The Washington Times reports: "Wonder what some in the Middle East are saying about America? We've learned that a special team from the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) will begin monitoring 18 to 20 Arabic TV stations every day, translating in real time and sending clips almost instantaneously to Western news channels. For instance, if CNN wants to report on an anti-American series aired on Iranian television, the network can obtain translated clips easily, something previously unheard of."
Great. Just what we need - MEMRI extending its noxious project of selectively translating the Arab media to put the worst possible spin on Arab discourse. The story's two examples, as explained by MEMRI's Elliot Zweig, are telling: "We've informally started the project and found a bunch of interesting clips....Among them is an interview on Al Arabiya with a Lebanese member of parliament, Walid Jumblatt, who accuses U.S. intelligence of being behind 9/11 and controlling Osama bin Laden.... Another great clip we've got is from Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, of an 8-year-old girl yelling for Muslims to open the gates of jihad."
No doubt these are "interesting clips." But are they representative of wider Arab political discourse? How hard did Mr Zweig have to look for these "interesting clips"? How many straightforward news reports did he have to skip over? How many talk shows denouncing the absence of democracy in the region and the corruption of Arab dictators? How many unedited al Jazeera broadcasts of speeches by American officials?
Do you think MEMRI's invaluable translation service will provide clips from any of these recent al Jazeera talk shows: "Calls for Change in the Arab World" (Open Dialogue, February 24); "Blind (Senseless) Violence in Iraq" (Open Dialogue, March 6, 2004); "Freedom of the Press in 2004" (More than One Opinion, January 7); and so on and on. Don't get me wrong - MEMRI is going to find a lot of angry rhetoric out there, because there really is a lot of anger our there. Arabs and Muslims are furious with America and with the Bush administration, for reasons that I've discussed at great length here. But that's only half the story. It's the only half MEMRI wants you to see.
Let's be blunt: MEMRI is exactly what the American government accuses al Jazeera of being (but which it isn't): a biased, partisan platform for incitement that intentionally and maliciously distorts reality to make its enemies look bad. That's all.
By the way, did you know that Arab viewers had to turn to al Jazeera to watch President Bush's live press conference the other day? Al Hurra didn't cover it. Al Jazeera did.
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