It's so cute that so many people are hyperventilating over the fact that Wafa Sultan, a secular Muslim based in America, appeared on al-Jazeera and gave a dressing down to an Islamist. On al-Jazeera, of all places!
Just the other day, I had exactly the same kind of experience. I was watching TV, and I couldn't believe my eyes, and I said "wow, did you just see Lebron James dunk? A dunk! In the NBA! Can you believe it? No, really - here's a video: he dunked!! Maybe this will totally change the NBA's culture, now that they've finally seen someone dunk!"
In other words, this sort of thing is exactly what al-Jazeera has been doing for the last decade. Indeed, this wasn't even Wafa Sultan's first appearance - she was on an al-Jazeera show just last July.
The best line yet was "I'll bet al-Jazeera regrets booking that woman." Um, no. Controversy? Check. Contention? Check. High ratings? Check. I think Faisal al-Qassem is pretty happy about it, since those are his favorite kinds of shows.
As it happens, I'm happy that people who don't ordinarily know much about the actual content of al-Jazeera are paying so much attention to the show. Maybe the next step will be to realize that her appearance wasn't particularly extraordinary, and to maybe rethink their preconceptions about al-Jazeera.
UPDATE: A couple of hours ago, I wrote "I think Faisal al-Qassem is pretty happy about it, since those are his favorite kinds of shows." Just now, email from Faisal al-Qassem: "The program really created a hell of a hullabaloo in the Arab world and I am very happy with it as you rightly guessed." With any luck, lengthier comments to follow.
As you say, they have people like Wafa Sultan on for the ratings.
I am a close watcher of AJ and I am continually let down and downright angered by the way they cover the news. Case in point: the firecracker incident in the Church in Nazareth. Just 10 minutes ago (21h15 Paris time Sunday) they report that 3 "mutatarifeen yahud" 3 Jewish extremists were being investigated in the attack. What a blatant lie! It's a deranged Jew and his Christian wife and daughter. What irresponsible, incendiary journalism in these dangerous and tense times.
I'm sorry but I can't take AJ seriously. This borders on criminal.
I don't have my own blog (yet) but this should be reported on. For every Wafa Sultan on AJ there are 10 belonging to the other extreme getting the airtime(Al Qaida, that rabid anti-zionist al Bari Atwan and I can go on and on).
Truly sickening!
Posted by: al | March 05, 2006 at 03:35 PM
Airtime to different opinions is a good thing. Just a small point, you refer to Wafa Sultan as a secular Muslim. I read excerpts of the broadcast through MEMRI. She does bring some legitimate criticisms of self-proclaimed Islamic groups, but her criticism is directed at Islam as a whole. She has a right to speak her opinions, but as understood by her statements, she is not a 'Muslim', secular or otherwise. An Arabic surname and brown skin is not the same as being Muslim. May be she could be described as a secular Arab-American?
Posted by: qawukzi | March 06, 2006 at 08:59 PM
"An Arabic surname and brown skin is not the same as being Muslim."
But she used to be a Muslim. As I understand it in most of Islam once a Muslim always a Muslim and if you try to say you aren't they kill you.
Posted by: argo | March 15, 2006 at 03:22 PM
dear AA,
aqoul has posted a complete english translation of the "opposite direction" transcript.
"Wafa Sultan: Bigger, Longer, Uncut - The Full Sultan Jazeera Transcript"
http://www.aqoul.com/archives/2006/03/aljazeera_trans.php#more
cheers,
-raf*
www.aqoul.com
Posted by: raf* | March 24, 2006 at 04:52 PM
ok
Posted by: DG | March 25, 2006 at 04:56 AM