War on Terrorism (Politics)

[Wile E. Coyote]

So two Bibi advisors arrested in relation to Qatargate, as it is now alleged that close aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have, unbeknownst to the Israeli public, been working directly or indirectly for Qatar, a country that funded Hamas as it was planning the murderous rampage of October 7.

In August 2023, the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, purchased from a certain Steve Witkoff the 610-room Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan for roughly $623 million, equating to approximately $1.02 million per room, according to public records.

Not saying anything other than Qatar is extremely wealthy and also provide a running commentary (two versions, one for western liberals and another in Arabic for radical Muslims) via Al Jazeera, their TV Channel.

Most definitely no conflicts of interest.

Helpful to have a foot in all camps.....

[Mick Harper]

[Mick Harper]

[Wile E. Coyote]

Easy to get into a binary mindset.

For example, during the Iraq Iran war, an Iraqi plane fired two exocets on May 17, 1987, at the USS Stark, a U.S. Navy guided missile frigate, resulting in the deaths of 37 American sailors. Iraq apologised and ordered a swift investigation on the orders of President Saddam Hussein.

[Mick Harper]

[Wile E. Coyote]

Al Jazeera, the Qatari TV channel, missed a scoop on November 5, 2024, the day of the U.S. presidential election, when Qatar held a referendum to approve a series of constitutional amendments, including an amendment that cancelled future parliamentary elections in the country. Elections were held in Qatar only once, in October 2021, 1 year before they held the World Cup.

This was pretty surprising as Al Jazeera frequently criticises anti-democratic measures in other Arab states and in the West, and in fact used the lack of democratic reforms in other Arab countries to fan the Arab Spring protests that began in 2011. It seems that they got so obsssessed with their foreign coverage, they simply failed to notice. To be fair, so did a whole lot of other folks, I guess it's because the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Aal Thani, is actually rather good at appointing MPs?

[Mick Harper]

This is a bit unfair on Al-Jazeera. Not biting the hand that feeds you is a widespread convention throughout the world of journalism. We wouldn't have any journalism if it wasn't.

But, please, continue your Hypocrisy Watch on what I watch.

[Wile E. Coyote]

[Wile E. Coyote]

[Mick Harper]

To be fair, I don't know who the audience is apart from me and Hatty. Nor do I know what 'dependency theory' is or what HST stands for, let alone its variant HTS.

But to your main point, it is worth noting the 'AJ' we watch almost never uses Arabic-speaking reporters overdubbed into English. When you consider how few foreign correspondents even the biggest western MSM can maintain this speaks volumes.

[Boreades]

[Wile E. Coyote]

Well you watch AJ critically no doubt. But there was a big difference between, say, AJ's enthusiastic in-depth coverage of Bojo's hamfisted attempt to, err, prorogue a parliament

[Mick Harper]

Effortless oneupmanship. On acronymic terms with Syrian political parties.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Sadly, I couldn't even manage the one who just so happens to be in charge.

[Wile E. Coyote]

The Israelis have now discovered that exactly the same systems that were put in place following Operation Flood to suppress Palestinians and the very real threats of Hamas terrorism, are slowly being turned on Israelis. The National Guard, under personal command of Ben-Gvir, who has a conviction for racist incitement and in the past, and has advocated for the deportation of all Arab citizens, is now routinely being turned on Israeli protesters. When you start denouncing folks as traitors, and going after the enemy within, it's normally a sign that your anti-terrorism strategy is failing, as is your democracy.

The real existential crisis was not the one you thought it was.......