NationStates Jolt Archive

In the most recent terrorism convictions handed out by the Spanish courts an Al Jazeera reporter was convicted of collaborating with the terrorist agency, Al Quaeda. We now know that there was at least one terrorist sympathizer in Al Jazeera, and that makes me beleive that there might be more. Assuming that reporters often promote their own bias in their stories, whether consciously or unconsciously, could it be that Al Jazeera is acting as a mouthpiece and propaganda tool for terrorists?

Heres a snippet about the Al Jazeera terrorist.
One high-profile defendant, a journalist from the Arabic TV network al-Jazeera, Tayssir Alouni, who interviewed Bin Laden in Afghanistan after the attacks, was jailed for seven years. He was convicted of collaborating with a terrorist organisation and sympathising with al-Qaeda.

Here's the news story it was taken from.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.212169559&par=0

Does the Pope wear a funny hat?

Do bears crap in the Kremlin?

Does Fox sympathize with Bush?

Was money stolen from children to start Air America, and did Al Franken sign a document saying he knew all about it?

In the most recent terrorism convictions handed out by the Spanish courts an Al Jazeera reporter was convicted of collaborating with the terrorist agency, Al Quaeda. We now know that there was at least one terrorist sympathizer in Al Jazeera, and that makes me beleive that there might be more. Assuming that reporters often promote their own bias in their stories, whether consciously or unconsciously, could it be that Al Jazeera is acting as a mouthpiece and propaganda tool for terrorists?

Heres a snippet about the Al Jazeera terrorist.
One high-profile defendant, a journalist from the Arabic TV network al-Jazeera, Tayssir Alouni, who interviewed Bin Laden in Afghanistan after the attacks, was jailed for seven years. He was convicted of collaborating with a terrorist organisation and sympathising with al-Qaeda.

Here's the news story it was taken from.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.212169559&par=0

We've known this for a few years now. I say we get on Qatar (or is it Bahrain that owns Al Jazera) and have it shut down or revamped. I don't mind if they have a TV news station but at least try and not be a mouth piece for terrorism.

Al Jazera is no different in it's reporting in the Middle East than Fox news is in America. Or I suppose people think that an Arab news station should not see things from an Arab perspective? And perhaps Fox should not see things from an American perspective? Get real, despite what Americans believe, the world does not revolve around American beliefs. :rolleyes:

Al Jazera is no different in it's reporting in the Middle East than Fox news is in America. Or I suppose people think that an Arab news station should not see things from an Arab perspective? And perhaps Fox should not see things from an American perspective? Get real, despite what Americans believe, the world does not revolve around American beliefs. :rolleyes:

Just like the world does not revolve around Canada either! Nor does it revolve around Europe despite what some europeans on here say nor does it revolve around Asia, Australia, or any other place on this planet.

We've known this for a few years now. I say we get on Qatar (or is it Bahrain that owns Al Jazera) and have it shut down or revamped. I don't mind if they have a TV news station but at least try and not be a mouth piece for terrorism.

And what would you do to replace it with hmmm? FOX tv perhaps?

Al Jazera is no different in it's reporting in the Middle East than Fox news is in America. Or I suppose people think that an Arab news station should not see things from an Arab perspective? And perhaps Fox should not see things from an American perspective? Get real, despite what Americans believe, the world does not revolve around American beliefs. :rolleyes:



ahhhh, NO.

Al Jazera is waaaaaay, doublePlus more honest than Faux news could ever be.

Faux News: doublePlus Fascist

Al Jazera is no different in it's reporting in the Middle East than Fox news is in America. Or I suppose people think that an Arab news station should not see things from an Arab perspective? And perhaps Fox should not see things from an American perspective? Get real, despite what Americans believe, the world does not revolve around American beliefs. :rolleyes:

The best part of al-jazeera is watching them get their pants pulled down.

They believed, and reported, everything the Iraqi Information Minister was saying about how American troops were being repelled during the initial invasion of Iraq. They were the last news source to admit that Iraq had fallen. The very last.

The shock in the Arab world as al-Jazeera admitted it was palpable on the street. Not only had Saddam let them down, and the US administered yet another stinging humiliation on an Arab nation, but their own news mouthpiece was outed as a fraud.

Not that they stopped listening to it...

ahhhh, NO.

Al Jazera is waaaaaay, doublePlus more honest than Faux news could ever be.

Faux News: doublePlus Fascist

Actually having seen both stations I can't really argue with that. Americans don't like the truth.. If America knew the truth the whole freaking system would collapse.

Just like the world does not revolve around Canada either! Nor does it revolve around Europe despite what some europeans on here say nor does it revolve around Asia, Australia, or any other place on this planet.

Right, so they have their right to their own viewpoints. Who are you to go and tell them that they have no right to their own viewpoints?

Actually having seen both stations I can't really argue with that. Americans don't like the truth.. If America knew the truth the whole freaking system would collapse.


I guess that's why the New York Times, with its fabricated stories and Jayson Blairs isn't doing so well.

I guess that's why the New York Times, with its fabricated stories and Jayson Blairs isn't doing so well.

Actually I can't really take credit for that last statement, it was in fact an American named George Carlin who said it. I'm sure you've heard of him. He's usually right on the money.

Al Jazera is no different in it's reporting in the Middle East than Fox news is in America. Or I suppose people think that an Arab news station should not see things from an Arab perspective? And perhaps Fox should not see things from an American perspective? Get real, despite what Americans believe, the world does not revolve around American beliefs. :rolleyes:
I don't watch Fox news channel, and I do listen to BBC and other news sources. I've never accused Al Jazeera of doing anything wrong when they spin news from an Arab perspective, but spinning it from an Al Quaeda perspective is a different story. Unless of course you think all Arabs are terrorists, then you wouldn't see it that way.

Actually having seen both stations I can't really argue with that. Americans don't like the truth.. If America knew the truth the whole freaking system would collapse.



I've a question about "showing things on the news".
Does anybody know if after WW2 US citizens saw pictures and film
of the nazi concentration camps and mass graves?

If so or not, why are today's news services so lame and come up
with some sleazy excuse like "american's sensibilities are too sensitive
to seeing such stuff on tv." Give me a break!!!

I think the station's sensibilities are just too sensitive to extreme right
wing criticism with some Stalinistic phrases as "you're being anti-american,
(for showing the dead)" Total bull. No, there's no censorship in the US.
and self-sensorship certainly isn't censorship. nooooooooo

That's like saying the Roman Catholic Church sympathizes with terrorists because Timothy McVeigh was a Roman Catholic. "Guilt by association" is a logical fallacy, nothing better.

Actually I can't really take credit for that last statement, it was in fact an American named George Carlin who said it. I'm sure you've heard of him. He's usually right on the money.

News organizations in the US that get caught in complete fabrications seem to have real trouble, unless they straighten up and fly right.

The New York Times is evidently refusing to own up to most of its fabrications, with the exception of Blair. So, declining advertistment sales and declining subscription rates have forced them to make cuts in their core staff. It won't be long before they are on the ash heap of journalistic history.

USA Today, also reeling from major fabrications, has policed itself very strenuously. To its credit.

I personally don't believe the statement that you posted, because it smacks of a smugness that implies that you know the absolute truth yourself - and you most certainly do not.

I don't watch Fox news channel, and I do listen to BBC and other news sources. I've never accused Al Jazeera of doing anything wrong when they spin news from an Arab perspective, but spinning it from an Al Quaeda perspective is a different story. Unless of course you think all Arabs are terrorists, then you wouldn't see it that way.

To be honest with you DCD, I usually don't have any use for anyone who sees only one side of any coin. Or who blindly follows anything because someone tells them they should, but hey, that's just me.

To be honest with you DCD, I usually don't have any use for anyone who sees only one side of any coin. Or who blindly follows anything because someone tells them they should, but hey, that's just me.
Sometimes one side is just plain wrong. I beleive Al Quaeda is just plain wrong. Their opinions mean nothing to me, and anyone who supports them loses all credibility. I have no problem with Al Jazeera spinning the news from an Arab perspective, but I do have a problem with them being a mouthpiece for an organization that wants to kill my people and who's members I believe should be exterminated like vermin.

Sometimes one side is just plain wrong. I beleive Al Quaeda is just plain wrong. Their opinions mean nothing to me, and anyone who supports them loses all credibility. I have no problem with Al Jazeera spinning the news from an Arab perspective, but I do have a problem with them being a mouthpiece for an organization that wants to kill my people and who's members I believe should be exterminated like vermin.

All news agency spin their news. It's just the way it works. I suspect to some degree it's always been that way. I suppose it would be some what boring if they just in point form wrote facts with no comments, although other then doing it that way, it's all spin, with the exception of the pure facts and no one does that anymore.

I think Al Qaeda has some valid gripes with the USA, I just don't approve of how they have went about showing it. I mean the US have killed more innocent Iraqi's in 2 1/2 years than Al Qaeda have ever killed period. But I know, it's collateral damage. But they knew there would be innocents killed, but they figure the benefit outweighs the loss of innocent life. I don't see much of a difference, other than Al Qaeda goes out of their way to kill innocents and Americans just don't care if innocents get killed in the crossfire. Same result just different ideology I suppose.

Like I said, there are two sides to every coin, that I firmly believe. I mean lets say you were a 10 year old child right now in Iraq and both of your parents have been killed by Americans as "collateral damage" you would grow up to hate America too. It's just hate by both sides. It's sad, but it is the way the world works.

No different than religion, if you live in the west, chances are you will grow up to believe in a Christian god. Had you been born in Syria, there is a real good chance you'd be a Muslim. If you want to blame anything, blame extremists on both sides of the fence and geography.

Sometimes one side is just plain wrong. I beleive Al Quaeda is just plain wrong. Their opinions mean nothing to me, and anyone who supports them loses all credibility. I have no problem with Al Jazeera spinning the news from an Arab perspective, but I do have a problem with them being a mouthpiece for an organization that wants to kill my people and who's members I believe should be exterminated like vermin.

Nothing to do with the above quote (why did i hit the quote button... why oh why...)

Anywho, does it not seem a leetle odd to anyone that its onlt Al-Jazeera who have a habit of getting their buildings and camera crews in the way of US military tanks and airstrikes....?

Conspiracy... or 'shut the hell up'...? ;)

Actually having seen both stations I can't really argue with that. Americans don't like the truth.. If America knew the truth the whole freaking system would collapse.

Actualy, I prefer the truth. Al Jazeera hasn't broadcasted much of it lately.

News organizations in the US that get caught in complete fabrications seem to have real trouble, unless they straighten up and fly right.

The New York Times is evidently refusing to own up to most of its fabrications, with the exception of Blair. So, declining advertistment sales and declining subscription rates have forced them to make cuts in their core staff. It won't be long before they are on the ash heap of journalistic history.

USA Today, also reeling from major fabrications, has policed itself very strenuously. To its credit.

I personally don't believe the statement that you posted, because it smacks of a smugness that implies that you know the absolute truth yourself - and you most certainly do not.

Well said Sierra BTHP! You are right on the money :)

Actualy, I prefer the truth. Al Jazeera hasn't broadcasted much of it lately.
do you get aljazeera on your tv? do they broadcast in english?

do you get aljazeera on your tv? do they broadcast in english?

I know the broadcast in English but from what I'm seeing, they really aren't as clean cut as they try to make themselves out to believe. They way that they support Al Qaeda is enough to make me tune them out.

Of course, I also don't like the fact that America TV stations broadcast some of their videos either and I tune them out as well.

Actualy, I prefer the truth. Al Jazeera hasn't broadcasted much of it lately.

It's the same truth that American news broadcasts, just different perspectives.. and agreed Al Jazeera doesn't censor as much as the Americans do, they show the dead bodies.

I don't have any opportunity to see Al Jazeera, myself. What exactly do they do to support Al Qaeda?

I don't have any opportunity to see Al Jazeera, myself. What exactly do they do to support Al Qaeda?

To my knowledge, they don't. They simply report every side of a story, and allow every side to express itself. That includes presenting the American viewpoint and interviewing its proponents, as well as doing the same for al Qaida. Al Jazeera is banned in several Arab countries for being "pro-Western" and critical of Arab governments.

It's the same truth that American news broadcasts, just different perspectives.. and agreed Al Jazeera doesn't censor as much as the Americans do, they show the dead bodies.

If I wanna see dead bodies, I'd turn on the local news. Do they show Israeli bodies when a homicide bomber blows himself up?

You think al-Jazeera is bad?

Please bear in mind that most of the Arab governments want it shut down.

Why? Because its journalists keep reporting on corrupt internal politics they would rather not have investigated, and have a habit of mentioning that the Arab world is ruled by unrepresentative dictatorships.

It is basically the only independent news outfit in the Arab world, though al-Arabiya and BBC World Service also have good coverage there. Apart from them, the Arab governments are authoritarian dictatorships in substantial control of state media. Whether you are Syrian (enemy to America) or Saudi (friend to America), if your story is not in line with your government's expectations, you can expect serious trouble. At the extreme end, arrest, torture, imprisonment.

Outfits such as al-Jazeera need all the support they can get, because they are that rare thing, an example of free thought in the Arab world. And if you don't like the free thoughts that people have, tough. It's a free press.

And if one employee turns out to be a terrorist...meh. You know how many media interns there are in the US every year? You know how many of them may have extremist personal politics? Who cares? As long as they're not using airtime to actually say "Join al-Qaeda!" or "Join the KKK!" it's a personal matter.

And let's not forget that Conrad Black and chums are guilty of hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud. How about we close a dozen newspapers, for guilt by association? We could start with the Jerusalem Post. :rolleyes:

Well said TC!

Everyonbe should also keep in mind that in an organisation that is a lot more cohesive than the Al-Jazeera News Corporation, when individuals do bad things it merely means that they are "bad apples".

So be careful when you say that AJ supports terrorism. It obviously doesn't, it merely reports on it.

I guess many of you infer that if they get tapes from various terrorist leaders, they have to have something to do with them. I don't think so - they may have reporters or researchers on the ground, as opposed to US media (which only reports on the middle east being "embedded"...or is gleichgeschaltet a better word?).
If you were a reporter for AJ, and you had this tape in front of you; Is it not your duty to show it and inform people about it? Does it not give you ratings and thus $$$?

Al-Jazeera is a mouthpiece for a reasonably educated class of Arabs who want to know what is going on around them, not what is going on in Britain or in the US. They have, as all people, their own ideas about what the world is like, and they prefer people with a similar mindset to give them the news.
Afterall, do hardcore Republicans like being constantly enraged by "liberal CNN propaganda"? Or do I like getting my bloodpressure up by watching Fox?

And finally, many Arabs don't share the American reaction to all of this - yes, they know that killing innocent people is bad, but they have experienced it too. For many of them, terrorism has been a reality for 50 or more years, not the kind of world-changing threat the US perceives it as.
Maybe these people would like to know why Al-Qaeda does this (in much of the US this seems to be a bit of a non-issue). Some might even agree with some of the goals AQ has mentioned so far (retreat of US from the Middle East etc), even though they may condemn the methods.

All that doesn't equate to supporting terrorism at all.

That anyone would think we should shut down a free station like this, that really does try to look at both sides of the issue (even though that maybe a tabu in the Western World these days) seems to be very unfair indeed.
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One high-profile defendant, a journalist from the Arabic TV network al-Jazeera, Tayssir Alouni, who interviewed Bin Laden in Afghanistan after the attacks, was jailed for seven years. He was convicted of collaborating with a terrorist organisation and sympathising with al-Qaeda.
It should also be said that Alouni has become something of a hero for many disaffected newswatchers because he had firm convictions and would not shirk away from saying things that we might find unacceptable. Think of him as a Bill O'Reilly, or an Ann Coulter from the other side.
Unfortuately I couldn't find any more detailed reports on what the actual offences and evidence was, but might I even suggest that this is modern "anti-terror legislation" in action?

And here a quote from the website http://www.radioislam.org/thetruth/iraq2.htm
Al-Jazeera has had reporters inside Mosul, Baghdad, Basra and Nasiriya, one of them the irrepressible Tasir Alouni, fluent veteran of the Afghanistan war, and they have presented a much more detailed, more realistic account of what has befallen Baghdad and Basra, as well as showing the resistance and anger of the Iraqi population, dismissed by Western propaganda as a sullen bunch waiting to throw flowers at Clint Eastwood lookalikes.