A funny thing happened to me when I went to AlJazeera.Net.
After reading the article from The Nation, about the bad rap that Al Jazeera gets for being an independent news source, I attempted several times to access the website. As I sat in the Stern Computer Lab, switching computers each time I was logged off, I started to think, maybe this was not just a technical error. After all, no one else in the room seemed to be having problems using the Internet.
From a young age, as a member of the Jewish community, I was raised to think of Al Jazeera as the lowest of the low, the worst type of propaganda that could easily be equated to that of the Nazis. Yet, for the brief few minutes, on each computer, that I was able to browse the website, I found myself shocked at the fact that most of the headlines present were similar to those I had seen on CNN.com earlier that day. As I browsed the site, in my limited time, I was very impressed and shocked to find a Code of Ethics. In this Code of Ethics, I found rules that any Western paper would have. Ideals of factual observation, objectivity, and desire to print the truth were all espoused.
In Jeremy Schahill’s article, the author discusses the secret memo concerning President Bush’s plan to bomb Al Jazeera headquarters. America’s war on Al Jazeera, Schahill concludes, is for no other reason than for the fact that it does not espouse Western views. Bombing Al Jazeera would be as undemocratic as, hypothetically of course, a university restricting use of its computers to access a particular website.
In discussing this issue with the computer room and other friends, the resounding opinion was that, if in fact Yeshiva University does restrict website use in its computer labs, it is in the interest of security. The last thing anyone wants, one friend said, is for some website user to be linked to Al Jazeera and the Stern Computer Lab. Yet, I disagree. If in fact, Yeshiva University restricts computer usage (which as a disclaimer I would like to say that this totally could have been a fluke, and just a series of bad coincidences) they are being just as un-Western as the accused, Al Jazeera.
It seems that we are victims of propaganda concerning Al Jazeera ourselves. We are told of how bad they are on a double front. As Jews, we are told to see them as anti-Semitic and attacking our people. As Americans, we are told to see them as aiding and abetting terrorism.
Funny how when we finally decide to find the truth, we cannot access the website.
After reading the article from The Nation, about the bad rap that Al Jazeera gets for being an independent news source, I attempted several times to access the website. As I sat in the Stern Computer Lab, switching computers each time I was logged off, I started to think, maybe this was not just a technical error. After all, no one else in the room seemed to be having problems using the Internet.
From a young age, as a member of the Jewish community, I was raised to think of Al Jazeera as the lowest of the low, the worst type of propaganda that could easily be equated to that of the Nazis. Yet, for the brief few minutes, on each computer, that I was able to browse the website, I found myself shocked at the fact that most of the headlines present were similar to those I had seen on CNN.com earlier that day. As I browsed the site, in my limited time, I was very impressed and shocked to find a Code of Ethics. In this Code of Ethics, I found rules that any Western paper would have. Ideals of factual observation, objectivity, and desire to print the truth were all espoused.
In Jeremy Schahill’s article, the author discusses the secret memo concerning President Bush’s plan to bomb Al Jazeera headquarters. America’s war on Al Jazeera, Schahill concludes, is for no other reason than for the fact that it does not espouse Western views. Bombing Al Jazeera would be as undemocratic as, hypothetically of course, a university restricting use of its computers to access a particular website.
In discussing this issue with the computer room and other friends, the resounding opinion was that, if in fact Yeshiva University does restrict website use in its computer labs, it is in the interest of security. The last thing anyone wants, one friend said, is for some website user to be linked to Al Jazeera and the Stern Computer Lab. Yet, I disagree. If in fact, Yeshiva University restricts computer usage (which as a disclaimer I would like to say that this totally could have been a fluke, and just a series of bad coincidences) they are being just as un-Western as the accused, Al Jazeera.
It seems that we are victims of propaganda concerning Al Jazeera ourselves. We are told of how bad they are on a double front. As Jews, we are told to see them as anti-Semitic and attacking our people. As Americans, we are told to see them as aiding and abetting terrorism.
Funny how when we finally decide to find the truth, we cannot access the website.
posted by juliafm at 10:01 PM
2 Comments:
I would not jump to blame YU - I couldn't access the website from my computer and the library either. I think it has something to do with the website.
I've spoken with both the head of MIS and the Dean of Libraries, btw, and it really does seems that this was merely odd coincidence -- I'm told there is no filtering software on our computers. I'd be curious to hear more about your views on how it is that your expectations were so very different than what you found there. . . . . .
Post a Comment
<< Home