New to Israel's Culture Wars: Hebrew Edition of Playboy

Even as Binyamin Netanyahu continues to struggle to put a coalition together, delayed by the refusal of Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid Party to serve in a coalition with the religious parties, Israel's secular/religious culture wars have a new player: Playboy magazine has launched its first Hebrew-language edition, based in Israel. And, according to The Jerusalem Post, 

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner on Tuesday lauded Israel as a country sharing the core values of his magazine in a pre-recorded message at the launch of Playboy Israel, the first Hebrew version of the men's magazine.

My first thought was that Mr. Hefner must never have been in Mea Shearim,where women in shorts are sometimes stoned, and my second was that  perhaps he was referring to the fact that he is as old as a Biblical patriarch, but in fact, he apparently meant that both were devoted to a free press.

Editions of Playboy in English and other languages have been available in Israel, but this is the first locally-produced edition and the first in Hebrew. (For those Hebrew-only readers who really do want to buy it for the articles.)

Tunisian Court Fines Network for Blasphemy; Happy World Press Freedom Day

Yesterday a Tunisian court ruled against the television channel Al-Nessma and imposed a fine for "blasphemy" over the showing of the award-winning animated film Persepolis. A roundup on the subject here. The timing was impeccable, since today is World Press Freedom Day.
 
This trailer, in French, for the film includes part of the "blasphemous" scene at about 35-39 seconds. The little girl imagines talking to God, who's shown as an old man with a white robe and a white beard:

Michelangelo's in Trouble in Tunis

It's a fairly conventional portrayal of the deity in Western art (think Michelangelo's Creation of Adam), but, of course, violates the absolute Muslim prohibition of any anthropomorphic portrayal of God.

And the Union of Tunisian Journalists has just issued a report on Press Freedom in Tunisia. Among the findings:

According to the report, a significant number of Tunisian journalists have been subjected to both physical and verbal abuse by police, politicians, and citizens with official political affiliations. The report stated that incidents of verbal and physical abuse occur, on average, once per week.

The report described these attacks as a concerted “campaign against media.” National political figures, such as Interim Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, were accused of constantly lambasting the media, particularly following the appointment of high-ranking officials within Tunisia’s state-run media network. The report also accused the government of not responding to incidents of assault against journalists with seriousness.

Another section of the report listed journalists who were brought to court for publishing controversial material, such as the cases involving Nessma TV and Ettounisia. The report collected testimony from branches of the union located in Tunis, Sidi Bouzid, and Sfax, as well as the coastal, southwest, and interior regions of the country.

Happy World Press Freedom Day. And remember, Tunisia's one of the best, since the Revolution.

Shoot the Messenger, Part Three

Ben Ali blamed sinister foreign media, while his controlled press targeted Al Jazeera by name, at a time when Al Jazeera didn't even have a bureau in Tunis. Mubarak's police raided the Al Jazeera offices and forced then nearly underground. Now, between Tunisia and Egypt, in Libya, where major demonstrations and clashes occurred in Benghazi yesterday, state TV has been showing people denouncing Al Jazeera, blaming it for subverting the great Jamahiriyya, and, well, just because.

Shoot the messenger: the first recourse of the trembling tyrant. Having grown up in a border state during the Civil Rights revolution in the US, I'm quite familiar with the line that all the troubles are caused by "outside agitators." Al Jazeera; the Amir of Qatar's plot to spread democratic revolutions? (Now the King of Bahrain, with his island's historic dynastic rivalry, might have a case, but the Brother Leader of the Revolution in Libya?)

A wise man, in fact a Middle Easterner, once said that ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Al Jazeera doesn't always get it right, but the more scared you are of a free media, the more we suspect you have to hide.

Al-‘Arabiya Chief Resigns, Unresigns

The Gulf media has been busy today buzzing about the resignation of the chief of Al-‘Arabiya satellite television following criticism of the founder of Wahhabism and of Saudi Arabia by a guest on one of the network's shows. But he has since withdrawn his resignation after the chairman refused to accept it. Director General Abdul Rahman al-Rashed admitted that "serious errors" were made. Rashed is considered a liberal by Saudi standards, and also writes a column for Al-Sharq al-Awsat, of which he was formerly Editor. Before it was announced that his resignation had not been accepted, there were unconfirmed reports that he had also lost his newspaper column and that other resignations, in sympathy, were forthcoming at Al-‘Arabiya.

Al-‘Arabiya's own account in English is here, but it never cites what the "serious errors" were. Here's a more straightforward backgrounder.

You need to know that although Al-‘Arabiya is based in Dubai, it is owned by a Saudi media empire and funded by the Saudis; it is generally considered to have been founded to offset the influence of Al Jazeera, which the Saudis see as hostile. One of the most influential Saudi Royals, Prince Salman, the Governor of Riyadh, had openly criticized the anti-Wahhabi remarks.

Rashed has a reputation for provocative comments — he has been one of the few Arab editors to urge that the so-called "Ground Zero mosque" not be built — and the subtle jockeying between Saudi liberals and the religious establishment usually remains below the radar. This time the comments (which were not Rashed's own, so far as I can tell), crossed a red line and brought the wrath of the Kingdom down.

He may keep his job after all, but I think he's probably gotten the message. It's a reminder that the satellite channels, however free they seem most of the time, still have their red lines: Al Jazeera doesn't attack the Qatari government and Royal Family, and Al-‘Arabiya, though in Dubai, doesn't criticize the Saudi system. Or had better not.

Bloggers versus Journalists: A Debate

An interesting exchange at the Columbia Journalism Review website; to oversimplify: First Larry Pintak and Yosri Fouda argue that bloggers in the Middle East are not necessarily journalists and that defending bloggers who are arrested may undercut the ability to defend "real" journalists when they come under fire. Unsurprisingly, that view has not gone unchallenged: a response by Robert Mahoney at the site. I suggest you read both viewpoints. I see Pintak and Fouda's point (sort of) but I think I'm with Mahoney on this one, but you can make up your own minds after reading both.

Reporters Without Borders: 12 "Internet Enemies" include Seven in Greater Middle East (Also my 100th Post!)

Reporters Without Borders, the international organization that supports freedom of the press, has issued a new report on "Internet Enemies" in which it lists the 12 worst offenders against Internet freedom. Unfortunately, seven of the 12 are in the greater Middle East. Alphabetically (not in order of harshness), the seven are Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The other five offenders are Burma, China, Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam: not very good company to be in.

I'm just starting to read the report and may post more later. Meanwhile, the press release in English is here and the full Internet Enemies report is here (Acrobat).

They also append ten "countries under surveillance," meaning they're watching them closely, which include Bahrain, Eritrea, the UAE and Yemen, but also Australia and South Korea. Australia? The report also includes some useful links.

And, just to note a benchmark, this marks my 100th posting, beginning on January 27. Since I don't usually post weekends (or is that an odd observation to post on Sunday?) I think that averages three or so per work day. Thanks to those who are reading me and commenting, have linked to me, to the 43 (if Feedburner's count is reliable) RSS feed recipients as of yesterday, and do tell others if you like what you're seeing.