The Slant of Al Jazeera and its Purchase of an American Network
Al Jazeera is a TV network originating out of Doha, Qatar. It is Arab owned although it seems to be independent, it has always been a mouthpiece of the emir of Qatar, hamid bin Khalifa Al Thani, to some degree promoting Islam and the Arab way. The Arab network has been trying to enter the American market but few networks will carry its 24 hour news. However, they just bought a poorly viewed US network for $500 million that has only 22,000 viewers. The network is called Current.
Can Al Jazeera be trusted as a news organization, like BBC, CNN, CBS? Are their stories independent of its owner, the emir of Qatar, free to present the news with no political slant? Al Jazeera has now created a beachhead in American TV that can be expanded to compete.
But, the answer is more of a no than a yes. The owner of Al Jazeera donated $400 million to the terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas hates Israel and recently started tossing Iranian rockets into Israeli cities. The network inflames Arab resentments and promotes an anti-American slant, anti-Sunni and promotes Islam. In the past, some American anchors worked for Al Jazeera, like ABC's Dave Maresh, who quit after they ordered the anchor to put an anti-American spin on the news. When the terrorist, Samir Kuntar, was released from Israeli prison, their staff celebrated. What did he do? He killed a four year Israeli girl by smashing her head and shot her father. Then, on their most popular show called, "Shariah and Life", the anchor declared that Israel should be destroyed with no survivors. When events in Bahrain spun out of control with riots, the Qatar government asked the channel to cover it up- the Shiite uprising against the Sunni leader for pro-democracy.
So, if you watch Al Jazeera programs, watch for the bias and spin. The Arabs have landed in America on your TV.