(MENAFN - Arab News) Of course we must say "thank you" to the Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera, which announced yesterday that it would not broadcast the images filmed by the terrorist Mohamed Merah, of the crimes he committed in the French city of Toulouse, where among those killed were young children.
However, regardless of our gratitude to Al Jazeera on this occasion, we must pause and think about where we stand on the subject of broadcasting images of murder, and how the media deals with terrorism.
Al Jazeera, as quoted by a German news agency, said that it had decided not to broadcast the footage of Merah's terrorist crimes, when he attacked a Jewish school in Toulouse, because the images contained no new information, and because broadcasting them would not be line with the channel's moral standards. The truth is that this is not entirely accurate, and here is the simple proof: While I was searching the (Arabic) Al Jazeera website for its statement declaring it would not broadcast the French terrorist's footage - after the French president had asked television stations not to broadcast the images - I found, by chance, a previous Al Jazeera press release under the "statements" section, entitled "Notice" and without a date, saying: "Al Jazeera aired a news story last Thursday depicting alleged executions in the city of Kerbala, Iraq. We subsequently found out that these images were false and that Al Jazeera had broadcasted false news, as we discovered that the images accompanying the news story were not images of executions in Kerbala, or anywhere in Iraq. It should be noted that Al Jazeera immediately suspended the broadcast of this news item, having aired it only twice, after it was discovered that the footage was false. Accordingly, we have issued the necessary correction". End quote!
The point here is neither to target Al Jazeera, but nor is it a case of "moral standards," as Al Jazeera's statement said. The point is that when the media indulges terrorists, and all those who use violence, this can affect the security of people and nations. A television station, or any media outlet, cannot serve the goals of terrorism under any justification, because of the consequences. The clearest example here is the old tolerance that was shown toward suicide bombings in Palestine, until matters ended up with the arrival of suicide bombings in our Arab and Islamic cities. The same applies to the media coverage of Al-Qaeda terrorism, particularly since the broadcast of Bin Laden's son's wedding in Afghanistan, and up until recent years. Promoting terrorism in the media under any pretense is something that will have devastating effects, and therefore if freedom comes with responsibility, then the media likewise bears responsibility.
It is true that the media must expose wrongdoings, such as revealing the crimes of a regime against unarmed people, like in Syria, or exposing the crimes of an occupying force, such as what is happening to the Palestinians, or even uncovering crimes far from the eyes of justice, but our media cannot become a theater for terrorism and terrorists. The media must take a moral stance and not become a destructive element.
Therefore, we say thank you to Al Jazeera, but what if this had been its policy for the last 10 years? Certainly, many things would be different.
- The author is editor in chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.
Write to him at tariq@asharqalawsat.com
