An Interview With Al-Jazeera Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Sheikh

http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=395

just one more blaming israel for all of their problems....only this guy is the Editor...perhaps he should listen to hamas who claims their problems are their own making.....

In many Arab states, the middle class is disappearing. The rich get richer and the poor get still poorer. Look at the schools in Jordan, Egypt or Morocco: You have up to 70 youngsters crammed together in a single classroom. How can a teacher do his job in such circumstances? The public hospitals are also in a hopeless condition. These are just examples. They show how hopeless the situation is for us in the Middle East.

Who is responsible for the situation?

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most important reasons why these crises and problems continue to simmer. The day when Israel was founded created the basis for our problems. The West should finally come to understand this. Everything would be much calmer if the Palestinians were given their rights.

Do you mean to say that if Israel did not exist, there would suddenly be democracy in Egypt, that the schools in Morocco would be better, that the public clinics in Jordan would function better?

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In the end, is it a matter of feelings of self-esteem?

Exactly. It's because we always lose to Israel. It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel, with only about 7 million inhabitants, can defeat the Arab nation with its 350 million. That hurts our collective ego. The Palestinian problem is in the genes of every Arab. The West's problem is that it does not understand this.

so their egos are hurt..hence they cant do anything.....(sounds like my kids when they were about 5 in nursery)

. . more honest than he intended, look at the cultural / emotional forces that lie at the bottom of this long-running conflict.

To him, peace is not the problem. It is that Israel has not been sufficiently humiliated. It's not childlike - but it's very Arab-like.

be from hamas who makes it clear what their end game is (israels destruction) or the editor of Al jazeer...israel is responsable for all the problems in the arab world and only its removal will make things right.

kind of take the wind out of the:...all israel has to do is pull back to the 67 border argument and peace will prevail......

perhaps he should listen to hamas who claims their problems are their own making.....

You were corrected on this on an earlier thread, so why are you still repeating it? The Hamas guy who wrote the article you refer to DID NOT place the blame solely on the Palestinians as you are making out he did....

that the Hamas spokesmen in his official capacity put the blame on the palestenain problems in gaza squarly on their own shoulders.....one has to really stretch the following sentences to find another meaning:


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20300000-601,00.html

HAMAS Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad has called on fellow Palestinians to cease blaming the Israeli occupation for their troubles and find a way to stop the thuggery and violence that have shattered their dreams of an independent state.

"The chaos, pointless murders, the plundering of lands, family feuds ... what do all of these have to do with the occupation?" Dr Hamad wrote in an article published on Palestinian news websites. "Gaza is suffering under the yoke of anarchy and the sword of thugs. We've been attacked by the bacteria of stupidity and don't know where we're headed."

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i dont see how one can confuse his message:

Why are you emphasising what some journalist in a right-wing newspaper is claiming and then say it's what Dr Hamad said? Don't you realise that The Australian has a bad habit of misrepresenting things when it suits them what with it being a Murdoch rag and all? I remember participating in the original thread that had an article from Ynet about it, and I thought yr praise of this guy was because someone was looking at things and not doing that black and white blame the other side for everything routine that both sides are so good at. I was wrong obviously...

So you think it's not okay to blame Israel for everything but think it's fine to blame the Palestinians for everything? Don't you see the problem with looking at things like that and then complaining that people do exactly the same as what you do but only to the other 'side'?

on edit: I know how you enjoy exercises such as this so I thought I'd give you the link to this one in a recent thread because I'd be interested to see some other people participate...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x158111#158314

as far as the orignal link murdochs paper i think is immaterial in this case. The paper didnt "misquote" Dr. Hamad. The article was quoted elsewhere as well.

i'm hardly saying that Israel is guiltless....but its the principle that i like. The good Dr. (who wants me dead btw), is saying that before we look outside, we 've got our own house to clean.

Just as israel (and posters here blame israel) tends to blame herself for almost everything, the palestenains should err in that diretion as well...and the many posters here should follow suit, thats a good start for a real dialog.

thanks for the link...but i might need a bit more band width......

i'm hardly saying that Israel is guiltless....but its the principle that i like. The good Dr. (who wants me dead btw), is saying that before we look outside, we 've got our own house to clean.

Though I didn't get the impression he was saying not to be critical of Israel before they've tidied up their own internal problems. I thought he was saying that Israel can't be blamed for all of the crap stuff that's happened/happening in Gaza....

Where I'd strongly disagree with you is when you say Israel tends to blame herself for almost everything. Israel has a tendency to go in the other direction, imo...

as far israel blaming ourselves...depends...the foreign ministry will do what they do-play politics..our talk shows, news papers, etc will find everything wrong with our own society. (and they're right lots of times.....embarrasing as it may be to me)

you do realize that sharon is in a coma because the religious put him there as punishment for gazas withdrawl?...they prayed for his demise

then simply telling them it isn't true is not going to help.

I can't tell where your editorializing stops and the article begins, and vice-versa.

i wrote fast....

Was this an interview or an interrogation?

"Of course, often you stir up conflicts. For example, in the case of the Mohammed cartoons."

"Of course, many people claim that you outright staged the conflict."

"You sound bitter."
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The tone and tenor we take when interviewing Arabs, especially Arab leaders, always seems to be so confrontational and disrespectful compared with how we treat other Westerners or Israelis. I can see why they would want their own programming.

Interviewer: Do you mean to say that if Israel did not exist, there would suddenly be democracy in Egypt, that the schools in Morocco would be better, that the public clinics in Jordan would function better?

Al-Jazeera Editor: I think so.