Friday, January 16, 2004
(Via Angry Left, who always seems to have a lot of interesting links not always found elsewhere, much like the sadly missed Voice from the Commonwealth) This is worth a remark. The Arab satellite station Al Arabiya has decided to stop using the term "martyr" to refer to suicide bombers, and some people are none-too-happy about it.
Saudi station drops 'martyr' - The Washington Times: World
Irritation with the network, which has carried several reports critical of the Palestinian cause, is so intense that one of its reporters was pulled from his car and beaten last week.
Yussef al-Qazzaz, a senior official with the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp., directed an angry outburst mainly at local correspondents working for the popular Saudi news channel.
Al Arabiya, concerned about terror attacks in Saudi Arabia, recently ordered its reporters in the Palestinian territories to stop using the word "martyr" to describe Palestinian victims or suicide bombers, and make do with the word "dead" so as not to glorify those who carry out similar acts at home...
Language is a weapon in the battle, after all.
What's also interesting here is that we get yet another glimpse of how the press is manipulated and outright intimidated by totalitary thugs.
According to Mr. Shahin, a Palestinian, his attackers cited his critical reporting of a celebration by Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian political organization, in which civilians were wounded by the unrestricted firing of rifles into the air.
Mr. Shahin also had criticized the reported expenditure of $3 million on the celebrations. The reporter said he previously had received death threats from persons identifying themselves with Fatah.
The television channel's office in the Gaza Strip has been ransacked in the past after critical reports about Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and senior officials of the Palestinian Authority...
