LM was recently involved in a bit of a spat on Twitter with Sky News's Alex Crawford a so called "special correspondent" and numerous Trolls about this outrageous report from Syria.
My objection to the report was that in a package of about just over 3 minutes Alex Crawford managed to use the following words to describe the Free Syrian Army who are fighting violent oppression from Assad's War Criminals - "Islamic Fundamentalism", "radicalised", "militants" "extremist groups", "anti western", "jihad" etc. In another report the following day Crawford also inserted the word "Taliban" to describe tactics adopted by the FSA who receive very little if any Western weaponry in comparison to Assad's Russian Supplied killing machine.
Following my initial tussle with Crawford a character called Jamie Wood "Executive Producer" of Sky News no less crawled out of the woodwork and not surprisingly leaped to the defence of his colleague initially adopting the usual Iselworth defensive line to take about how brave she is which nobody least of all me was questioning. The issue is not about bravery it is ignorance, racism, bias and ultimately the stereotyping of an entire freedom movement by Murdoch's Sky News simply because they have beards and invoke Allah swt blessings as they undertake a battle against a tyrant like Assad.
Journalists who yes can be brave are also very adept at inserting subliminal and implicit messages when they report from overseas which to this discerning eye does not conceal an agenda. The use of stereotypes when describing Syrian Muslims may serve a purpose of perpetuating a Neo Con Right Wing narrative but certainly not those fighting for liberation in Syria.
As a result, given the bias which is evident in almost every word and nuance by Alex Crawford, Jamie and their various masters like Tim Marshall the Foreign Affairs Editor who on Twitter describes his location as "Worldistan" one needs to establish a purpose behind the misleading deception. In my opinion the intention behind the report was to send an implicit warning to Washington &London to be cautious about getting entangled in the Syrian liberation movement and do not support the FSA because they contain elements who may not be to Murdoch's and Sky News liking.
Sky is the sister station of Fox News that well known "fair & balanced" outfit, the difference between the two channels is Fox are proud of their right wing bias whereas Sky are more sheepish and as a result far more dangerous.
Remember George Galloway tearing into Anna Botting over her bias on Israel's invasion of Lebanon which rattled Sky because he not only eloquently exposed Botting's evident bias but also her ignorance and inability to cogently articulate a view that did not reek of an Israelite narrative.
Let's be clear, LM trusts Sky News on Middle East coverage as much as I do a promise from North Korea to introduce democratic pluralism. The old saying trust me I'm a Doctor seems a little hollow after Harold Shipman, or trusting a politician after Expenses. Similarly, trusting journalists after hacking is a fools game and sadly Alex Crawford who yes is brave to report in Syria has allowed herself to peddle an unsubstantiated myth that the FSA are composed of "militants" who are "anti western".
Moreover, one also needs to address another fundamental aspect of journalism that often gets overlooked in international coverage ie what expertise or specialism do these "special correspondents" have before casting aspersions and labels about brown men in beards who shout Allahu Akbar or wear black headbands that make Alex Crawford rather uncomfortable. Can she speak Arabic, has she studied Islam, if not where does she get ideas from about her increasingly favourite phrase "jihadi groups".
Sadly Alex Crawford has allowed an OBE to go to her head while we all must remain silent and not question her reporting because she is "brave" or so Jamie her minder on Twitter will have you believe. The reality is the brave ones are those questioning myths promulgated by corporate News Empires who span the globe and work assiduously to ensure they control public sympathy and sentiment towards a cause that does not suit their imperialistic agenda.
Corporate news has become servile whose purpose seems to be subverting the democratic aspirations of Muslim people in the Middle East by disseminating a distorted and manipulated version of the truth in order to stereotype an entire cause with the ultimate intent of influencing policy making in Washington and London to the detriment of Muslims.
**Update** As predicted in my last para Clinton warns about "disturbing reports of extremists" in Opposition.
Most journalists talk rubbish when it comes to political motivated violence associated with Muslims. I suggest pointing Alex and her ilk to this excellent paper by Richard Jackson: http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/disciplines/politics/about/themes/cip/publications/documents/Jackson_000.pdf w/s
ReplyDeleteS.a great points enjoyed reading it and doing the research. I've just seen the sky interview with George Galloway. Absolutely brilliant. Keep up the good work LM!
ReplyDeleteMahad.
W.s
Ritualistic reporting.
ReplyDeleteGood post.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll apologise to Ms crawford when it becomes clear that the rebel movement has indeed become infiltrated by jihadists.
Please read the following article from the Guardian (a paper not known for its knee-jerk anti-Muslim, pro-Western, pro-Zionist agenda...)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/01/syria-rebels-fear-foreign-jihadis
Here's an excerpt:
"In early summer, Abu Ismael, a six-year veteran of al-Qaida, left the insurgency still blazing in his homeland of Iraq and travelled to what he believes is the start of the apocalypse.
He secured cash from a benefactor in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, then approached a weapons dealer in Anbar province, a desolate corner of the country that was not long ago a staging point for jihadis arriving from Syria and is now a gateway for those going the other way.
"It was easy," he said, in the sitting room of a house in the Syrian city of Aleppo. "The money was no problem, neither was the weapon, or the motivation. This will be a fight against the great enemy."
Around the hard-bitten 23-year-old sat three members of a Syrian rebel militia who were acting as his hosts. They looked at the floor as the young jihadi explained Qur'anic teachings that he said were shaping the battle ahead. "I don't care about the future," he said. "I care about today. Muhammad the Messenger said there would be a battle between the Persians and the Sunnis. And it is coming.
"When the regime falls, all those who fought against the Muslims will be my enemy, especially the Shias," he said, reiterating a view held by some Sunni extremists that Shia are their biggest foes."
AFP - The widow and children of Salafist Mahmud Abdelal, who blew himself up in Syria last month, were all ears as his proud but grieving mother described his commitment to jihad....
ReplyDeleteHind Hassan, 50, pulled herself together as she spoke of Mahmud, one of scores of Jordanian Salafists said to have gone to neighbouring Syria to fight, with at least 13 reportedly killed.
"My son was very very religious. He started reciting the Koran when he was 10. He never stopped dreaming of jihad," Hind told AFP as of one of the children cried.
"I prevented him so many times from going to the West Bank to fight Israel," Hindi said of her son, 33, who is a Jordanian of Palestinian origin.
And so did the authorities. He was arrested in 2004 and held for a month after he tried to go to the West Bank to fight.
"He remained on the run after that and visited us secretly. The last time I saw him was in September.
"He told me: 'God is on my side but please pray for me.' He kissed his wife and children and left," said Hind as she burst into tears.
Four days later Mahmud called his mother from Syria.
"He sounded happy over the telephone, but he said: 'If I do not call again, do not worry and keep praying for me.'"
"I missed him and I kept waiting for him to call but he never did. I knew that he was martyred."
On October 12, Mahmud's father Mohammed told Hind someone had called from Syria and that their son had died in a suicide attack on a post of army snipers in Daraa, the cradle of the uprising.
"I was told he blew himself up wearing an explosive belt. I wished to see some of his remains at least. I am happy that God gave him what he wanted and relieved him from injustice in this life," said the woman.
"But at the same time, it broke my heart. I feel sad because I am a mother and he is my son."
Mahmud's widow Khadijah, only 26 years old, said as she wept: "I knew that he would do it. We were so happy together. I miss him a lot."
Salafists, who espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam, call funerals for their number killed in fighting a "martyr's wedding", and exchange congratulations instead of condolences.
"More than 1,000 people attended my son's martyr's wedding," Hind said. "I hope he is happy now that God made his dream come true."
"I think Mahmud was preparing all of us for his martyrdom. We argued about jihad and suicide operations. I begged him to avoid them," Khadijah told AFP, holding her youngest child.
"But he never needed anybody's permission. He always said: 'It is like a little sting, you do not feel it as long as you have faith in God.'
Mahmud's father-in-law is Abed Shehadeh, known as Abu Mohammad Tahawi, one of the top Salafist leaders in Jordan.
Tahawi said more than 250 Jordanian jihadists are now in Syria to fight and that 13 others have been killed there.
O
Tahawi said he was proud to be fighting the Syrian regime.
"Mahmud was martyred fighting the brutal regime in Syria that has spread fear and death among Sunni Muslims. Fighting this regime makes us rejoice and makes us proud," he told AFP.
"Jihad against the regime of Assad is the duty of every Muslim, because he killed people and violated their honour and destroyed their homes. He is waging a war against the people of Syria."...
Those bloody "myths" eh, LM?