Closing Al-Jazeera is like shooting the messenger

Up to the point when Al-Jazeera was launched in 1996, most Arabs hadn’t seen even one Israeli on their TV screens. The Arab media was a traditional propaganda-narrative affair controlled by authoritarian regimes wanting total control of public opinion. Al-Jazeera changed the status quo, and was able to present different opinions to Arabs, Israelis and Americans; in fact, to the whole international community.

The Qatar-based network presented news to millions of people in the Middle East in a manner that almost shocked them. What was ironic is that the Arab regimes viewed it as an instrument in the hands of Israel because it hosted Israelis and gave them a chance to share their views.

At Al-Jazeera, we believe that citizens who are aware of what is going on are the gateway to democratic reforms. We are not afraid of showing opposing points of view on all topics, even if they are challenging and worrying views, or views of certain parties, because in the end it is their views and not ours, and such views exist and are expressed publicly.

Because we were open and received different people dealt with different controversial issues, our independent media approach faced much criticism. Nevertheless, we did what we did because we believe it is important to present all views in any discussion. For this we have been accused of incitement, while knowing that media professionalism obliges us to present the reality that surrounds complex topics such as war and political conflict, and we cannot separate ourselves from such issues.

Today, we are trapped by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt as a punishment for us and to deter others. This is because we broadcast views that are not in the best interest of those countries. One of them has demanded that Qatar should close Al-Jazeera. If this happens, it will be a great loss for the independent media and for millions in the region who feel helpless and voiceless, and absent from the discussion. They will pay a great price if the authorities do, indeed, “shoot the messenger” instead of try to tackle controversial issues.

Read: Closing Al Jazeera will harm Israel, ministers warn

Since its inception, Al-Jazeera has provided Israel with a rare opportunity to present its views and visions to the Arab and Muslim world and to establish a dialogue. Before Al-Jazeera came along, Israel was isolated in the Middle East. Despite this, today we have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening to close Al-Jazeera’s bureau in Jerusalem and change the law to silence our voices.

In fact, it is no surprise that the Arab regimes in the region want to close the Al-Jazeera network, but why does Israel want to do so? Is it less democratic in the region? Netanyahu’s plot with his neighbours nearly leaves no room for doubt about the reality of an independent and free media. Despite feeling sorry, the sequence of events is not strange to us, because our commitment to the independence of our mission and our lack of fear over the difficulties and risks require a heavy price to be paid. Our correspondents have been threatened, arrested, tortured and killed. Our offices have been bombed and our websites have been hacked and closed.

We were the first network in the Middle East to introduce investigative journalism and we have won prizes in that category, including an Emmy. We often focus on corruption issues in the world, and our actions have saved people and countries from charges and conspiracy theories attributed to them, including Israel.

#ClosingAlJazeera

Arabs criticise Al-Jazeera because it “supports” Israel in their view, and the Israelis criticise the network because it “supports” the Arabs. The West has accused us of being Islamists and Islamists accuse us of being westernised. Governments have claimed that we take the side of revolutionaries and revolutionaries say that we side with the governments. All of this is because we acted according to the basic principles of journalism, listened to all points of view and then put them on one table and let our audience decide for themselves.

The pursuit of truth is not always popular but it is necessary and essential to those who value the truth, do not care about anything else and are not afraid. Our audience base in the region and around the world proves that they want to have a voice and want Al-Jazeera because they want to hear and see the truth; they want to know; they want to make up their own minds.

It may be easy to silence free and independent media in the short term and to eliminate it for political benefit. However, in the long term, everyone will pay a heavy price when the world is left with no alternative opinions or points of view. This is a giant leap backwards, and in this case the Israelis should not allow their government to shoot the messenger; they, and the rest of us, need to hear what the messenger is saying.

Translated from Alresalah.ps , 18 August, 2017

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.