that were prepared in secret and
claimed they would make their countries heaven on earth, according to the
newspapers and screens at the time.
Today, there seems to be an urgent need to return to that time of naive media,
in preparation for major new deals being pushed by Arab leaders who are
terrified of the future and democracy, of course without discussing the
content of these agreements with their people. For example, who in the Arab
world wants generations to ask about their money, which Trump is talking about
sucking by the hundreds of billions in order to provide "jobs, jobs, jobs" for
his voters?
A large-scale multi-level process has been occurring in the Arab world's media
industry for a while now, aiming to return to the pre-Al Jazeera era. This of
course will comfort the Israeli side, which decided to fully embrace its share
of the process. Netanyahu's government decided to stop allowing Al Jazeera to
broadcast in the country while the Israeli forces storm various television
stations' media offices in the West Bank. During this time, it has also
escalated its hostility and aggression towards journalists and photographers
in order to intimidate and arrest them.
According to official Israeli reports, these measures were taken in line with
steps taken by Arab countries it described as "reasonable and moderate". What
these reports failed to mention is that these countries do not recognise
freedom of press to begin with. The Israeli attack on Al Jazeera will also
affect other channels, as it is not this television channel's trademark that
Israel is targeting, but the press coverage it is providing. Netanyahu's
government is currently acting like its soldiers in the field, who use their
meaty hands to block press cameras from filming what they are doing.
The Israeli authorities believe now is their best chance to destroy Al Jazeera
in the hopes of turning back time. This rough option was chosen after Israeli
propaganda lost the media competition in the Arab world a while back. For
example, when Ariel Sharon's government decided to launch a satellite
television station aimed at Arab viewers in order to re-establish the glory of
Israeli radio, no one tuned in and the experiment quickly failed.
Israeli spokesmen ignore the fact that Al Jazeera, in particular, gave them an
unprecedented chance to address the Arabs face-to-face. Senior officials and
army spokesmen compete to appear on Al Jazeera's screens in order to justify
crushing the Palestinians and committing violations. However, these
appearances did not succeed in winning the hearts and minds of the Arabs.
The problem with the Netanyahu government is its excessive self-confidence,
which results in it embarking on adventures it cannot afford. After it
embarked on its recent adventure in Jerusalem, without considering the world's
reactions, it has now decided to crush the media in its own way. It may
succeed in implementing its decision to stop Al Jazeera's coverage and revoke
its correspondents' permits, but the following day, Al Jazeera will gain large
audiences carrying smart phones and they will start capturing and broadcasting
on their own, without having to answer to anyone.
- Hossam Shaker is an expert on Arab-European affairs and a journalist and
an author who has extensively covered the topic of migration in Europe. His
article was published in MEMO.
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