As Arab leaders head back home from Tunis to ponder on their next moves toward building reform in their respective countries, they need to remember the following. For democracy to catch on, there are two key ingredients, without which, all hope for change would be wasted. First, a free press is a prerequisite for a free and democratic society.
Memo to all al-Jazeera bashers: The Qatari-based satellite channel — and its clones — may not be perfect, but it is a step in the right direction. The Arabic television channels have pushed ajar the door to democracy in the Middle East and removed the monopoly on news from state-controlled media. Instead of being fought, they should be encouraged and given constructive criticism.
The second requirement is independent political parties that can function freely and without fear of government interference and reprisal.
As President George W. Bush prepares to unveil his Greater Middle East Initiative at the G8 summit in Sea Island, Ga., from June 8-10, he should impress upon Middle Eastern leaders that talking about democratic reforms without meeting these two requirements — a free press and political parties — is a waste of time.
erm… where approximately are we now?
Comments
Gaddafi
The only good thing that came out of the Arab Summit was Gaddafi’s press conference after he withdrew. This self-publicist performed excellently in his one man show. What a nutter, I couldnt stop laughing.
Re: Gaddafi
and before that he lights a cigarette and blows smoke towards Mubarak and says “hmmm, American cigarette!”
I’ll hire this clown for the children’s party any time!
Ingredients for change
Forgot the women! Your other post got me to thinking it wasn’t all that long ago in this country that people did use their power to take advantage of women in every way they could. I’m not a feminist, but think they have made a big difference in equal rights and other social problems in America within the last 40 years.
Ingredients for change
Wonder if this is true?
Via David’s Medienkritic, a german blog:
Ohhh, got this via David’s Medienkritic:
THE GERMAN WEEKLY DER SPIEGEL CLAIMS TO HAVE ORIGINAL SECRET DOCUMENTS IN ARABIC IDENTIFYING 24 AL-JAZEERA AND MEDIA PERSONALITIES WHO WERE PAID BRIBES BY THE IRAQI MUKHABART. THE LIST INCLUDES THE DIRECTOR OF AL-JAZEERA MUHAMMAD JASSIM AL-ALI, WHO HAS SINCE BEEN FIRED, AND ABDUL BARI ATWAN, THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY AL-QUDS AL-ARABI. (AL-TAAKHI, IRAQ, 5/23/04)
Can’t find that claim on SPIEGEL’s website. Let’s see how that turns out.
Sandy P.
Re: Ingredients for change
That’s as may be. The fact of the matter is that Al-Jazeera IS the pioneer in this area of the world for broadcasting as broadcasting should be, rather than state-controlled pure propaganda.
In my view, no matter how bad Al-Jazeera is portrayed as, it is the BEST that we’ve got, and everyone else is playing catch-up.
Believe me when I say that it is one of the very few catalysts for democracy we have in this God-forsaken area of the world.