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Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

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Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is unlikely that reliable numbers will come out of Gaza with the media blackout and two sides who both want to present information "favorably" At least until the war has subsided and independent orgs can gain access.

Gaza Health Ministry numbers are a reliable floor, as confirmed by numerous organizations like the US State Department. The real count probably above 100k dead so far.

100k would be well above any estimates I've seen from any source

This is the best meta-analysis I've seen: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/gaza-fat...

Here is another that questions the statistics of the underlying reported data: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-securit...

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#412
post #176

Just a point about Al Jazeera that is worth mentioning. There are two Al Jazeeras. One which is presented to Western audiences and one which is presented to Middle-Eastern audiences. The media and articles are politically aligned in each region. Don't assume what you read in the US/UK/wherever is the same as over there. In the case of Israel, the Middle-Eastern unit were literally showing videos demanding further upr…

> Why would you allow that to continue in your country? We have a constitution that protects our rights, and among them a right to make up our minds on the basis of an uncensored discourse. That's the other, implicit half of the first amendment: the right to listen to what others want to tell you.

Exceptions: yelling fire in a crowded theater and TikTok.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On what basis in Al Jazeera a fake news outlet?

As someone who was only familiar with Al Jazeera's English reporting (and thought it was pretty good), it was eye opening to check out their Arabic website translated into a language I speak. Maybe Google Translate was erasing some nuance, but I saw a huge number of controversial, disputed, or downright false claims that were reported uncritically as facts.

I've done similar in the past, mostly to try to get early sight of news. Never come across anything even close to what you claim.

Can you provide citations?

If not, I'd suggest you are just making this up.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#415
post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their journalist were trained at BBC. It is funny that BBC exactly fits your definition :-) BTW both have very high standards and make excellent journalism. I'd like to see examples of bad Al Jazeera journalism instead of just attacks to Qatar monarchy.

The BBC doesn't fit my definition as it's run by a democracy with a high degree of human rights and civilian freedoms. And journalism can be technically right while still showing a very one sided view. Not that I'm pro ban, just saying that there's a good reason to be vigilant when it comes to their news coverage and make sure it's not you're only source.

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Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#416

"and block its websites." So this keeps Israelis from reading Al Jazeera. Now that's new. Israel started Internet censorship in 2017.[1] Initially it was limited to "terror group websites, online illegal gambling, prostitution services, hard drug sales". At the time, "due to warnings from rights groups that the law poses a slippery slope toward additional censorship, the final version of the legislation dictates that…

> The US White House press secretary issued a weak statement condemning Israel's action, but it was on April 1st and the costumed Easter Bunny overshadowed that statement.[7] Wow you can't make this stuff up

Armando Iannucci's career has twice now been upstaged by the increasing ridiculousness of reality in politics.

One of the reasons he says he stopped making his first series, The Thick of It, was that UK politicians became parodies of themselves. There was nothing left to make fun of. Then the same thing happened to his American incarnation, Veep.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#417
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't realise they had two versions, but it makes sense. Is the anti-infidel version only available in Arabic then?

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I can't find any indication that what you claim is true. Can you provide citations?

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#418
post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it downright perverse to call genocide "retaliatory" and the act of covering it up "normal".

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I think the issue is that you are saying things are "normal" without addressing whether or not they are right and good.

I would probably agree with you that it's normal for a country at war to want to control information flow. But that's absolutely a bad thing! Obviously not all "information" is created equal: some of it is high-quality and objective, and some of it is lies (and everything in between). I don't trust pretty much any government entity to be objective about these sorts of bans, though. The ultimate consequence of these sorts of things is a poorly-informed, propagandized public.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a loaded argument that requires citations. Since you're making the claim, can you please link specific articles from the Arabic site that make your point? As well as linking which Arab countries banned it and when? It's easy to just claim something, but it's crucial to back your point up front when it's particularly sensitive so as to not inadvertently spread misinformation. You may be correct, but that's why…

>which Arab countries banned it and when? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1980191.stm https://english.alarabiya.net/media/digital/2017/05/24/Websi... https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/28/al-jazeera-ban... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-censorship-idUSKBN1...

Yeah, that's why I asked for when as well. Ceejayoz addressed the first point; I'll link this to address two and four:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/14/media-blocked-threatened...

Although VoA is the USA's state sponsored news outlet, they have reasonably good analysis on what led up to the 2013 ban. https://www.voanews.com/a/al-jazeera-iraq/3306460.html

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#420
post #51
post #15

I’m not sure about “dark day for the media” but it does feel like a dark day for Israel. Once you’ve established that the government can unilaterally ban a voice for reasons of “national security” you’ve essentially given them a free pass. As Americans living post-9/11 will know, “national security” is a deliberately elastic term that can cover anything required in the moment.

The EU has banned many Russian and Belarussian news sources since the invasion of Ukraine. The USA seems to not have followed through (as far as I know - as Russian news sites seem to be available).

Yeah well the EU isn't exactly a bastion of freedom. There is not freedom of speech there.
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