Al-Jazeera

[LondonGirl1968]

I was in the office this week and noticed that instead of BBC or Sky News as usual someone had turned on Al Jazeera. I have to say I was taken aback. It felt like a bit of a slap in the face. Felt very pointed in a week where such brutality has taken place.

Why would it be a slap in the face?! I think I know the answer 🤔

That is interesting, thanks. And thanks for a post actually informing rather than gleefully berating the OP. So refreshing.

Al Jazeera are good. But, I was late in the office the other day and I started watching a news report about Israel on the laptop. It switched on to a second video and when I realised it was Al Jazeera, I stopped it pretty quick. Could be paranoid but I didn't want my company to see me watching Al Jazeera.

Why is a Qatari news channel, which is renowned for its excellent coverage, a slap in the face?

I don’t get this, I despise Hamas and I am definitely extremely sympathetic to Israel right now and I watch al-jazeera sometimes, it’s just a news channel.

Btw they do really interesting documentaries as well.

Well said

Because they are well known for their anti-semitic coverage and are a funded by the state who is the biggest funder of Hamas (yes, much more than Iran). In particular, Al Jazeera Arabic is overtly anti-Semitic and has a history of praising violence ('martyrs' and 'resistance'). You can look up the controversies, and also spot that many reputable journalists resigned after being forced to push Muslim Brotherhood content.

OP, I would find this horrific too. I've been listening to AJA for work, and I feel actually quite sick at some of the grotesque defences I've seen of the Hamas terrorism on there. And before someone starts, I work and live in a Muslim country very happily with no issues at all - and no one here watches Al Jazeera because it's known to be extremist.

Best news channel on tv

Here’s a link to the controversies for anyone interested.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_controversies_and_criticism#:~:text=Al%20Jazeera%20has%20faced%20considerable,newspaper%20for%20its%20allegedly%2Dbiased

Good grief OP, this reminds me of 2004 when George W Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera, based on what I can only presume was simply their Arabic name. Luckily he was quickly told that Qatar is an ally to America. He was like you: "it's Muslim/Arab/run by brown people therefore must be bad and must be destroyed".

He was like you: "it's Muslim/Arab/run by brown people therefore must be bad and must be destroyed".

What a load of made up nonsense 🙄

So how can you say, ‘I have to say I was taken aback. It felt like a bit of a slap in the face. Felt very pointed in a week where such brutality has taken place’ ?

Knee jerk reaction?

Maybe do some research before you post ignorant comments OP?

What?!

I sometimes put Al Jazeera to get a different perspective on the news and see how it’s approached from elsewhere. Same with CNN and the French news.

AJA and EJA may be the same company, but they’re completely differenr channels with completely different content.

Obviously I mean AJE, not EJA!

Their content is presented at different 'levels' of overtness with regards to anti-semitism and anti-Israel sentiment. That's not the same as completely different content. There are issues with content also on AJ+ which is Qatari talking points dressed up for young people. It's a phenomenal propaganda machine which uses the treat of global coverage and documentaries on often uncovered issues in other news channels to gently push extremism down people's throats.

Too brown and too Muslim, innit.

@BethDuttonsTwin You're welcome. I've always had a strong interest in current affairs and of course 9/11 was still in the days of relatively limited access to the internet. It would most likely have been a modem dial up, if you even had access at home. So, I would guess, the vast majority were still accessing news via BBC/ITV news at ten (or nine, can't remember when the beeb changed!). And time and again you'd hear a message along the lines of 'in the latest video shared by Al Jazeera'. And you never heard of anything else from them. I honestly thought they were his propaganda mouthpiece for a very long time.

I mean it's a news channel that OP isn't familiar with, but it's a middle east channel and it could come across as supportive to the atrocities that have played out this week, especially if it's a channel they don't usually have on. Sounds a reasonable assumption to me, and when it was explained to OP that it was in fact a reputable channel, then OP was happy to admit she wasn't aware. No need for sarcastic comments over a misunderstanding.

This!!

It felt like a bit of a slap in the face.

This is quite a strong comment, in what way was it a slap in the face?

Al-Jazeera has done some stellar reporting over the past few days as they are a lot more knowledgable of the region, the history and current situation than the Western news (generally)

Do you felt uncomfortable even though you know nothing about the channel?