Al-Jazeera and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

I just had a nice conversation with a cab driver which started somehow with us discussing TV and how most TV programs and channels are a waste of time. I listed a few that were good, however, like History Channel, Discovery Channel, and yes, HBO. I mentioned that news programs were generally good as well, as long as they were mostly news. He then said to me, "can I ask you a personal question, and if you don't mind, could you answer me honestly?" I said sure, of course.

He asked what I thought of Al-Jazeera's coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I gave him my usual spiel, and noted that what I object to about Al-Jazeera in this regard is that they give mostly favorable coverage to the Palestinian side and have mostly stories covering the plight of the Palestinians, while ignoring those Palestinians and Palestinian groups which commit wanton acts of violence, terrorism, and are actively trying to stop any peace process. In addition, I think Al-Jazeera only covers Israeli news which relates to the conflict, and if it is supposed to be a "Middle East focused" news station, it should treat Israel in this regard like it does all other countries in the Middle East.

In any case, he told me that I have to see Al-Jazeera's coverage of the conflict in a context of occupation and resistance. This of course is a prevailing notion here among others explaining causation for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which I agree is part of the issue but not all of it. I told him that in that context I understand, from the Palestinian side, that when someone kills an Israeli soldier in the West Bank, that is seen as "resistance." Fine. Obviously, I am very upset when that happens, but if you are going to try to understand the other side, this is a point of view which can be backed up by logical arguments about occupation and resistance. However, I explained, when Palestinians shoot rockets from Gaza into Israel proper, or when suicide bombers blow themselves up on buses or gunman shoot students in schools, this is not resistance. This is terrorism. And when Al-Jazeera does not make that clear, and calls the people who commit these acts "martyrs," that is completely unacceptable.

At that point I was ready to get out, and he either did not have a response or had had enough. Regardless, it was a very friendly conversation, and we both parted with smiles on our faces.