Does anyone here read Al-Jazeera?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by mcjon77, Apr 27, 2004.

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  1. mcjon77

    mcjon77 Member

    Hi All,

    I was reading about the war in Iraq and I decided that I wanted to read a different take on it so I went to Al-Jazeera's english webpage and started reading the articles. At first I read it with the standard American mindset. Then I decided to read it as if I were someone who completely trusted the source and believed that they were giving a fair and balanced view of the war. It was quite enlightening. i kept asking myself "what type of mindset would I have to be in to accept the reasoning of these articles?" I can't say that I am now an expert on the Arab mind, but I can say that I have a better understanding of why Arabs are so pissed about this. What are your thoughts?


    Jon
     
  2. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    If you scroll down to the bottom of Al Jazera's web page, on the lower-left hand there are some cartoons. Click on these and you will see some of the most disturbing, anti-America/anti-Isreal political cartoons ever created.

    Very disturbing...:(
     
  3. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    http://www.memri.org/

    These are folks who do this full-time, exposing the unbelievable viciousness and paranoia of the Arab media. For example, the Egyptian state-controlled media have proclaimed that the Madrid bombings were done by "the Jews".

    At your service, Janko
     
  4. Khan

    Khan New Member

    Aljazeera

    I read it to keep up with what a portion of the Arab world thinks. It's just like our papers; some of the reporters/commentators are rabid idiots, others are trying to see both sides.
     
  5. mcjon77

    mcjon77 Member

    I don't read it for factual information. I read it primarily to see what the arab world is thinking. I honestly had no idea that the whole Arab world thought this way about us (probably not all of them, but a significant major). It is almost as if the editors and writers want to provoke a religious war:mad: .

    One observation I made is that it seems that their standards for presenting information as fact are MUCH less than ours. Also, there seems to be this belief that it is our mission to actively try to oppress them. I think most Arabs would be surprised to find out just how little we care about them. The fact is, as long as they have oil, they will continue to sell it to us. We don't have to do anything to force them to do it. Stopping the sale of oil to the west will hurt us temporarily, but it will kill them. The day we no longer need their oil is the day we regard the middle east about as much as we regard sub-saharan Africa..

    But those are just my opinions.

    Jon
     
  6. chris

    chris New Member

    Whats worse...

    is that there is a new CNN/Gallup poll out that reveals for the first time that the majority of Iraqi's want us out and view the Americans as immoral and untrustworthy among other things. The most revealing part of the poll is that only 7% of the Iraqi's polled ahd actually had any contact with the Americans they were basing their opinion on "market rumor" and the Al-Jazeera.

    Some of the things they complained about were probably true; such as Americans pointing their weapons at them when they are approached and refusing to stay in traffic during traffic jams. Duhhh! Considering that some Iraqi's are shooting at them what do they expect? The rest of the crud was just crap put out by the sensationalistic Arab press.

    We should Balkanize the country into Kurd, Sunni and Shiite sections and leave them to rot. But once again, nice guys finish last in that part of the world.
     
  7. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    Arab News

    For an interesting look at Saudi Arabia, I recommend reading Arab News, at http://arabnews.com. This is the largest English daily newspaper in the kingdom, and I am amazed at how much more open and candid it is these days, as opposed to when I lived there in the late 1990's. In the op-ed pieces, you'll find quite a bit of overt criticism of the government, as well as some fair reporting regarding the U.S. involvement in Iraq. Of course, you will still find the rather vicious political cartoons, as well as anti-Western sentiment, as well. I read this daily, and think it gives a good overall reflection of what I hear everyday, living over here.

    Just my two cents,

    Adrienne
     
  8. mcjon77

    mcjon77 Member

    The link to arabnews.com says "DIrectory listing denied"
     
  9. adireynolds

    adireynolds New Member

    Hmm, works for me. Try it with "www":

    http://www.arabnews.com

    If it still doesn't work, try just typing it into your browser.
     
  10. JLV

    JLV Active Member

    Al-Jazeera is just a propaganda machine for the Arab world. It has done so much damage to American interests in Iraq by portraying US troops as occupyers and invaders rather than liberation forces.

    Their correspondent in Spain, a sob from some Arabic country but with Spanish nationality has been arrested by Judge Garzon as a member of Al Qaeda involved in the 911 masacre.

    Al-Jazeera, etc, .. they all operate from American sponsored countries.

    Cordial greetings
     
  11. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    Hi JLV: Whatever our disagreements about other things, we agree entirely on the bizarre character of American-sponsored regimes spewing this kind of filth. It harms our interests and discredits us morally. For example, Egypt generates mounatins of Jew-hating, West-hating state propaganda and school materials. Because Egypt is a "moderate" Arab state (that is, bribed with American money to hide some of its hostility to pluralism and decency), we turn a blind eye. Suppose Poland or Spain or a furture Muslim-dominated Netherlands made the Protocols and other antisemitic material required reading in its schools. Why, the US would protest no end. But Arabs are not held to any standards and we are servile toward those who hate us. How dishonorable!
     
  12. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    I know of no news outlet that would serve as proxy for "the American street." There is no such street. I doubt there is any such Rue, Strasse, etc. When you get to areas where the press is clearly "guided", the news coverage should be assumed to be serving some patron.
     
  13. JLV

    JLV Active Member

    And talking about propaganda, what about those pictures of a British soldiers urinating on an Iraqi prisoner? Have they make it all the way to America too?

    I think they are some of the most grotesque attempts to discredit the British goverment and the coalition I have seen in years. In the other hand, what type of person could believe something like that? :p
     

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