That 'bastion' of democracy in the middle east, Israel, is at it again. Spreading ideas of freedom of press, by expelling more foriegn news agencies. This follows their arrest and detention of Iranian journalists during the Gaza invasion.

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Israeli officials say they are taking measures to restrict the work of the Arabic television network, al-Jazeera, inside Israel.



It follows a decision last month by al-Jazeera's owners, the state of Qatar, to cut trade ties with Israel.

The work visas of some al-Jazeera employees based in Israel will not be renewed, according to reports.

Al-Jazeera's journalists will have limited access to Israeli news conferences and briefings.

Qatar was the only Gulf state to have trade ties with Israel, but they were cut in January in protest at the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Israeli officials were fiercely critical of al-Jazeera's coverage of the conflict in Gaza, accusing it of being a mouthpiece for the militant Islamist movement, Hamas.

An Israeli official in Jerusalem was quoted as saying that it was Qatar's own actions which had now created a problem for al-Jazeera.

Media presence has nothing to do with trade.

Besides al-Jazeera is not state owned as is claimed in the article. It was originally funded by the Emir of Qatar, but is largely self sufficent now.

This is nothing but another aspect of Israel's propaganda war. Shutting out media outlets that don't report as she dictates.

You really are an extremist Grendel. al-Jazeera has ALWAYS been anti-terrrorism. Never have they supported, promoted or been a 'mouthpiece' for terrorism. However, they've been a little more honest and open in their reporting, by airing both sides of issues. And because they aren't controlled by the Zionist media hierarchy in the U.S they are a bit more autonomous in the way they report on the Middle East, this is what truly sets them apart from most other world media.

If al-Jazeera is a mouthpiece for terrorism, then I'd hate to think what CNN, NBC etc. are for their respective governments.

I'm sorry that's just total bullshit Abu.
Lie to someone else who doesn't know.

Concerned?  No.
I know what the truth was.

I've already posted proof of what they said in the past.
Etc, etc, etc...

you on the other hand just make rubbish statements.

You say one thing then try to rope in another argument to disguise the original and go off on a tangent.

Al Jazeera were the mouthpiece for Terrorists.
Never once  did they do anything to help authorities find or capture these people all they did was broadcast their message.

yep...  seems pretty cut and dried to me Abu ben Booby.  there is little doubt that you fail to see anything in regards to this in a balanced and unbiased way as you are a supporter of terrorism and anti-western thought..

ETHICS

ROTFLMAO

Keep diggin that hole Abu.

AIM Report: Al-Jazeera Promotes Global Terrorism - August A


AIM Report  |  August 1, 2006

As the AIM “Terror Television” DVD demonstrates, the channel’s first managing director acted in effect as an agent of the Saddam Hussein regime.

AL-JAZEERA PROMOTES GLOBAL TERRORISM

In the same way that Al-Jazeera television has complicated the prospect of a U.S. victory in Iraq, the channel has dramatically increased the Islamic terrorist threat to Israel, helping to produce the war with the Hezbollah terrorist group.

The U.S. and Israel will not be able to win this global war on terrorism unless the role of Al-Jazeera in radicalizing Arabs and Muslims throughout the world is recognized and addressed.

As a result, Accuracy in Media is redoubling its effort to keep the English-language Al-Jazeera out of U.S. media markets. If Al-Jazeera International is allowed to reach English-speaking Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. with its incendiary messages, we could see suicide bombings on the streets of America and the development of more al-Qaeda cells plotting 9/11-type terrorist attacks.

Recon Operations

But Al-Jazeera's threat has taken another form, as Israeli authorities during the war with Hezbollah arrested several Al-Jazeera employees on suspicions of aiding the enemy. One charge was that Al-Jazeera employees in Israel were airing live footage from the scene of Hezbollah strikes in Israel, helping Hezbollah adjust the aim of the rockets it was firing. Another charge was that Al-Jazeera was filming sensitive locations which could be targeted in missile strikes.

Here, Al-Jazeera journalists have been caught visiting the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico border areas.

Al-Jazeera International made a visit in May to Crosby, North Dakota, prompting inquiries from the local Sheriff and U.S. Border Patrol. The local paper, the Crosby Journal, quoted a Border Patrol official as asking, "What is the interest of an Arab news organization in Crosby, North Dakota?" It reported that Sheriff Lauren Throntvei "said the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he heard they were in town." The paper said that a U.S. Border Patrol agent asked for the names of the Al-Jazeera journalists, whether they had been near the border, and their stated motivations. The agent "said there were potential international implications to the journalists' visit, on which he could not elaborate."

The Al-Jazeera International delegation claimed to be doing a positive story about the people of northwestern North Dakota. However, Al-Jazeera International is not yet on the air and may not be up and running until the fall.

The Minutemen group previously denounced an attempt by Al-Jazeera to visit the U.S.-Mexico border area as a "recon" operation to benefit those who want to illegally enter the U.S. A Minuteman spokesman called Al-Jazeera a "terrorist TV station."

As the AIM "Terror Television" DVD demonstrates, the channel's first managing director acted in effect as an agent of the Saddam Hussein regime. Al-Jazeera's Baghdad bureau has been closed since August 2004 because of its sympathetic coverage of terrorist acts. The channel, however, is operating in the Kurdish-ruled area of the north and still broadcasts into Iraq. Indeed, it was reported recently that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, during a visit to Kurdistan, refused to entertain questions from the Al-Jazeera correspondent, saying, "I told him that I will not reply because we have position against Al-Jazeera." Al-Maliki added, "I blame my brothers in Kurdistan to allow Al-Jazeera to work although it is banned from that because it incites sectarianism day and night in Iraqi circles." This statement reflects recognition that Al-Jazeera, like al Qaeda, has been trying to spark a civil war in Iraq.

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The Al-Qaeda Connection

Al-Jazeera knows this is a bunch of bunk because its own reporter Yosri Fouda interviewed the al-Qaeda architects of 9/11, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and co-authored a book about it entitled Masterminds of Terror. Peter Maass wrote a fascinating story about Fouda's contacts with al Qaeda in an article in the New York Times Magazine entitled "When Al Qaeda Calls." Ron Suskind's new book, The One Percent Doctrine, takes the story one step further, alleging that Fouda's information about the possible locations of both al-Qaeda operatives led to their ultimate capture. Suskind claims the Emir of Qatar provided the information to then-CIA director George Tenet.

Insisting that it "never communicated any information that it has obtained to any political, security or any other party whatsoever," Al-Jazeera has rejected Suskind's claims as ridiculous and baseless. The channel said it was "well known for its editorial independence" and its "commitment to protect the rights of sources." The implication, of course, is that some of Al-Jazeera's "sources" are terrorists or their agents.

This is part of the problem we face as Al-Jazeera International, which is financed by the same Arab government which brought the world Al-Jazeera, prepares its launch. Even if the Suskind story is true, the capture of these al-Qaeda operatives cannot make up for the murder of almost 3,000 Americans on 9/11, especially because Qatar had links to al Qaeda and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed before 9/11. Today, however, the Wahhabi Muslim regime postures as a friend of the U.S. and hosts American forces.

Al-Jazeera International is busy constructing its new Washington, D.C. bureau on K Street in the nation's capital. Employees say salaries and benefits are good, but former ABC Nightline anchor Ted Koppel, who interviewed for a job there, said he would have nothing to do with it. The new channel has put tremendous resources, including the public-relations muscle of the British-based firm Brown Lloyd James (BLJ), into a campaign to secure carriage on American cable and satellite systems. So far, AIM has stopped them.

Subscribers to the AIM Report received copies of postcards they could send to Michael Holtzman, BLJ executive vice president. The cards noted a report that $1 billion is being spent on Al-Jazeera International and asked, "How much of that is your firm getting?"

BLJ should not be underestimated. The company boasts that Holtzman, who is handling the Al-Jazeera International account in the U.S., "managed the successful global campaign on behalf of China's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games." The company website says this "extraordinarily successful engagement" was named "Campaign of the Year" by PR Week in 2001.

If the entry of Al-Jazeera International into U.S. media markets becomes another "Campaign of the Year," it is predictable and inevitable that Americans will suffer and die because of it.

Partners In Crime

But stopping Al-Jazeera Inter-national won't be enough. As reported by Hugh Miles, Al-Jazeera has "sharing agreements" with CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, Japan's NHK, and Germany's ZDF, "all of which regularly use Al-Jazeera's footage and reports." Miles, the author of a fascinating but sympathetic book about Al-Jazeera, makes this point in the context of insisting that "Journalists around the world treat Al-Jazeera with the same respect they treat news from any other major international news network." What they "respect" is the ability of Al-Jazeera to get terrorist "news" from bin Laden and al Qaeda.

CNN was the first U.S.-based network to sign a "resource-sharing agreement" with Al-Jazeera. This relationship was on display when CNN aired part of an interview that Al-Jazeera's then-Kabul-based reporter Tayseer Allouni had conducted with Osama bin Laden. This was described at the time as the only television interview bin Laden had granted since before 9/11. Allouni was later convicted of being an agent of al Qaeda and is now serving seven years in prison in Spain.

Al-Jazeera also has a sharing agreement with the Telesur channel of Venezuelan lunatic ruler Hugo Chavez.  

Rep. Connie Mack had criticized the venture, saying, "When Hugo Chavez launched Telesur…to spread his anti-freedom rhetoric throughout Latin America I raised numerous concerns that he was creating a TV network patterned after Al-Jazeera. Today, Hugo Chavez has gone even further. It wasn't enough for him to spread his socialist propaganda throughout Latin America. Now he's in cahoots with the original terrorist TV." Mack said the alliance "has the effect of creating a global television network for terrorists and other enemies of freedom."

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