海角大神

Amid聽all the聽talk of聽Qatar鈥檚 alleged support for聽terrorism, at the core of聽the聽Gulf聽Arab聽countries鈥� ongoing blockade of聽the oil- and gas-rich emirate聽is one major source of contention: Al Jazeera.

A central demand of the Gulf states lead by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates 鈥� relayed by mediator Kuwait and allegedly leaked by Qatar 鈥� is for the Gulf country to 鈥渃lose Al Jazeera network and its affiliates.鈥� Other key demands: downgrading ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base in Doha.

Why the intense focus on the pan-Arab TV network?

Funded and launched through loans and grants from the Qatari government, even those who are not critics say it is at times hard to determine where Doha-based Al Jazeera ends and Qatar's interests begin. However, network officials say they have had complete editorial freedom over the past two decades.

Despite its more recent, brief foray into the American cable news market, Al Jazeera鈥檚 reputation in the West is still colored by the aftermath of 9/11, when the network鈥檚 inclusive coverage was seen as providing a platform for leaders of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, particularly Osama bin Laden.

But Al Jazeera was and is controversial in the Arab world for a much different reason. When launched in 1996,聽the network was seen as a revolutionary force bucking a largely conservative and autocratic status quo.

In an era in which state-run media dominated the Arab world, Al Jazeera聽for the first time聽broadcast聽differing views and opinions, and聽raised聽political awareness.

Today, with the long-term stability of聽many聽Gulf regimes far from secure, experts say states such as Saudi Arabia and the聽UAE are exerting all their diplomatic and economic might to bring an end to Al Jazeera in a vain bid to close聽its聽Pandora鈥檚 box of democratic and聽liberal聽social values.

The other opinion

When Al Jazeera formed in 1996, the media landscape聽in聽the Arab world was bleak.

State-run TV stations聽that聽broadcast聽propaganda and the regimes鈥櫬爒ersion of events were the only accessible news. Opposition parties, unionists, analysts, and even average citizens who dared to contradict the official party line on everything from聽the Palestinians聽to bread prices were banned.

鈥淎rab TV did not even have live interviews 鈥� state TV could trust their anchors, but they couldn鈥檛 even trust interviewees to carry the party line,鈥� says Daoud Kuttab,聽a聽veteran Palestinian journalist and executive board member of the International Press Institute,聽a Vienna-based organization that advocates for press freedom.

The monopoly on information served autocratic Arab regimes,聽none more so than聽Gulf聽Arab聽countries, which used state-run newspapers, broadcasters, and clerics to聽dictate聽positions on聽social聽issues, discourage dissent, and cement聽the leaders鈥櫬爄mage as benevolent rulers.

But聽when聽staffers of the recently shuttered BBC Arabic Television聽launched Al Jazeera, the old rules of Arab media were thrown聽out.

Opposition politicians were allowed to speak. Everyday citizens, and their economic and political struggles, were highlighted. Analysts聽say it shook the Gulf states to their core.

鈥淭hese regimes are not elected, they fear anything that relaxes their grip on power, and they have the media under tight control 鈥� Al Jazeera blew that all away,鈥� says Hugh Miles, editor of Arab Digest.org and author of 鈥淎l Jazeera: How Arab TV News Challenged the World.鈥�

鈥淚t is a direct existential threat to their system.鈥�

Program聽presenters and聽their聽guests聽openly聽discussed聽democracy, human rights, corruption, and citizens鈥� rights 鈥� what many call a 鈥減olitical awakening鈥� in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Under its motto, 鈥渢he opinion and the other opinion,鈥� Al Jazeera expanded its approach to international affairs, exposing the Arab public for the first time to competing views on issues across the world. For every Osama bin Laden video tape, there was a rival Northern Alliance fighter. It interviewed Hamas spokesmen and Israeli generals. For every fiery cleric there was a secularist, or even an atheist.

鈥淲e never knew there was an opposition in Libya, we didn鈥檛 know there were Kurds in Syria or heard from Shiites 鈥� all these minority and opposition groups that were gagged were given a voice,鈥� Mr. Kuttab says.

Platform for Islamists

By including a diverse array of voices, the network highlighted the contradictions in Gulf states鈥� foreign policy 鈥� often tied to their major ally, the US, and unpopular with Arab publics 鈥� such as toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraq war.

The station鈥檚 willingness to bring in different voices led聽Arab governments聽to label聽the聽station聽alternatively聽as a聽tool of the CIA, a Mossad creation, a propaganda arm for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein,聽or聽an Al Qaeda mouthpiece.

Al Jazeera鈥檚 focus on the political opposition also gave a substantial platform to Islamists, who for decades had been marginalized and pressured by Arab regimes.

The station gave particular space for the Muslim Brotherhood, which called for political openings in the region.聽The Brotherhood was聽identified by Gulf regimes as the greatest threat to their Arab allies and the only true opposition force that could one day challenge their rule at home.

These fears would only grow following the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, during which Al Jazeera聽was criticized for devoting聽a substantial聽amount聽of positive coverage聽to聽the post-revolution Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt and聽to the聽Islamists in Tunisia and Libya 鈥� putting Qatar at odds with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

鈥淥fficials in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi would prefer that clerics from groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood not have any Arab media outlet which can serve as their platform to deliver messages to citizens not only of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but also the greater Arab world,鈥� Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of the DC-based Gulf State Analytics,聽a geopolitical risk consultancy, says聽via email.

Social commentary

Although Al Jazeera host and benefactor Qatar follows a conservative interpretation of Sunni Islam, Al Jazeera has provided airtime for diverse views, encouraging debates on theological and practical daily issues.

The airing of differing views on Islam has been a blow to Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, which rely on their control of the religious establishment to cement their legitimacy聽鈥� using an army of paid clerics to sell their policies and praise their leadership.

Friday聽sermons in Saudi Arabia have been used to promote its catastrophic war in Yemen, stir up sectarian hatred of Iran, and to ensure fealty to kings and princes.

鈥淎l Jazeera makes these regimes look stupid, it undoes all their work by getting on sheikhs that are more individually minded and democratically inclined,鈥� says Mr. Miles,聽the editor and author.

鈥淭hey are attacking their religious legitimacy, which is extremely sensitive.鈥�

Al Jazeera聽has聽addressed social issues and taboos often discussed in heated debates at home but never broadcast聽on-air: honor killings, the plight of migrant workers, suicide bombings, sexual harassment.

鈥淲e opened a huge debate and exposed a lot of contradictions in the well-established orthodoxy of traditional organizations, including political and religious groups,鈥� says Wadah Khanfar, former director general of Al Jazeera from 2003 to 2011.

鈥淎l Jazeera not only confronted governments, but religious authorities and social structures to address the issue of women鈥檚 place in society, our relationship with the West, and other matters which are preventing our society from progressing to democratic聽states.鈥�

Uprising

Gulf states have seen Al Jazeera鈥檚 potency by its aggressive coverage of, and according to many analysts, catalyzing of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, which included smaller-scale but threatening protests that hit Gulf states Bahrain, Oman, and parts of Saudi Arabia.

鈥淲hat we are seeing today is a realization by these governments that if these voices continue, they are going to see more crowds, more public insisting of rights,鈥� Mr. Khanfar says.

It聽has聽yet to be seen if the Gulf聽Arabs鈥櫬燾ampaign can succeed in censoring Al Jazeera or shutting it down altogether. Previous attempts to launch competing networks, such as Saudi Arabia鈥檚 Al Arabiya, have failed to rival Al Jazeera鈥檚 reach. Meanwhile, a generation of social media activists and citizen journalists, taking their cue from Al Jazeera, continue to work through sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

鈥淭he factors which made Al Jazeera so popular among Arabs years ago will not disappear,鈥澛爏ays the Gulf State Analytics鈥� Mr. Cafiero,聽鈥渞aising questions about how much Riyadh and Abu Dhabi could even achieve politically from successfully pressuring Doha.鈥�