Fri. 9 Sep. 2011 @ 14.47 - Following Just Journalism's coverage of media pundit's alleged endorsement of Eilat attacks, Sky and BBC fail to disassociate themselves from controversial figure. Last Friday Just Journalism revealed that the prominent media pundit, Abdel Bari Atwan, had allegedly endorsed the attack near the Israeli town of Eilat that resulted in multiple civilian casualties. Bari Atwan often appears as a commentator on Arab affairs, and is the editor of the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi. According to Memri's translation of an editorial he wrote for the paper, Atwan argued that the attack successfully 'corrected the course' of the Arab Spring, reversing the policies of states that had provided Israel with '40 years of security and stability that it did not at all deserve': 'The Eilat operation, as I see it, corrected the course of the Arab revolutions and refocused them on the most dangerous disease, namely the Israeli tyranny. This disease is the cause of all the defects that have afflicted the region for the past 65 years...' Just Journalism Acting Editorial Manager Chris Dyszyński discusses the UN's 'Palmer report' for The Commentator. Friday 9 September 2011 Blink and you might have missed it, but last week saw a major PR coup for Israel. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, so if you're aware of the UN "Palmer report" on Gaza it's probably only through the prism of the sudden deterioration of Israeli-Turkish relations. (Yesterday, the Turkish Prime Minister even threatened to send warships to accompany any future "aid" ships to Gaza). But it's worth being aware of its findings before they sink beneath the surface, drowned in the diplomatic maelstrom that has engulfed the Jewish state and its former ally, which Turkey has long been. As almost anyone analysing media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict will tell you, it's unusual to be made aware of a development that reflects well on the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. Fri. 9 Sep. 2011 @ 16.43 - Financial Times cites Hamas-affiliated academic Azzam Tamimi on alleged sectarianism of popular Syrian preacher. The Financial Times recently covered the alleged sectarianism of an increasingly popular Syrian cleric. In 'Firebrand risks playing into Assad's hands', the newspaper's Beirut-based correspondent Abigail Fielding-Smith profiles radical Syrian preacher Adnan Arour, and describes how his Youtube videos and 'televised rants [broadcast] from Saudi Arabia [...] have helped catapult him from obscure exile to national celebrity'. However, when discussing the potential for Arour's 'inflammatory broadcasts [to] alienate non-Sunni Syrians [and] play into the regime's hands', the newspaper cites Dr Azzam Tamimi in defence of Arour - despite Tamimi himself being a radical Islamist: 'Azzam Tamimi, director of a pan Arab TV channel in London, argues that Mr Arour has sought to tone down his sectarian rhetoric to boost his mainstream appeal. He has said that Alawites are equal citizens, and even invited them on his programme, he said. "He is more of a religious entertainer," says Mr Tamimi.'
September 9, 2011 The Wire Sky and BBC respond to Atwan allegations
Op-eds and Features Israel's critics red-faced as UN report emerges remarkably supportive of Gaza blockade
The Wire FT cites Hamas spokesman Azzam Tamimi on Syrian preacher's alleged sectarianism
Friday, 9 September 2011
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