What the Arabs watch vs. what Bush says
Ghida Fakhry IHT
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Arabic television
LONDON President George W. Bush's speech about bringing "freedom and democracy" to the Middle East has, as expected, fallen on deaf ears in the Arab world. His attempt to recast the neoconservative doctrine of "a global democratic revolution" was met, at best, with smiles.
The "freedom deficit" in the Arab world will not be filled by what many consider to be American demagoguery and hubris. Washington's daunting challenge is to pitch its rhetoric against what the Arabs see on television screens across the Middle East - and beyond.
American policymakers and U.S.-appointed Iraqi officials, jittery about television coverage of daily events in Iraq under occupation, are blaming Arab satellite channels for inciting people against them. Al Jazeera is often singled out, but the handful of other widely watched stations, such as Al Arabiya, LBC and Abu Dhabi TV, are also proving to be a thorn in the side of Iraq's new leaders.
These satellite channels, which did not exist during the first Gulf War, have become in the last few years the principal source of news for tens of millions of Arabs living in the Middle East and beyond.
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