Al Jazeera has arrived.
February 8th, 2007Al Jazeera has an office inside my building. My journalistic side is curious and intrigued.
My Israeli side is annoyed; why do they get to freely tramp around the country as professional journalists and Israeli citizens can’t even step foot inside most Arab ones?
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HERE HERE, I agree with you 100, no 200, no final reaction…300%
oh well next life time, maybe we’ll be neighbors??
Never in all of my born days, have I ever agreed with anyone who has posted any opinion great or small, that I could place such high agreement rates!
Honey, child yuz and mez are on the same wavelength….. (too bad I’m married, have kids and probably old enough to be your father
Haha!
Well I do understand (kind of) your annoyance.
But you have to remember that Al-Jazeera is not a country:P
Don’t blame them, if there would be an Al-Jazeera government somewhere, I think that Israelis would be most welcome (if you translate the presence of Israeli studio-guests to the presence of Israeli citizens)
But your welcome to visit Morocco anytime. Our government may not recognize Israel officially but we do welcome you.
Don’t forget that Al Jazeera’s journalists are also not allowed to visit a number of Arab countries.
(What I said is not meant to justify that restriction. Rather, you say that it’s not fair that the Israeli press is not allowed to go to Arab countries. I say, well, that’s not quite accurate. Practically no press, even independent Arab press, is allowed to go into Arab countries.
Also remember – Al Jazeera, while it has a lot of viewers, does not have a lot of fans. Like Yaman said, they have been kicked out and denied entry in numerous Arab countries, Bahrain included. The reason? They tend to report the “truth,” however unethically they do so (graphic images, sometimes no respect for the dead, etc.)
They are also loathed by U.S officials. Not too long ago Rumsfeld was bashing the network, and press officers in Iraq were trying their best to keep them out of their business.
Al Jazeera journalists go through much trouble to get their jobs done, whether or not we agree with their opinions and how they were represented is one thing. But I met several journalists and I have nothing but respect and admiration for them, they’re incredibly hard working and they’re willing to take any risk to report the news as best as they can.
Again you should consider what Yaman said. Offices of un-state owned news networks were being shut down throughout the Arab world, it’s the way the press works here, this is hardly an Arab vs. Israeli thing.
If I start my own office, independently, and start publishing news knowing the state doesn’t have legal control over my publications – my entire network and its staff will be thrown out of the country. If you did the same, you’d be thrown out too, but NOT because you’re Israeli. But because of the rules. Arab leaders want total social control, they try to limit the number of foreign journalists here as much as possible in order to maintain control over the flow of information.
Moreover, what Israeli networks WANTS to go to the Arab world, they think about their own safety. And not many are always willing to report both sides. We’ve all got our biases. There are tons and tons of Arabs who hate Al Jazeera for giving a voice to the ‘other side,’ and to other opinions – that’s why it has over 40 million viewers within the Arab world, for the sheer sake of it being controversial, and for representing many voices within and from outside the Arab world.
People portray them as this big propaganda machine when really, all networks, especially Israeli and American ones, are guilty of the exact same ethical issues that Al Jazeera has been accused of. They’re just trying to do their jobs.
Forgive me if I misunderstood Eliesheva, but I understood from your post that you were equating Al Jazeerah journalists being able to work in Israel (and often — ok, almost always — report negatively about Israel) while Israelis — any Israelis — are not allowed to visit many Arab countries AT ALL.
If this is indeed, what you meant, then I am not sure those comparisons about the press that responders have shared work. In the case that Eliesheva is talking about (again, if I understood her correctly) Israelis cannot go to these countries — exactly because they ae Israeli.
I work in the US. I hold both US and Israeli citizenship. For my job last year, I really needed to go to see some customers in Dubai. I was not allowed in. Despite having a US passport. The problem — and the only restriction that I could see in Dubai’s entry policies — was that I was also an Israeli citizen.
While Eliesheva is not making a one-to-one comparison — journalist to journalist — I do think her point is an interesting one, and one that Israelis often find frustrating. We let people who do not recognize us in, but so much of the world does not recognize us and keeps us out. Not because of who we are, or what we believe, but because of where we are from. Its complicated and sometimes its just frustrating. These feelings can overwhelm.
So yes, all journalism is biased and propaganda-driven (Al Jazeerah, US, Israeli, British etc. outlets), but I think the point here is that the presence of Al Jazeerah in Eliesheva’s office building reminded her today about how far we still have to go in the Midle East and how many places refuse to recognize her existence and her rights as a human. Haven’t we all felt something like that at some time?
The problems I have are more about the results; I’m over the Israeli vs. Arab thing. I have no choice but to be, or my head would explode.
But for the people who are watching Al Jazeera, and seeing all the terrible things Israel does, and are not seeing all the terrible things that other countries do (whether they can or cannot report it), well, damn. Israel’s openness in allowing them to report here is just silly, isn’t it? We are destined to be screwed, aren’t we?
And, yes, it’s the same everywhere. It always goes back to blame it on the governments, the networks, the people, pretty much everyone.
And for the record, Reuters has also perched itself in my building and that irks me as well. And seeing the UN trucks around Jerusalem bothers me too.
Maybe it’s me!
Yes, Liora, that was actually the main point I was making. I can’t visit so many places, even on my American passport, because of the Israeli stamps in it. And even if they didn’t know about my dual citizenship, could I risk carrying around my Israeli i.d., which I need to get back into Israel, throughout the trip?
Yet here we are, being inspected by everyone, even people who hate us or know in advance they will use the visit to point to Israel negatively.
For a society that despises suckers, Israelis sure are suckers.
You can whitewash around the edges all you want…it is utter prejudice…pure and simple…mixed with the fear the brainwashed citizens might find out they have been lied to by their governments about Jews and Israelis.
Why keep apologizing and rationalizing this…because these governments do this garbage..is that supposed to be a reflection on all Arabs or all Muslims? This is a pretty riduculous argument…but again…the basis is in moral relativism and denial.
Pure nonsense, Howie. Sorry, but you really have a misinformed opinion, I already laid out why this happens in my previous post and I think you should read it.
It’s NOT about Israelis and Jews. It’s about PRESS LAWS that apply to ALL Arabs as well.
Sorry but this is not the case at all.
Al Jazeera are banned from certain countries for a reason – they are reporting and exposing things from all over, NOT just about Israel and in fact there were many journalists who were giving a voice to Israelis and Jews.
Look at Al Jazeera English if you may, it gave a powerful voice to an Israeli activist on the night of Eid. It totally was in favor of Israel, Israelis, and Jews and the opinions were met with the utmost respect. You really call that hate, propaganda, etc? It promoted interfaith THROUGHOUT Eid, Christmas, and all the other celebrations. Jews were in the studio, and were portrayed very nicely on the show, as were the Muslims and Christian interfaith activists.
Al Jazeera is so misunderstood. People blame it for being all those things without actually watching shows in their entirety – if you even notice, EVERYONE is offended. Me as a Muslim, you as a Jewish Israeli, Americans, everyone is exposed, everyone is at some point misportrayed, it’s how media works and it is NOT Al Jazeera’s intention to create or incite violence at all. So I really wish you guys would cut them some slack, a lot of them risk their lives to do their jobs, many of them get caught in the violence and die not in the process of inciting hatred but in the process of giving us information. Their journalists are specifically targeted, everywhere. They target them because they are REPORTING as best as they can, not promoting hate.
Muslims hate them, Americans hate them, now Israel hates them – seriously guys, they are reporters. They’re just trying to do their jobs. Give them a chance to and let’s cut the paranoia a bit. Remember that they were kicked out and banned from Arab countries for the mere reason that they were exposing a lot of OUR faults too. Not just yours.
You can quote their journalists and editors and say “they’re haters,” but the truth is that many of them are critical of Arab regimes. There are many journalists working there, and having met many of them, I know that they are making a huge effort to try and make this more about the truth than to sell an agenda, and guess what? ALL news services, including Israeli ones, are guilty of that. Why hold a grudge against Al Jazeera? Because you think it doesn’t help you out in the massive PR war?
I don’t agree with many things that Al Jazeera does, like I said they better review their code of ethics, but they are making a huge effort to make your voices heard. It bothers me that just because of their previous reputation, you think that ownership doesn’t change, filters don’t change, journalists don’t change – they do. Al Jazeera English is actually proof of the struggle, they give a lot of light to issues that no other news network dares to report. Their staff has become incredibly diverse.
If you wanna talk about racism and prejudice Howie, you should look at your own response. So what, you’re going to ban every other Arab network from Israel and then claim to want “peace”? You wanna work hand in hand with other Arab media? Who says they’re going to damage your reputation? People are learning to stand up and criticize their own governments as a RESPONSE to a lot of the things Al Jazeera promotes, free speech included. Give them that credit, and never claim that you’re not as guilty as they are when Israel launches one PR campaign after another in hopes of maintaining dominance over news outlets that get exported out into the world. EVERY news service is guilty. There is a hidden agenda and an ideology behind everything. I think Al Jazeera having an office in Israel is a really good sign for all of us, you included. I really do.
Al Jazeera at the end of the day is an Arabic service. It caters to ARAB viewers, of course they would have to appeal to their ideals and report the type of things that they want to hear. But so does Fox News, who also have a very defined audience. So does a lot of Israeli sources. So do the French news channels that I’ve seen which also have a specific audience amongst their own population – Muslims, Algerians, etc vs. the very conservative and nationalist French types.
Sorry for the massive post. They just do not deserve what you guys are saying about them. If anything you should be excited about this.
I’m not dogging Al Jazeera reporters. Of course they report to an overwhelmingly Arab audience and as such slant their news reports to the audience’s interest/perspectives. That’s about ratings. And I do hope that the reporters now “stationed” in Israel develop relationships with the guy at the corner market where they buy their milk, and the woman who runs the bakery near their house and a couple sitting next to them at a restaurant on Tel-Aviv’s beach. And learn more about Israelis as people. I’m cool with that. I love that. I want more of that. All over the Middle East. Don’t we all? Isn’t that part of this site’s message/mission?
This discussion is not about saying Al Jazeerah reporters suck or that they shouldn’t be in Israel. It’s about why Eliesheva or me, or my mother, or the guy at the corner market where the Al Jazeerah reporters buy their milk, can’t visit the UAE, or Saudi Arabia, or any other number of places.
Its an intersting contrast, is all. These reporters, who transmit stories that their audience seemingly WANTS to be anti-Israel can come to Israel, see the country and hopefully meet the people and learn more. And Israeli people with a genuine interest in seeing other Arab countries and meeting those countries’ people, can’t do that.
This isn’t about Al Jazeera reporters per se, but rather about what their presence in her office building got Eliesheva thinking about — at least that’s what this discussion means for me. Of course, do not mean to speak for her ideas, or anyone else’s.
Hi Liora – this was mostly a response to the comments, not to the post itself, as she stated she was curious and not at all threatened. But the comments that came later is what bothered me which triggered my lengthy response.
That was exactly my point, but you get people complaining, with all of the preconceived ideas about Al Jazeera’s intentions in Israel.
Then this has absolutely nothing to do with Al Jazeera and everything to do with our governments.
And just so you know – we can’t come to your country either. Our own governments wouldn’t allow it, so Al Jazeera being there means that we’d have a better taste of what’s going on. First we had blogs to do that, now we have an actual news network doing all the field work. It’s exciting, not threatening at all, and it’s a great sign. I’m sure that due to this, Qatar will changes its laws, Bahrain was already in talks about changing the laws to make us freely visit Israel and vice versa, etc. It’s progress.
Also, a very large number of Israelis have dual citizenships. Israeli/Russian, Israeli/American, Israeli/Canadian, Israeli/French, etc. And thus, I meet many of such people in the Arab world. They can visit very easily and many of them do, so it’s hardly an issue of being imprisoned or whatever. Many Israelis really do travel all over the Arab world under their own passports, and the lifestyle in Israel is much better off than most of the lifestyles in Arab countries, especially when it comes to education and job opportunities for all, so I don’t think they should be portrayed as victims here. They’re clearly not. Our governments do not represent our own opinions.
Yeah, I’m sorry things got off track from the beginning. The truth is Liora hit the nail on the head; the comments started taking it a different turn from what I originally was saying, which was that here we are letting in all kinds of people, organizations, whatever, even if it’s perceived as harmful. And we don’t get, even as plain old civilians – tourist-wannabes – to go to certain places ourselves.
Check this, from Wikipedia -
So while it’s not a legal thing, many people do resort to this method, and get away with coming in and out of Arab states under different passports and getting away with no stamps, etc.
They don’t ban you because they hate you, necessarily. They do so because of fear from the powerful Israeli government, and remember, this is like holding the 1967 grudge which many Arab leaders have yet to get over. We got all of these useless laws between us but I don’t think we should make the gap even bigger by making it seem like it just applies to a single nation. It applies to us as well – we get an Israeli stamp and we’re screwed. Some even risk losing citizenship. It’s not about keeping you out of our lives, it’s about keeping BOTH OF US, arabs and israelis, away from each other. So in this, we are both victims.
Remember that our governments LOVE using the “Israel is evil” divisionary tactics in order to get away with their own crimes, if we get the chance to come to you, that will be over. We’d realize that you guys pose no bigger threat than say, Iran does. Etc. It’s nothing to do with hatred, even though it’s portrayed that way. It’s a strategy used by Arab leaders.
The answer is, as I’ve said before, to make a country where no politician or elite government member is allowed. It would be called: Utopia.
I think the answer is that NO seriousness is allowed, imagine a Middle East with satire and just that.
In fact, imagine that we have a law that says all Israeli, Iranian, Kurdish and Arab networks are required by our collective constitution to provide satirical news only. Not even sports coverage are allowed if we’re not mocking the game itself.
That is utopia… oh man. We’d crack up all day together and no one would feel the need to bomb themselves in a crowded cafe.
Either that or we require everyone to riverdance to Celtic music with at least 5 people of different cultural backgrounds – Israeli, Sunni, Shia, Kurdish, whatever the hell you are – you just dance.
See we got ideas. All we need is to eliminate 99% of the Mideast’s overall population and we may actually be getting somewhere.
By the way – is it Al Jazeera English or Arabic that is there? The reporting is actually very different. The international one tends to be more calm and, well, “international.” The Arabic one reports a lot from Iraq and Lebanon and it’s way more unethical. Dead bodies everywhere.
I haven’t investigated far enough; I only realized what floor they’re on today. I actually want to walk in one day and ask to apply for the hell of it (I actually have a journalism background, so I could possibly get an interview).
I’m going to assume for now English, though, as I overheard two of their staff who were clearly not Jewish or Israeli or Arab, speaking in British accents.
YOU SHOULD TOTALLY DO IT. Caps, see, that means I’m excited.
If you started working for Al Jazeera that would be the coolest thing. And yeah, British accents, that’s international, and that means no messing around. The international version is taken way more seriously and from what I’ve seen of it, it’s very thought provoking and decent.
Apply apply apply.
Haha. I’ll keep you posted if it happens.
I am confused.
Answer to this is simple. Al-Jazeerah is not the problem here, it’s the dictators and their governemnt in those Arab countries.
Israel claim to be a free society, if you don’t allow al-Jazeerah, then you are a hypocrite and shouldn’t claim to be a free society.
My gf’s mom has an Israeli passport, she was in Syria and Jordan last year, Lebanon also I think.
She’s has a Canadian/Israeli duel citizenship, she had her Israeli papers with her when she crossed borders. They let her in. I don’t get it or is it just these countries? Not sure.
Jordan is fine, but I would think Syria would be more strict, I guess exceptions can be made as long as she’s an Arab-Israeli. For some reason that can sometimes make a difference.
What I know:
Jordan is fine. Syria is a surprise because I’ve been told there’s no way, and I assumed Lebanon does whatever Syria does. Truth is, I’d like to go to Lebanon, not Syria. Anyway… Jordan and Sinai are 100% ok on Israeli passports, Egypt is supposed to be too (though I’d go on the American anyway). Other than that, things get complicated. My dad was getting messed up for Dubai because he had Israeli stamps in his American. I’m sure there are all kinds of factors and it’s not the same for everyone.
What’s funny is that Iran wasn’t letting an Arab-Israeli in for that Holocaust conference because his passport was Israeli.
Someone got messed up for getting Israeli stamps on Canadian, I think in Israel they completely understand the situation and thus they allow you to have stamps on separate places, etc. Dual passports always come in handy.
Yeah, it’s like what’s the point of the conference if Israelis weren’t allowed to attend? Who else were they expecting? Haha.
On the same note, when the same person goes into Israel with just the Canadian passport, they security take her in for interrogation. They do “random inspections” right before her flight leave etc. It’s not just the Arab countries who behave like assholes…
I have many more stories like this. What you think about this?
I know muchos Israeli-Jews and non-Israeli Jews who have sat for hours and hours in interegations.
And if you ‘own’ an Israeli passport and don’t use it to come in or leave the country, they do get mighty pissed, doesn’t matter what your last name is.
Yes, I made the mistake of taking only my American passport to Israel once. It was a mess. Hours and hours of questioning about why I wasn’t presenting myself as Israeli in my own country. They pulled up my mother’s and fathers’ military service records, and had me verify everything to make sure I really was who I said I was. Security is security and I don’t mind that we have to be hardasses, even when its a bit of a pain. And FYI Eliesheva, I have used my American passport to go to the Sinai once, and they were way harsher/ruder to me (the Egyptians) than they have been everytime I used my Israeli. I’m not so sure an American passport will help so much in Egypt proper! I think I’d use my Israeli in the end.
Hi Esra’a,
I hear what you’re saying. And I’m with you, sister! Hopefully, in our lifetimes, we’ll all be able to visit each other’s countries, report the news with a sense of humor, and get to know each other.
And hello to you, too, Jina,
I’m proud that Israel allows Al-Jazeera, even if it can sometimes feel like masochistic behavior. You’re right, it goes a long way to providing a proof point for the country’s openness and commitment to freedom of speech.
Great discussion, in the end, Eliesheva, even if it started out a bit angry in the comments…
And on unrelated note, Anna Nicole Smith just died. Esra’a — any plans to write fanmail to her — or maybe an obit — in the satire section?
I want to add my support for you applying for a job there. GO FOR IT.
By the way, a confession, my enthusiastic support was based more on professional jealosy, and shaded towards Esra’a perspective than Liora’s. I naturally assumed that the news agencies have to bow down to the government’s needs in order for them to operate. So it was just my wistful thinking that they could slip into and out of a situation that I am immensely curious about, and assumed you were the same. As a Bahai, I also would have to be very careful inside some Islamic countries, especially the country of my spiritual heritage, Iran. +-(
Wow, you know about that? I thought no one read/enjoyed those. That’s why I stopped writing it.
Iran did only used the excuse that Khaled Mahamed (the Arab-Israeli) was Arab-Israeli to deny his visa. I am sure that he denied the Holocaust rather than affirming it, the regime would have found a way to admit him.
It’s not completely true. Israeli and Jewish journalists routinely travel to Arab countries and cover the Middle East more easily than some Arabs. When I was in Jerusalem last June, the israeli government refused to allow any Arab reporters from entering East Jerusalem from other areas of the occupied West Bank to cover the comedy show … it was indeed discouraging.
Actually, al-Jazeera does a better job of covering the Middle East than most Arab and Israeli media. While the Israeli media, for example, does include interviews with “moderate” Arabs, for example, they exclude interviews with “extremists” and frequently censor the news, changing words and phrases to those more acceptable to the Israeli audience.
On the otherhand, al-Jazeera frequently interviews rightwing Israeli fanatics like Benjamin Netanyahu, along with many more moderate Israelis. They frequently have interviews with leaders of the extremist Israeli settler movement, for example, and regardless of whether one might agree about the use of the terms “moderate” or “extremist” they are appropriate int he context of how audiences in the Arab world view Netanyahu and the settlers … and how Israelis view “moderate” and “extremist” Israelis.
I think its great that Israel is finally allowing more media into the country. I wish they would stop censoring and restricting media coverage of the Occupied Territories and allow more Arab journalists to cover those activities firsthand without relying on wire serviced news reports covered locally and then transmitted to major media.
Anyway, just my thoughts
Ray Hanania
http://www.ArabWritersGroup.com