Dum Spiro, Spero

To everyone who has been critical of Al Jazeera English’s coverage of the chaos in Bahrain…I give you the long awaited documentary on the Bahraini people’s struggle for equality and freedom-

” Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark”

Bahrain, we have not forgotten you…Al Jazeera English remains a “Voice for the Voiceless”…they only apologize that it has taken us longer than they would have liked.

Freedom lives on in our hearts so long as we see injustice and feel our spirit rise in protest.

Robert Fisk, Why no outcry over these torturing tyrants? (It’s best if you read this entire, short, article.)

On this tiny island, a Sunni monarchy, the al-Khalifas, rule a majority Shia population and have responded to democratic protests with death sentences, mass arrests, the imprisonment of doctors for letting patients die after protests and an “invitation” to Saudi forces to enter the country. They have also destroyed dozens of Shia mosques with all the thoroughness of a 9/11 pilot. But then, let’s remember that most of the 9/11 killers were indeed Saudis.

And what do we get for it? Silence. Silence in the US media, largely silence in the European press, silence from our own beloved CamerClegg and of course from the White House. And – shame of shame – silence from the Arabs who know where their bread is buttered. That means, of course, also silence from al-Jazeera. I often appear on their otherwise excellent Arabic and English editions, but their failure to mention Bahrain is shameful, a dollop of shit in the dignity that they have brought to reporting in the Middle East. The Emir of Qatar – I know him and like him very much – does not need to belittle his television empire in this way.

(via insaniyat)

I’m sorry to butt in (since I know this is a quote from Mr.Fisk not you directly) but I’ve got to address this just because I think I have valuable information that can be added to this topic that most others don’t. First off Mr.Fisk has good intentions, which are to highlight the plight of the people of Bahrain, but his opinion here is premature and just not well backed.

Has Libya gotten move coverage than Bahrain? Yes. 

Did Japan get more coverage? Yes.

But if you can give me one major media organization to the level of Al-Jazeera that has done MORE coverage of Bahrain then I will give you a free dinner. People are misconstruing this and believing that somehow because Bahrain isn’t being covered “enough” (which is strange because “enough” is a matter of opinion) that means that it is directly due to some sort of involvement by the Emir of Qatar and some sort of timidness by Al-Jazeera. Now listen carefully to my answer, I speak only for AJ English since I can’t say anything about Al Jazeera Arabic (being that they are separate in administrative means). We dealt with this specific issue at our staff meeting the other day when the heads of our departments addressed the subject of our Bahrain coverage, when one of our staff members asked how we could counter accusations that we are being partial in our coverage. That said staff member then clarified that HE knew we were not being partial in our amount of coverage but wanted the opinion of the bosses…and so they dealt with it quite well. First off you have to understand that Al-Jazeera is broadcast journalism…as much as we at the office want to cover every story we just can’t. Now when you have a very real war going on in Libya, one of our staff being captured in Syria then sent to Iran and now missing, and an entire global audience you just CAN’T spend as much time as you would like on Bahrain. That being said do we WANT to cover it? Of course (and I’m simply voicing the opinions of co-workers in the news team). But there are very real reasons as to why our coverage has been sporadic that include but aren’t limited to

• Danger/threats to journalists, many of whom have been targeted and/or denied access to the country and others who have been deported or threatened with violence.
• The way the situation in Bahrain is developing in comparison to Libya/Syria, there is obvious violence but it is becoming more concentrated now on cases of targeted threats/violence and not at the same level/quantity of mass outdoor-public attacks as was the case earlier. You just can’t give it the same coverage as tanks and machine gun fire being used recently ( since we covered when Bahrain and foreign UAE/Saudi forces were firing into crowds of non-violent protesters) in places like Syria and Libya.
• Lastly (only to keep this short) Al-Jazeera works very hard to present a global news approach because I’m sorry to say but there are many people on this earth and some of them want to hear about the gunfire happening outside their houses more than gunfire happening in a far off place. So my co-workers work very hard to find a balance between international priorities in news and equal coverage of issues across the globe. For instance the current AJE website has stories spread out across 7 different world regions on it’s main stories page just until halfway on the page. In doing that they are hoping to try and balance the demands for news across the world by people who all want their area’s troubles covered, while at the same time finding a balance between the most pressing issues for the time being. 

I am not making excuses for AJE, just giving the reasons…the reasons that restrain us in this world of restraints…and the reasons that eat away at some of the journalists in our office because they want to cover so much but they just can’t. My defense rests in the fact that although we may not be covering Bahrain to the level that some people wish, we have in no way stopped covering the issue.

Look just at the depth that we’ve tried to cover the issue (and I say that because obviously the journalists at the office wish they could do more, and the producers do also but they realistically can’t) and you will see flat out that we have given Bahrain more coverage in relation to the rest of the major media organizations in the world than anyone else. 

Examples-

1. Although Bahrain isn’t in the front of our website at this moment (though it has appeared there sporadically through the past 2 weeks) all you have to do is go to the Middle-East section and instantly you find the article that is 3rd on the list to be none other than Bahrain accepts resignation of opposition MPs. That might not be great according to some, but I think it’s understandable that compared to the situations going on in the region being 3rd on the list for Bahrain is not unfair.

2. If that isn’t enough for people like Mr.Fisk then he can take a look at our specified live blog for Bahrain, that AJE maintains 24/7 with a steady feed of pictures,videos, tweets and special correspondent input (when available due to safety risks for reporters). 

3. Last point I’ll make for those who still think that AJE’s level of Bahrain 

coverage has somehow been influenced by the Emir or fear/timidity towards the Bahrain government, is that they can take a look at our Exclusive Coverage Series on Bahrain ( this link is to part 3 in the series, and more are on the way). 

With all that in mind I hope anyone who sees this can understand that the level of AJE-Bahrain coverage is due to restrictions on our physical capabilities and manpower, and not because of some outside corporate/monarchical force that is trying to artificially censor/engineer news priorities. 

To everyone reading this who is interested in/committed to the situation in Bahrain, please keep your eyes and ears open for the upcoming documentary series we are dedicating to the situation in Bahrain… and do be patient with my co-workers, they are trying their best but in a world with a lot of people with many different interests it is hard to maintain a balance while at the same time giving attention to definitely important world events.

-If you are truly invested in/seeking information on Bahrain on a 24/7 basis please click on the links I have posted above, they should serve as a good starting point. 

Thanks,

A Fellow human-being dedicated to shining light on the darkness in the world

insaniyat:

Physicians Urge Obama Administration to Pressure Mideast Ally Bahrain to End Repression of Doctors, Patients [Democracy Now transcript]

The Gulf nation of Bahrain has announced that 47 medical workers who treated pro-democracy protesters during the nation’s popular uprising will be tried before a military court on charges of acting against the state. Some could face the death penalty for providing medical assistance to protesters. Human rights groups say the arrests are part of a campaign of intimidation that runs directly counter to the Geneva Convention, which guarantees medical care to people wounded in conflict. We speak with Richard Sollom of Physicians for Human Rights. He recently traveled to Bahrain to document the situation there and is the co-author of a new report, “Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients.”

Most of Manama’s major hospitals were blocked off from accepting the public early on in the protests, while a number of smaller, Shi’ite neighborhood clinics have also been raided since.

“In my 20 years of looking at violations of medical neutrality and human rights during times of war and civil war, I personally have never seen such widespread and systematic targeting of physicians, such egregious violations of the principle of medical neutrality. I have recently been in Bangkok last year during the Red Shirt protests, and where a hospital was stormed. I covered the situation in Sri Lanka at the end of that civil war. I covered the collapse of the healthcare system in Zimbabwe in 2008. None of this compares to the situation going on in Bahrain, and it makes it especially important for the United States to come out and speak about the atrocities that are being committed by their ally, the government of Bahrain.”

All cheers for nabbing Osama…but it’s time to focus on the bigger sources of Middle-Eastern animosity towards the U.S…like our historic support for governments like THIS. 

insaniyat:

pantslessprogressive:

An Iranian protester burns a U.S. flag during a protest outside Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran April 11, 2011. Students of Tehran’s universities protested against Saudi Arabia’s support of Bahraini leaders in the suppression of Bahrain’s anti-government protests. The U.S. government has also faced criticism for sending mixed messages on its diplomatic handling of the recent unrest in the Middle East. [Photo: REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl]

Bahrain News Roundup: April 11

Bahrain:

Torture fears as activists die in jail | BBC

Bahrain accuses human rights leader of faking pictures of beating | Guardian

Bahrain Questions Leading Activist in Ongoing Crackdown | VOA

Bahrain expels 16 Lebanese people amid unrest | AFP

The Crackdown on Bahrain’s Jocks for Justice | The Nation

CNN arrests expose crackdown in Bahrain | CNN

In Iran, dozens of students attack Saudi embassy with firebombs to protest Bahrain crackdown | AP

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights: Bahraini Authorities Attempt to Gag Cyber Activists

Human Rights Watch: Drop Charges Against Editor of Independent Daily Al-Wasat

International Federation for Human Rights: Grave concern for human rights defenders

Opinion: Back human rights in Bahrain | POLITICO

How do I know that people have stopped caring about Bahrain…even Al Jazeera removed it from their front page (like a week ago)

Nuhhhh Uhhhh!!!!! It’s here ( Right amongst the top stories) 

I spoke with Ayman Mohyeldin personally (i’m saying this to show validitiy and credibility NOT to brag…although meeting him was cool) about the issue of selective coverage of Bahrain/Saudi and certain other areas and whether Al Jazeera among others. He assured me that they have employee’s stationed in all area’s and that they simply have to sometimes prioritize news stories based on relevance for the day, the example he gave was how the tragedy in Japan had pushed off some of the other Middle-East related news. However he was quick to point out that Al-Jazeera at least ( he couldn’t speak for others) was maintaining a steady connection in Bahrain and other lesser covered areas and that they would continue to release news stories about the issue. He asked for a bit of patience and understanding on the issue of coverage, and although we can all understand that we definitely want issues like what’s happening in Bahrain being covered it’s just not always possible to give 24/7 coverage of EVERY tragedy in the world. That being said he expressed solidarity with the protestors there and said he personally, and the other AJE staff would continue working to get word out about what is occuring. 

We can only continue to keep the people of Bahrain at the forefront by raising our voices and keeping memories of them alive in the public sphere and agreeing that despite what restrictions major news companies have…WE can always make sure that issues like this continue to get coverage through mediums such as this…until they pick up more speed and get acknowledged by major media. 

We are with you Bahrain! We are with you brothers and sisters of freedom!