Arabian censorship

Al-Jazeera has been banned in Jordan

Qatar television channel Al-Jazeera again displeased a government. It is not the American government, which has been accusing Arab journalists of their excessive attention towards Bin Laden. This time it is the Jordan government, which announced that Al-Jazeera channel would be shut down in Amman.

The reason of such a harsh decision was the Al-Jazeera report, in which political adversaries of Jordan’s current regime spoke out against it. They harshly criticized the foreign policy of the country, having accused the Jordan’s government of betraying the national Arab interests and of their conspiracy with the West. They even insulted the perished king Hussein, having called him an American spy.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and information of the kingdom Mohammed Advan claimed that the Qatar channel went too far, and insulted the national leaders of Jordan. Al-Jazeera’s office in Jordan was closed soon after that statement.

One might dwell on the idea that the decision of the Jordan’s government contradicted to the democratic spirit. But Al-Jazeera can be provocative sometimes too. It’s best subject to talk about is Bin Laden’s role in the modern world. Doctor Mohammed al-Hasif said on the channel: “Millions of people look at Sheikh Bin Laden like at their savior. If Che Guevara is a role model for those, who struggles for freedom in the whole world, then Osama bin Laden is the same symbol for Muslims. A lot of Koreans and Philippians named their sons in his honor. Bin Laden is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, who disregarded his huge wealth for the sake of his principles.”

A principle is a good thing, but why killing innocent people for that? Anyway, the Al-Jazeera administration insists on the fact that the company illustrates various points of view. As we can see, this point of view is not shared by everyone. Remember CNN’s reports about the Mideast conflict and how the Israeli government was unhappy about it?

However, there is a positive aspect for Al-Jazeera in this story, and it is a very relevant one: banning the activity in a country is the best kind of advertising.

Vasily Bubnov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov