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Babylon & Beyond

Observations from Iraq, Iran,
Israel, the Arab world and beyond

Category: Media

WEST BANK: Palestinian Authority versus Al Jazeera: Damage control seems to be working

January 26, 2011 | 12:24 pm

The Palestinian Authority has mobilized its forces, hidden and otherwise, to head off serious fallout from the publication of secret negotiation documents leaked to Qatar's Al Jazeera. The satellite TV station has been broadcasting rigorous coverage and analysis of the leaked documents.

The intensity of the coverage by the widely watched Al Jazeera and claims that the documents show the Palestinian Authority made serious concessions to Israel -- on issues including Jerusalem and refugees --  and had collaborated with Israel to get rid of Palestinian fighters even by killing them have seriously alarmed Palestinian officials as high up as the president.

The Palestinian Authority was caught off-guard by the Al Jazeera revelations but quickly rebounded from the initial shock and went on the offensive, accusing Al Jazeera -- as well as the emir of Qatar -- of plotting to undermine the Palestinian struggle for independence.

For the Arab world, working against the Palestinian struggle is taboo, and targeting the movement's leaders at what is considered a critical time in the fight for independence is also taboo.

The Palestinian public in general is divided over what Al Jazeera has revealed. Although the majority of Palestinians respect the TV station and its coverage of their cause, many say it has exaggerated its coverage of the documents, known as the Palestine Papers.

Discussions back and forth on the social networks show Palestinians divided between supporters of Al Jazeera and supporters of the Palestinian Authority.

“This is not the time to have internal fighting,” said Ahmad Saleem, a university student majoring in business who came to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ headquarters in Ramallah on Tuesday, along with thousands of other people, to show support for Abbas following the Al Jazeera reports.

“Our leadership made mistakes," he said, "but we can see it did not compromise on anything; otherwise, why isn’t there an agreement signed with Israel yet?”

Saleem believes Al Jazeera did not report on the documents in an objective way.

He said he did not see of himself as a strong supporter of Abbas but that Al Jazeera had made it a personal issue with Abbas and Palestinians in general. Therefore, he said, he decided to join the thousands who had come to show support for the Palestinian leader.

-- Maher Abukhater in Ramallah, West Bank


LEBANON: Journalists bear brunt of Hariri's 'day of rage'

January 26, 2011 |  7:41 am

Lebanon-jazeera

Press advocacy groups have joined politicians and others in condemning Wednesday's attacks on journalists after a national "day of rage" organized by former prime minister and Washington ally Saad Hariri spiraled out of control.

The largest riots took place in the northern city of Tripoli, where an angry mob set fire to a satellite truck belonging to the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera. The news crew, which was reporting from the roof of a nearby office, took refuge in the building along with reporters from the local Lebanese station New TV until they were evacuated by the Lebanese army, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and others.

By all accounts, Hariri's supporters made life a nightmare for journalists trying to cover one of the biggest international news stories so far this year. 

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ARAB WORLD: Protests in Algeria and Yemen draw inspiration from Tunisia uprising

January 23, 2011 |  1:12 pm

Activists in Yemen, Jordan, Algeria and even Albania  took to the streets this weekend demanding democratic reforms in their countries.  

Some expressed explicit support for the Tunisian people, calling for similar uprisings in their own countries. Others were more reserved. Jordanians directed their anger at the prime minister rather than trying to oust the royal family.

The popular demonstrations drew comparisons to the Tunisian protest movement that has captivated the world. But opinions remain divided on whether these events constitute a real threat to the ruling powers in those countries.

"The regime will always look strong until the day it collapses," Nadim Shehadi, from the London-based think tank Chatham House, told Babylon & Beyond. "It cannot look weak, because the minute it looks weak it is dead already."

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LIBYA: Political power struggle amid rumors of Kadafi family feud

January 20, 2011 | 11:38 am

_49841247_libya Recent developments in Libya suggest the political power struggle between moderates and the country's conservative old guard is back in full swing -- a spat some speculators trace to a rift in the inner circle of leader Moammar Kadafi's family. 

In one of the first signs incidating that something might be underway on the political front in the secluded North African republic was when the board of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Organization (GICDO) demoted the reform-minded Saif al Islam Kadafi, son of the leader -- to an honorary position.

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YEMEN: Journalists, advocacy groups denounce conviction of Al Qaeda 'media advisor'

January 19, 2011 |  9:37 am

Sha'ee

A journalist accused of acting as a media advisor to Al Qaeda in Yemen was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday, but colleagues and advocacy groups are calling foul, accusing the government of seeking to suppress press freedoms.

Abdul Elah Haidar Sha'ee, 34, is well known for his coverage of militant Islamist groups, particularly Al Qaeda, scoring exclusive interviews with several high-ranking figures in the movement, including the presumed leader of the local branch of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Naser Abdel-Karim Wahishi, and the American-born cleric Anwar Awlaki.

"We will work in a number of ways to expose this ruling, and we call on all political parties, civil society and human rights organizations to condemn it and stand behind Al Sha'ee and escalate the demonstrations for his release" Jamal Anaam, head of the freedoms committee of the Yemeni journalists syndicate, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday (Arabic link).

Sha'ee was arrested in August along with his colleague, 28-year-old Abdul Karim Shami, who received a sentence of two years.

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IRAN: Royal suicide reminds many of Pahlavi era and errors

January 5, 2011 |  9:03 am

Iran-pahlavi-apSince their exile following the 1978-79 Islamic Revolution and the death of their patriarch that same year, the family of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi has captured the public's imagination as only fallen royalty can.

On Wednesday, Iranians mourned the loss of another member of the royal family, Alireza Pahlavi, the youngest son of the former monarch.

The 44-year-old former prince apparently killed himself Tuesday night after a long bout with depression.

Exiles who either supported the shah or at least thought fondly of the freewheeling period before the revolution have been the most vocal in their mourning. But even some inside Iran have expressed sympathy for the family, despite the shah's brutal legacy of cracking down on his political opponents.

It was the former ruling family's second loss in recent years. Alireza's sister, Leila, died of a drug overdose in a London hotel room a decade ago.

"We have experienced the past 32 years and realized that former regime was much better than this Islamic regime," said 56-year-old Ali, who lives in Tehran. "I also feel sympathy for [former Empress Farah Pahlavi] as a mother who has lost her two children. I lost the future of my country and she lost her children, country and dynasty."

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LEBANON: Psychic Michel Hayek sees 'war for peace' in 2011

January 3, 2011 |  7:17 am

Picture 11 Good news for a tense region, if you believe in psychic predictions, that is.

Michel Hayek, the Arab world's most celebrated clairvoyant, foresees a Middle Eastern "war for peace" in 2011, assuring the audience that tuned in for his annual televised New Year's Eve predictions that calm will prevail despite threats of war.

"The region is moving slowly toward peace, despite indications of threats and war," the Lebanese soothsayer predicted (Arabic link). "Lebanon, specifically, will be negotiating" on its own behalf, he said, "rather than being negotiated over."

Although Hayek did not speak at length about the United States or U.S. policy in the region as he has in the past, he did predict that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would suffer an on-camera breakdown.

One of his more tragic predictions already seems to have come true.

On Jan. 1, just hours after Hayek predicted a "darkness" would fall over some leaders of the Coptic church in Egypt, at least 21 Coptic worshippers were killed and dozens more injured in a bomb attack on a church in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.

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IRAN: Woman originally sentenced to death by stoning in adultery-murder case plays role in bizarre media play

January 2, 2011 |  8:59 am

Iran-ashtiani

The grim theater of the Sakineh Ashtiani case gets stranger by the day as rumors of a commuted sentence coincided with a press conference at which Ashtiani lashed out at the Western press and her own lawyers for attempting to "politicize" her case.

Ashtiani's position is precarious. Not only does she face death by hanging for adultery and conspiracy to commit murder, but her son is also now in the hands of the judiciary after he was arrested for giving an interview to two unaccredited German journalists.

Click-here-for-an-interactive-timeline-on-Sakineh-Mohammedi-Ashtiani "I have come in front of the cameras at my own will to talk to the world," Ashtiani reportedly said during Saturday's press conference, which was organized by Iranian judiciary officials in Tabriz, where Ashtiani is being held.

"I am willing to talk because many people exploited (the case) and said I have been tortured, which is a lie," she added. "Leave my case alone. Why do you disgrace me?"

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BAHRAIN: Government hits wall in terrorism case against dissidents

December 23, 2010 |  9:25 am

Protest bahrainA group of political dissidents charged with plotting against the government of Bahrain are stonewalling the prosecution by refusing to cooperate with state-appointed lawyers after their own legal team withdrew in protest over the authorities' refusal to investigate torture claims.

On Thursday, the trial for 25 dissidents accused of terrorism was adjourned until Jan. 6 after the state-appointed lawyers told the court they could not do their job without their clients' cooperation, according to organizations following the case. Local media has been barred from covering the trial.

The trial has become the most visible symbol of the Sunni monarchy's crackdown against the largely Shiite opposition, which has sparked riots and led to the arrest of hundreds of people since it was launched in the months leading up to the October parliamentary elections.

Bahrain, a close ally of the United States and host to the Navy's Fifth Fleet, has come under heavy criticism from local and international human rights organizations, which have accused authorities of torturing the defendants on the pretext of trumped-up charges.

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LEBANON: Nation braces for Hezbollah reaction to indictments

December 21, 2010 | 10:59 am

Lebanon-hariri-afp-getty

Lebanon is bristling with nervous tension as it awaits the announcement that could spark a new round of civil strife or even another war with Israel, but disaster may not be as imminent as many fear.

It has been nearly two weeks since a prosecutor's office told reporters in the Hague, Netherlands, that the draft indictment in the investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri would be handed over to the pretrial judge, Daniel Franson, "very very soon." Hezbollah members are expected to be accused of complicity in that bombing, which killed 21 others as well.

The nation has braced for a confrontation between the government and the Shiite militia, which has dismissed the court as a politically charged sham and vowed to fight the charges and prevent any of its members from being taken into custody.

But experts estimate it will take another six to 10 weeks for the judge to review the merits of the case, and even if he confirms the indictment, he can rule to keep its contents confidential. That means the names of suspects -- unless somebody inside the court leaks the names to the media -- probably won't come out before mid-February, if they are made public at all.

 "At the moment that the prosecutor submits the indictments to the pretrial judge, there will be a substantive shift in the focus of the work of the [special tribunal for Lebanon], with the judicial taking the lead," Crispin Thorold, chief public affairs officer for the tribunal, told Babylon & Beyond.

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WEST BANK: Poll finds Palestinians afraid to criticize authority

December 20, 2010 | 11:41 am

A Palestinian public opinion poll published Monday in the West Bank city of Ramallah found out that only a quarter of the Palestinians in the West Bank believe they can criticize the Palestinian Authority. In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the record was even worse as less than a fifth of the Palestinians there believed it is possible to criticize Hamas rule of the coastal enclave.

The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), said the percentage of Palestinians who believe it is possible to criticize their authority has dropped over the years, from more than half in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in September 2007 to the current figures.

What apparently has prompted this gradual, yet sharp decline is the general feeling of the Palestinian public, whether in the West Bank, ruled by the liberal and Western-backed Palestinian Authority, or in the Gaza Strip, ruled by the fundamentalist and traditional Hamas, of becoming increasingly ruled by a police state.

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DUBAI: Obese journalist takes his battle of the bulge public in health campaign

December 20, 2010 |  9:26 am

Picture 5 Mohammed Khan, a severely overweight reporter at the Dubai-based English daily Gulf News, avoided getting rides in other people's cars because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to wrap the seat belt around his waist.

He didn't buy a scale, figuring it would break if he tried to step on it.

Khan, in his late 20s, became a recluse, spending long period of times alone at his apartment playing computer games and binge eating.

He had, in his own words, hit "rock bottom."

But after cholesterol problems that contributed to having his gall bladder removed, a diagnosis of diabetes and battling depression, the nearly 370-pound journalist decided it was time to take control of his life and get into shape, both for his own good and to spur public awareness about an apparent growing problem in his country.

Khan has pledged to lose 110 pounds in a publicized drive to fight obesity as part of Gulf News' recently launched campaign called "Cut the Fat," which aims to spread awareness about obesity prevention and healthful living in the United Arab Emirates.

"Many readers have written in sharing their personal stories; others have decided to lose weight and get healthy," Gulf News editor Abdul Hamid Ahmad told Babylon & Beyond about the campaign, which began in late November.

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