{"id":58489,"date":"2015-05-25T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-05-25T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=58489"},"modified":"2015-05-22T13:52:04","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T12:52:04","slug":"implications-for-australia-of-aljazeera-program-condoning-genocide-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/05\/implications-for-australia-of-aljazeera-program-condoning-genocide-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Implications for Australia of Aljazeera Program Condoning Genocide in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Susan<\/a><\/em>20 May 2015<\/p>\n

Dear Mr Turnball, Australia’s Communications Minister,<\/p>\n

I urge you to give attention to a short segment on a program on Al-Jazeera that was broadcast early this month.<\/p>\n

The program targeted an Arabic speaking audience, and it would have a significant number of viewers in Australia. The host of the Al-Jazeera program and one guest express support for the killing of Alawis in Syria. They do not exclude women and children.<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ULtNYSUqYHw<\/p>\n

There is at least one petition being distributed protesting the calls on Al-Jazeera to incite genocide:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/amnesty-international-human-rights-watch-office-of-the-special-advisor-on-the-prevention-of-genocide-office-of-the-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-bring-al-jazeera-network-and-faisal-al-kasim-to-justice-for-inciting-genocide-on-tv<\/a><\/p>\n

As well as encouraging you and other members of parliament to give serious attention to this call for genocide, it is critical that there is an examination of the\u00a0presentation of the conflict in Syria by our public broadcasters. I have no doubt Al-Jazeera would be a reference for journalists, politicians, and even DFAT officials who have sought an understanding of the conflict in Syria.\u00a0 This is despite the fact that Al-Jazeera has been an active player in the conflict since the\u00a0beginning, as I noted in a comment on an ABC webpage in April 2011:\u00a0http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/radionational\/programs\/latenightlive\/syria\/2953198<\/a><\/p>\n

In the last four years, I have contacted the ABC on numerous\u00a0occasions to alert journalists to\u00a0the distortion and bias in reports on Syria and to warn them\u00a0that such reporting will encourage some in the\u00a0community to support jihad.\u00a0 My\u00a0last formal complaint was in regards to the bias in a report on AM. Despite the weight of my arguments and the implications of a mainstream broadcaster showing bias towards militias intent on destroying the army of a secular society, it was not upheld. \u00a0http:\/\/susandirgham.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, much of the reporting and official<\/p>\n

commentary on Syria has been framed in terms of ‘a brutal Alawi regime oppressing the Sunni majority’.\u00a0 As the guest who stood up\u00a0against the calls for genocide on Al-Jazeera explains, this does not reflect the\u00a0reality of the Syrian government, the army or the conflict.<\/p>\n

I was heartened this week to see an article in the alternative magazine “New Matilda” which analyses and challenges mainstream reports on Syria. \u00a0https:\/\/newmatilda.com\/2015\/05\/17\/corporate-media-and-syria-study-propaganda-and-sloppy-standards<\/a><\/p>\n

There must be some serious examination of the media presentation of the conflict in Syria and how that impacts Australians who support ISIS or al-Nusra in Syria. It would seem appropriate that you initiate it.<\/p>\n

Like Syria, Australia is a diverse and secular society. It too can suffer from hatreds and divisions stirred up by malevolent forces.<\/p>\n

For example, there are tens of thousands of people with Alawi backgrounds in Australia who have come from Syria, Lebanon or Turkey.\u00a0 Unbeknownst\u00a0to most of us, they may already be facing intimidation from sections of the\u00a0community who are influenced by calls to hate, both direct or indirect, from a range of sources.<\/p>\n

The conflict in the Middle East has been presented by other key commentators in sectarian terms.\u00a0 For example, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States has described the terrorist group ISIS as the ‘lesser evil’; in his mind ‘Shia’ are the greater evil.\u00a0 No doubt such views expressed by a prominent person have an impact on communities and reporting. \u00a0http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2014\/06\/israels-former-ambassador-to-the-us-on-the-palestinian-question\/373627\/<\/a><\/p>\n

On the other hand, retired U.S. General Wesley Clark has claimed that ISIS was created by\u00a0friends and allies of America in order to destroy Hezbollah in Lebanon.\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QHLqaSZPe98<\/a><\/p>\n

What is the truth? At times it seems the world is edging towards an abyss and we are being taken there with our minds, our eyes and our mouths closed.<\/p>\n

An esteemed professor at M.I.T., Professor Theodore Postol, and a former U.N. weapons inspector, Mr Richard Lloyd, published a paper which contended that the Syrian army\u00a0could not have fired the weapons that purportedly carried sarin and killed over 300 people in Damascus in August 2013.\u00a0 Unsubstantiated claims that the Syrian government was responsible for this ‘massacre’ and others have contributed to many people’s bafflement regarding the war and to their disengagement in regards to supporting peace or the war’s victims.\u00a0 On the other hand, the claims have led to the active engagement of others on the side of the terror.\u00a0 The implications of Postol and Lloyd’s findings are extremely significant, yet our public or corporate media eschews them. Here is a link to the Theodore Postol and Richard Lloyd report: \u00a0http:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/1006045-possible-implications-of-bad-intelligence.html<\/a><\/p>\n

To unite Australians and to fear the future less, it is vital that we espouse and live values that reflect our common humanity and which can inspire us all.\u00a0 Organisations\u00a0cannot display courage; individuals must.<\/p>\n

In the past four years, many brave\u00a0people in Syria have been committed to the work of reconciliation. If Syria is not to become a failed state and its people destitute and\u00a0brutalised for decades to come, these efforts must be\u00a0acknowledged and supported. “The Babbila Reconciliation: a Light at the End of Syria\u2019s Dark Tunnel”\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iSS-AhrqGps<\/a><\/p>\n

As Communications Minister and as someone committed to reconciliation, you are in an excellent position to take a lead.\u00a0 I urge you to give attention to the call\u00a0for genocide on the Al-Jazeera program and also to how the mainstream media coverage of Syria frames the conflict in a way which can indirectly promote support for jihadi terror.<\/p>\n

_________________________________<\/p>\n

Susan Dirgham, National Coordinator of “Australians for Reconciliation in Syria” \u00a0(AMRIS)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The program targeted an Arabic speaking audience, and it would have a significant number of viewers in Australia. The host of the Al-Jazeera program and one guest express support for the killing of Alawis in Syria. They do not exclude women and children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}