“Aljazeera” Channel Merchandises the “Arabic Spring”: From Bahrain to Syria

Qatar use Al-jazeera as a blakmailing tool

By Hussein Hamiyyeh

The Qatari "Aljazeera" Channel has renounced the professional standards it claims to possess; this was once it decided, with prior planning and determination, to strangle the Bahraini uprising at the level of its media and to keep secret the massacres that the royal family "Al Khalifa" is committing against the people of their country. Hereupon, most of those astonished by this surprising fact have tried to dwarf the reasons beyond such renouncement and restrict it within two limits; the first is that the State of Qatar (the Channel's owner) has commitments to fulfill as regards its neighbors of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and this prevents it, thus, from exposing the Bahraini events with at least a neutral eye of media.

As for the second reason, it has been related to the level of the doctrinal recruitment of this Channel's staff, which is a recruitment that holds hatred and rancor for the Shiites that constitute the great majority of the Bahraini people.

It's actually silly to reckon to such explanations, especially when Qatar (that owns this Channel), has used the Channel as a political instrument to grow more dominant and break the regional equations in order to acquire roles and locations in these equations, which do not meet with the strategic capabilities of this humbly sized and populated country in comparison with the other players in the regional arena. In fact, there are other situations and previous times when "Aljazeera" Channel performed its media share honorably - totally disregarding what is said today as respects the Bahraini situation. The media performance of "Aljazeera" did embarrass very much Qatar when it came to its gulf neighbors and caused tension at the level of diplomatic relations (as was the case with Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia) in the past.

"Aljazeera" would respond to that by saying it had a media policy independent from the Qatari State and not submissive to the government (despite the fact that none is ready to reckon this allegation as correct or take it seriously). Likewise, it is unbelievable that the doctrinal belonging of "Aljazeera's" staff is the reason beyond the renouncement, for the renouncement has come in the context of a mission that "Aljazeera" impossibly has no relation with and that is the exposure of the Bahraini uprising as a doctrinal one.

Anyway, in case "Aljazeera" has to a certain extent succeeded at shadowing what is going on in Bahrain concerning the oppressive and inhumane acts, then the Bahraini rebels, in spite of the expensive price of torture, coercion, and martyrdom they have paid, have highlighted (through exposing "Aljazeera's" stance towards their uprising) the attempts that are taking place at the black chambers of international capitals and the "role" of some regional capitals to encompass the Arabic revolutions and place barriers and obstacles ahead of their flow or seek to exploit these revolutions to protect the gulf crowns and treasuries at a side and lessen their dangers for the "Israeli" security and the Western interests at another side.

Definitely, the attempts at this level are countless, and the sides orchestrating these attempts are today on a feverish race to gain the American approval to accredit them. At this level, the racers are clearly using all that they have (whether it's their provisions or reserves) to show their political, diplomatic, military, security, and media potentials and competencies to win the American prize. It is not confidential that for a period of time, Qatar has been allured by the game of playing the major roles and showing at the stage of the grandest events to please its ambitions, which over exceed Qatar's strategic need as a small country.

Therefore, it has decided to enter the competition for the American accreditation, even if this competition places Qatar into a crowdedness with countries like Turkey and those of the European Union or even if this might bring Qatar into antipathetic relations with Syria and Iran; yet, even if this brings about the envy among Qatar, Riyadh, and the other Gulf capitals. However, Qatar is not going to miss this chance, particularly when it sees that it is the most capable of accomplishing the list of the American conditions and wishes at these critical times the region is going through. The wishes can be summarized as such:

- Isolating the influence of the Arabic revolutions and the uprising climates they provoke in the Nation's atmosphere away from the "Israeli" security, in addition to maintaining the present security equations that ensure the sustenance of the Western interests and their expansion in the area
- Holding control over these revolutions and redirecting them in a manner serving the Western policies in general and the American ones in particular; this means creating barriers and obstacles to prevent revolutions from breaking out in the remaining countries of what used to be called the "Arabic Moderation Camp"; in the meantime, cloning revolutionary models (specifically the Libyan model) at the States of the withstanding and resisting axis, even if this means doctrinal riots (as is the case of Syria today)

- Diverting the change produced by the Arabic revolutions towards the direction that serves the continuation of the "Israeli"-American project that failed in both the July Aggression and the Gaza War; this means continuing to partition the Islamic World and divide it into combating doctrines (Sunnites and Shiites), in addition to altering the priorities of the Arabic world from the "Israeli" enmity to the antagonizing of Iran and the resistance movements in Lebanon and Iraq.

To render its regional role greater and receive the American signature for this role, Qatar relies on its credit, which enables it to do so. In fact, it has accumulated this credit through the past era, and this credit can be exposed as such:

• Since Washington D.C. wants to continue the "Arabic Spring" in the remaining Arabic countries similarly to the Libyan model (currently dragging Syria to trap it in this model), it sees that supporting the Qatari role is beneficial and can be used later on as an international and regional mediator upon the long Qatari expertise in regard to this domain; Qatar has gained this expertise through leading mediations in several internal conflicts in different Arabic countries, among which are its mediation in the Lebanese-Lebanese conflict (the Doha Agreement), its mediation in Yemen (between Sana'a and the Houthis), and the agreement it has made between Khartoum and the rebels of Darfur.

• Making use of Qatar's media capabilities through "Aljazeera" Channel or the media means that it owns in more than an Arabic country, especially when both of the internal and external Qatari media claim to have inspired the Arabic revolutions and to have been the main reason beyond their breaking out and success

• Making use of Qatar's diplomatic competency and qualifications at this level, regarding its branched relations with most of the parts involved in the ongoing, regional conflict, whereby Qatar has relations with Iran, Syria, the Gulf States, "Israel", the Islamic disciplines (particularly the Salafis), and the non-governmental organizations that are active in several Arabic countries

• Its role concerning passing the Western desires directly while treating the Libyan case, dissimilarly to the hesitation of the American allies in such situations, whereby in the "London Meeting", Qatar broke all nationalistic interdictions "and supported the international military interference after it had provided the official Arabic cover for that." It also called for "arming processes of the Libyan opposition and sought to encourage the States of the Libyan neighborhood to share the interference process against Libya".

While Washington D.C. is facing confusion and hesitation in dealing with the flowing regional hesitations, research centers leak sayings that "all of these stances have created a growing American realization that the Qatari diplomacy will be better for the United States as long as all diplomacies of the other American allies oppose the American intentions and drives when it comes to international interference against another Arabic side." The leaks also say that "the problem that will face Washington D.C. is how to encourage Riyadh to accept the diplomatic and regional Qatari power and how to find an alternative role for Riyadh that keeps its regional weight, whereby no Qatari diplomacy arises at the expense of the Saudi Arabian one."

Hereupon, it is easy to understand the stance of "Aljazeera" Channel towards the Bahraini uprising (or towards what is going on in Syria), whereby the media shadowing that it has practiced to cover up the savagery of Al Khalifa's Bedouin governorship (or its practice that is counter to the Syrian incidents) has aimed at Doha's reaching to a double satisfaction of both Riyadh and Washington D.C. to convince Saudi Arabia of accepting the new Qatari role as the United States undertakes finding an alternative role that keeps Riyadh's regional weight, whereby no Qatari diplomacy arises at the expense of the Saudi Arabian one."

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