Transcript
How the Middle East covered 9/11
September 13, 2002
BOB GARFIELD: From WNYC in New York this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone. As America observed the anniversary of 9/11, the rest of the world did too. A satellite TV news service called Worldlink offers thorough uncut broadcasts of the news elsewhere, and its Middle East service called Mosaic followed the coverage there. Mosaic producer, Jamal Dajani, a Palestinian-American, said that in some ways the anniversary observances throughout the region were radically different from our own, but in other ways they were very much the same.
JAMAL DAJANI: It was very graphic; almost every station played the same stuff that was played on American television -- dedication, the Ground Zero, the destruction-- President Bush's speech -- but at the same time they had different stories -- stories for example about the effects of 9/11 on the-- Arab-American communities and the Muslim communities in the United States.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Let's begin with some of those -- the stories we wouldn't have heard here.
JAMAL DAJANI:For example from Al Manar [sp?] Television which is the voice of the Shiite Muslims from Lebanon, and it's financed by Iran - they're -basically wanted to highlight the discrimination, the pain of the Muslim and Arab communities in the United States. But on the other hand, other stations, for example Future Television [sp?] from Lebanon -- they feature a Palestinian-American story; he's an attorney, and how the events of September 11th has changed his life; how it made him feel more American than Palestinian; how his definition of terrorism has changed.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: With regard to Iraqi state TV I think we can pretty much predict how they would react to the events.
JAMAL DAJANI:Iraqi state television had an interesting story. They were talking about the usual that the United States is going to use the September 11th as a pretest to invade Iraq, but they also criticized American media for making such a big production out of it to bring fear to the American public.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And the Israel broadcast authority?
JAMAL DAJANI:Israel broadcast authority on the other hand, their coverage is very Americanized. For one thing, they do not question who are the perpetrators. There is no doubt the guilty party is Bin Laden.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:But you didn't find that in either Jordan or in Egypt. These broadcasters tend usually to take a more moderate line. How did Jordan cover our 9/11 anniversary?
JAMAL DAJANI: Jordan chose to cover a story about the conspiracy issue. There is a circulating story about the Arabs did not cause this or it's not Bin Laden - it's more sophisticated for any one individual to, to pull, so it must have been the work of the CIA or the Mossad. So-- they had an Algerian-French writer that wrote a book questioning whether a plane has struck the Pentagon or was it a, a missile.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:Right. That book has been a big seller in France, and it suggests that this was some effort by the Bush administration itself to pump up the military budget by faking an attack.
JAMAL DAJANI: This is a big hit. I mean they are looking also for ratings like everyone else.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: There were quotes in the Times from Egyptians who said "In America a pigeon isn't even allowed to fly without government authorization. How could Egyptians possibly have commandeered a plane to do that?" And I wondered, did Egyptian television echo the line of that person quoted in the Times? Did they echo this belief in the conspiracy theory?
JAMAL DAJANI: Actually our story did show that. From Nile Television we had a story -- actually it was a live interview with Dr. Zaglula Nadjar [sp?] -- and, and he was questioning the reasons for the attack. And he said "Listen, how could you indict Bin Laden? How could you come up with just a straightforward accusation? After all, JFK has been dead for so many years, and still Americans are questioning who committed that crime. So how could we just so quickly say well, it is Bin Laden?"
BROOKE GLADSTONE: What surprised you most about the Middle Eastern coverage on September 11th -- what didn't you expect?
JAMAL DAJANI:I, I wasn't expecting that they're going to produce, for example, Palestine TV stories showing the Palestinian children carrying banners saying No to Terrorism, carrying banners saying that We Sympathize with, with the Victims of 9/11.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:As you've reviewed the coverage for me now, it sounds as if it ranged all over the map. Was there anything that seemed to unite the reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that you could point to?
JAMAL DAJANI: Yes. Absolutely the sympathy is very prevalent, but you have in the Middle East 22 different countries, and about 280 million people, and each has a different opinion, a different position. But absolutely I would say every country-- is not supportive of terrorism. They're as shocked as the American public are shocked here with these horrific events.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Jamal Dajani, thank you very much.
JAMAL DAJANI: Thank you for talking to us.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:Jamal Dajani is producer of Mosaic News from the Middle East on Worldlink TV. You can find it on satellite TV and at WorldlinkTV.com.
September 13, 2002
BOB GARFIELD: From WNYC in New York this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone. As America observed the anniversary of 9/11, the rest of the world did too. A satellite TV news service called Worldlink offers thorough uncut broadcasts of the news elsewhere, and its Middle East service called Mosaic followed the coverage there. Mosaic producer, Jamal Dajani, a Palestinian-American, said that in some ways the anniversary observances throughout the region were radically different from our own, but in other ways they were very much the same.
JAMAL DAJANI: It was very graphic; almost every station played the same stuff that was played on American television -- dedication, the Ground Zero, the destruction-- President Bush's speech -- but at the same time they had different stories -- stories for example about the effects of 9/11 on the-- Arab-American communities and the Muslim communities in the United States.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Let's begin with some of those -- the stories we wouldn't have heard here.
JAMAL DAJANI:For example from Al Manar [sp?] Television which is the voice of the Shiite Muslims from Lebanon, and it's financed by Iran - they're -basically wanted to highlight the discrimination, the pain of the Muslim and Arab communities in the United States. But on the other hand, other stations, for example Future Television [sp?] from Lebanon -- they feature a Palestinian-American story; he's an attorney, and how the events of September 11th has changed his life; how it made him feel more American than Palestinian; how his definition of terrorism has changed.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: With regard to Iraqi state TV I think we can pretty much predict how they would react to the events.
JAMAL DAJANI:Iraqi state television had an interesting story. They were talking about the usual that the United States is going to use the September 11th as a pretest to invade Iraq, but they also criticized American media for making such a big production out of it to bring fear to the American public.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And the Israel broadcast authority?
JAMAL DAJANI:Israel broadcast authority on the other hand, their coverage is very Americanized. For one thing, they do not question who are the perpetrators. There is no doubt the guilty party is Bin Laden.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:But you didn't find that in either Jordan or in Egypt. These broadcasters tend usually to take a more moderate line. How did Jordan cover our 9/11 anniversary?
JAMAL DAJANI: Jordan chose to cover a story about the conspiracy issue. There is a circulating story about the Arabs did not cause this or it's not Bin Laden - it's more sophisticated for any one individual to, to pull, so it must have been the work of the CIA or the Mossad. So-- they had an Algerian-French writer that wrote a book questioning whether a plane has struck the Pentagon or was it a, a missile.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:Right. That book has been a big seller in France, and it suggests that this was some effort by the Bush administration itself to pump up the military budget by faking an attack.
JAMAL DAJANI: This is a big hit. I mean they are looking also for ratings like everyone else.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: There were quotes in the Times from Egyptians who said "In America a pigeon isn't even allowed to fly without government authorization. How could Egyptians possibly have commandeered a plane to do that?" And I wondered, did Egyptian television echo the line of that person quoted in the Times? Did they echo this belief in the conspiracy theory?
JAMAL DAJANI: Actually our story did show that. From Nile Television we had a story -- actually it was a live interview with Dr. Zaglula Nadjar [sp?] -- and, and he was questioning the reasons for the attack. And he said "Listen, how could you indict Bin Laden? How could you come up with just a straightforward accusation? After all, JFK has been dead for so many years, and still Americans are questioning who committed that crime. So how could we just so quickly say well, it is Bin Laden?"
BROOKE GLADSTONE: What surprised you most about the Middle Eastern coverage on September 11th -- what didn't you expect?
JAMAL DAJANI:I, I wasn't expecting that they're going to produce, for example, Palestine TV stories showing the Palestinian children carrying banners saying No to Terrorism, carrying banners saying that We Sympathize with, with the Victims of 9/11.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:As you've reviewed the coverage for me now, it sounds as if it ranged all over the map. Was there anything that seemed to unite the reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that you could point to?
JAMAL DAJANI: Yes. Absolutely the sympathy is very prevalent, but you have in the Middle East 22 different countries, and about 280 million people, and each has a different opinion, a different position. But absolutely I would say every country-- is not supportive of terrorism. They're as shocked as the American public are shocked here with these horrific events.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Jamal Dajani, thank you very much.
JAMAL DAJANI: Thank you for talking to us.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:Jamal Dajani is producer of Mosaic News from the Middle East on Worldlink TV. You can find it on satellite TV and at WorldlinkTV.com.