A couple friends have taken exception to Obama's choice of Al Arabiya as his first interview, on the grounds that Al Arabiya is often criticized as being pro-Saudi and pro-American, and he should have gone to Al-Jazeera. The point came up in a dialogue I had with my California friend, whom I'll call 7, (out of respect for the fact that she was 7 when she saw her Palestinian grandfather humiliated under occupation). I was asking 7 about the lack of free speech in Arab societies.
you mean that nobody has freedom of speech, right? and that's true, i
think with the exception of lebanon where are all the papers freely rip
everyone apart. but the other regimes and dictators in the middle east
would never allow it, which is why al jazeera has been kicked out every single arab country that they have reported out of.
think with the exception of lebanon where are all the papers freely rip
everyone apart. but the other regimes and dictators in the middle east
would never allow it, which is why al jazeera has been kicked out every single arab country that they have reported out of.
i wish that obama would have gone on al j instead of al arabiya
specifically for that reason. he has the choice of giving an interview
to any arab media outlet, he could have picked the ONLY one that truly
does have freedom of speech…
(Phil Weiss)
