By Aya Kordy
Al-Jazeera was praised for its reporting on the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and commentators stated that although Al-Jazeera obviously sympathized with the Palestine resistance the coverage was very professional and provided alternative opinions. However, the coverage was criticized by Egypt because it also gave considerable airtime to opponents of Egypt's official approach to the conflict. One focus of the critique was the fact that Egypt had been unwilling to open its border to allow humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and in interviews broadcasted by Al-Jazeera, critics blasted Cairo’s position that many saw as proof of Egyptian complicity with Israel against the Palestinian resistance.
About a month ago Egyptian security forces clashed with a pro- Palestinian convoy led by the British MP George Galloway who spent the past month travelling from London to deliver 198 truckloads of aid and supplies to Gaza. Several protestors and policemen were injured after clashes at El-Arish, a few miles away from Gaza. Soon after there was large protests by Palestinians just over the border inside Gaza. Hamas, then called for a protest over the delay of the “Viva Palestina aid convoy”, which quickly got out of hand. An Egyptian border guard watchtower was shot dead and stones injured nine others, and several Palestinians were seriously injured. Egyptian officials told the convoy some of their trucks could not pass through Rafah. But had to enter into southern Israel and then pass through Israeli-controls, crossing Gaza. However, there was no guarantee that the trucks would be allowed to enter the strip, on top of that George Galloway refused to pass through Israel.
In an interview George Galloway said, “ I was determined to try and avoid the 27th of December being a confused date, it ought to have been the date that all eyes and all fingers were pointed at Israel the criminal that killed 1400 people in 22 days, most of them women, children and civilians. I begged Egypt not have everybody pointing at them, and have everybody with their eyes on them instead of Israel. If they had behaved sensibly they would have said to their “friends” in America and their friends in Tel Aviv, look sorry this is a very sensitive anniversary for us you’ll have to cut us some slack, you’ll have to give us a bit of sensibility here or we are going to end up being blamed for something that Israel did, and that’s exactly what happened.” Of course as a motivated humanitarian George Galloway is concerned about the people in Palestine, however; he is blind sighted of Egypt’s point of view. Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, explained that the government is protecting its people and its nation and that other countries should accept the Egyptian protocol, clarifying that Egypt helped and still helps Gaza in so many ways, but, Hamas abused the power by smuggling weapons across the border. Furthermore, he elucidated that the murder of an innocent soldier protecting his country was completely off the line and that Egypt “Will no longer allow convoys, regardless of their origin or who is organizing them, from crossing its territory.” Nonetheless, Al Jazeera regarded Egypt as taking sides with Israel, explaining how welcoming other countries were like France and Jordan while Egypt was uninviting and undesirable to the convoys. Egyptian media commentators stated that the coverage of Gaza was a “despicable media war against Egypt.”
In an interview George Galloway said, “ I was determined to try and avoid the 27th of December being a confused date, it ought to have been the date that all eyes and all fingers were pointed at Israel the criminal that killed 1400 people in 22 days, most of them women, children and civilians. I begged Egypt not have everybody pointing at them, and have everybody with their eyes on them instead of Israel. If they had behaved sensibly they would have said to their “friends” in America and their friends in Tel Aviv, look sorry this is a very sensitive anniversary for us you’ll have to cut us some slack, you’ll have to give us a bit of sensibility here or we are going to end up being blamed for something that Israel did, and that’s exactly what happened.” Of course as a motivated humanitarian George Galloway is concerned about the people in Palestine, however; he is blind sighted of Egypt’s point of view. Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, explained that the government is protecting its people and its nation and that other countries should accept the Egyptian protocol, clarifying that Egypt helped and still helps Gaza in so many ways, but, Hamas abused the power by smuggling weapons across the border. Furthermore, he elucidated that the murder of an innocent soldier protecting his country was completely off the line and that Egypt “Will no longer allow convoys, regardless of their origin or who is organizing them, from crossing its territory.” Nonetheless, Al Jazeera regarded Egypt as taking sides with Israel, explaining how welcoming other countries were like France and Jordan while Egypt was uninviting and undesirable to the convoys. Egyptian media commentators stated that the coverage of Gaza was a “despicable media war against Egypt.”
The media conflict is seen as reflecting a wider gap between those who support US policy in the region and those who oppose it. The former group includes Egypt, whereas the other includes Qatar, where Al-Jazeera is based. Moreover, in recent coverage by Al-Jazeera on the clashes between Egyptian and Algerian soccer fans the media channel believes that it was in objective terms, and did not demonize Egypt in anyway, while the Egyptians are in complete discrepancy. The coverage acknowledges that Egyptian fans were attacked and threatened, and cites a number of sources from international media such as CNN and the BBC, nevertheless; the channel never emphasized or highlighted the whole scandal, and gave it the amount of coverage it needed. The main issue, that Egypt has with Al-Jazeera, is the fact that Qatar is a part of a group of nations which do not support Egypt’s policies in the region, and especially that Qatar is a strong allay with Iran, while Egypt supports the US. Consequently, any criticism of Egypt is biased, while the coverage should be in fact comparatively neutral and objective.
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