http://www.investigativeproject.org/4075/sympathetic-mb-coverage-triggers-al-jazeera
The Muslim Brotherhood isn't the only entity to see its popular support bottom out in Egypt. Al Jazeera, the Qatari-financed international news network, has become a pariah in Cairo, triggering cheers among other journalists when its correspondents were booted from a news conference Monday.
Qatar, which finances Al Jazeera, is a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohamed Morsi, and critics believe the network provided the Egyptian government with sympathetic coverage. According to a Russia Today report, a journalist demanded Al Jazeera's crew be kicked out of the news conference, called to discuss Monday's violence that left more than 50 Morsi supporters dead.
Other reporters expressed agreement with the demand and chanted "Out! Out!" as the Al Jazeera crew left the room.
And that disenchantment infected the network's own people, as 22 staff members quit Al Jazeera Monday in protest of its "biased coverage" of Egypt's massive public backlash against the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi. Outgoing anchor Karem Mahmoud said favorable coverage for the Muslim Brotherhood was a formal network policy. "[T]here are instructions to us to telecast certain news," he said.
"The management in Doha provokes sedition among the Egyptian people and has an agenda against Egypt and other Arab countries," Mahmoud said.
This comes as the network prepares an ambitious plan to expand its audience in the United States, having bought out former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV network, and expanding its reach to about 50 million American homes, the Washington Post reports.
The article cites Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Executive Director Steven Stalinsky, who has observed a definite pro-Morsi spin on Al Jazeera. Pro-Morsi voices dominate among network pundits. And Al Jazeera officials and correspondents have Muslim Brotherhood ties, Stalinsky notes, and Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi hosts a popular talk show despite a long record showing he is "anti-Western, anti-Semitic and anti-American."
Tunisian Islamist Leader Urges Egyptians to Defend MB Rule
by IPT Newshttp://www.investigativeproject.org/4074/tunisian-islamist-leader-urges-egyptians-to
"Moderate" is a term frequently attributed to Rashid al-Ghannouchi and his ruling Tunisian Ennahda Party. But Ghannouchi's perception of Islamic rule does not differ much from his radical counterparts.
Ennahda is regarded as the Muslim Brotherhood party's equivalent in Tunisia. In solidarity with his fellow Muslim Brotherhood supporters, Ghannouchi is calling for pro-Morsi demonstrators to remain in the streets and demand Morsi's reinstatement.
As political scientist Martin Kramer points out, Ghannouchi has a long history of radical speech and anti-Semitism. Ghannouchi's Facebook page advocated for the people to "put the train of freedom and democracy back on track."
In 2009, he called on Palestinians to "strike terror" in the hearts of Israelis with rockets. Furthermore, in June 2001, he blessed the mothers of Palestinian suicide bombers on an al-Jazeera program:
"I would like to send my blessings to the mothers of those youth, those men who succeeded in creating a new balance of power…I bless the mothers who planted in the blessed land of Palestine the amazing seeds of these youths, who taught the international system and the Israel [sic] arrogance, supported by the US, an important lesson. The Palestinian woman, mother of the Shahids (martyrs), is a martyr herself, and she has created a new model of woman."
Ghannouchi is previously called for the destruction of Israel, which he predicts could "disappear" by 2027.
Millions of Egyptians took to the streets to protest Mohamed Morsi's government for placing theocratic aims above the immediate socio-economic needs of the people. More people signed petitions calling for Morsi's removal than voted for him a year earlier.
But Ghannouchi similarly is trying to protect long term political power for Islamists above the clearly articulated will of the masses. That is how Islamists defend democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment