First comes a laughably transparent butter-up and a slice of humble pie, along with sweet words for the Bush administration:
Since I created, founded, and started to edit Al-Jazeerah, on January 24, 2002, I took the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press in the United States extremely seriously.
In the last four years, Al-Jazeerah has become a forum and a herald celebrating these freedoms in the United States. No matter how much the works published were critical of the Bush administration, I have never been contacted by any government department or agency telling me to stop publication of any work, let alone stopping Al-Jazeerah as a whole. This is for the historical record and in celebration of these freedoms.
[…]
From day one until today, Al-Jazeerah has functioned as an educational publication that promotes peace in the world, particularly between Palestinians and Israelis and between Americans and Iraqis, arguing that peace starts with ending the occupation.
[…]
It has been a fulfilling experience, more than four years of long hours of hard work everyday without any material gains. My gratification has been providing education to whoever seeks it, particularly to my fellow Americans.
But for Al-Jazeerah to continue as it has been, I need assistance from at least two people working full time with me.
I appeal to American institutions and individuals to grant Al-Jazeerah.info a large grant for this purpose, not for me personally.
Then comes the arrogant demand: Mr. Hassan El-Najjar doesn’t want any “small donations from readers” and he won’t accept funds from any “foreign entity.” Nope, the lucky donors have to be Americans with big bucks or they have to be US “institutions.”
Can you spell G-e-o-r-ge S-o-r-o-s? How about Theresa Heinz
Let’s see if Al-Jazeerah gets the dough. And lets see if they admit who gave it.
Guesses anyone??
My favorite bit of taqqiya: "From day one until today, Al-Jazeerah has functioned as an educational publication that promotes peace in the world, particularly between Palestinians and Israelis..."
I'll bet this guy used to sell cars.
12 comments:
Dymphna,
thanks for this information. It is bizarre how little this person understands about freedom of the press. It is curious that he doesn't know that freedom of the press does not mean that the government funds the press.
On a related note many of your readers may not be aware that Al-Jazeerah.info, the site mentioned in your post, is not the same as the much-reviled Al-Jazeera network that so frequently broadcasts OBL videos and other anti-American propaganda.
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage
The former, as I have always understood it, is a small, independent website written mostly by one person, Dr. Hassan El-Najjar. The latter is the Qatar-based news organization that thinks of itself as the CNN of the Arabic world. My understanding is that these two are in not affiliated.
again, thanks for bringing this information to our attention.
You know...I still like the idea of running an ARM down their wavelength but....
Peace ? The peace of the graveyard possibly.
Hello there, I want to ask the same as Raw Data. George Soros is simply a great man. As he is a Hungarian (so am I) I know his works and views well and about some of them I'm concerned too but the last thing what hw would do is giving money to that "peacemaker" tv.
I'm sure there must be more than few Saudi oil sheiks with a few bajillion petro-dollars in their pockets who can fund this enterprise. A quick glance at their home page shows headline stories on the “Martyrdom of Shaikh Ahamed Yassin” and this beauty – “Yasser Arafat: A Leader Who Did Not Compromise the Rights of his People”
Piss on him.
Raw Data said, "So if you have some evidence that Soros has given (or would be very likely based on past activities to give) to Al-Jazeera then fine. Spit it out. Show us the goods. Otherwise, you might want to withdraw your statement and admit as inappropriate loose talk."
RD, a google search on strings like "soros aljazeera" turned up the following information on the blog of Ellen Hume.
"(The Middle East) has never been a hospitable region for journalists or U.S.-sponsored media training. The U.S. government did some limited media development work in the 1990's, mostly in the narrow area of Palestine, the West Bank, and Gaza. (3) A few ngos also contributed. Sadly, their handiwork now is in jeopardy. The Ford Foundation, Internews and Soros' Open Society Institute helped create a television station at Al Quds University in Ramallah. Modeled after American public television, it offered an alternative to the authorized propaganda and game shows typical of the region, with live sessions of the Palestinian Legislative council and a Palestinian-Israeli version of "Sesame Street."
This source claims that Soros' Open Society helped create a television station at al Quds University in Ramallah. If this is true, do you still think it far-fetched that he would fund or support al-Jazeera or an affiliate?
thoughtfully,
starling
We're in a war.
If that story is true, especially as a jew, Soros is so arrogant in his self righteousness, he is suicidal. That's his right, but I wonder if doing so, using his money to fund those whose public pronouncements are blatantly racist (the choice of the LARGE majority in 'palestine') in nature, and whose back ground (Sayd Qutb - muslim brotherhood) requires our extinguishment as their duty before God in the end is more than one step removed (in time of war again) from what Mr Arian sits in jail for, and will be deported for.
In WW2 would he be donating to Heidleberg, or Kansatsu Tehnological?
Would he generate grants for Tokyo Rose's staff to find material?
Sorry Starling but while this guy reaches fewer people than his larger brethren, he says the same thing, as his site indicates. Too bad he has no search function or we could see if he also said, 1200 dead in Jenin.
Starling--
Thanks for the correction. I'll do an update on that...interesting, two of them. I picked it up from Google and didn't even look.
raw data's comment:
Why would you think George Soros would give them money?
Because he likes to fund things of questionable value. Like moveon.org
Or is that simply a knee-jerk conservative reaction?
What does a simple knee-jerk conservative reaction look like? I have certain ideas that are conservative, and some that are not.
Blame things on someone else? Take no responsibility yourself?
Ummm...what am I supposed to be taking responsibility for in this story?
Just blame-blame-blame like infants do.
No, infants repeat-repeat-repeat. Obviously you haven't been around any babies lately. They aren't capable of the kind of projection you're suggesting that I'm guilty of.
I used Soros because of his financial history... Here, for example, from Wikipedia:
"On Black Wednesday (September 16, 1992), Soros became instantly famous when he sold short more than $10bn worth of pounds, profiting from the Bank of England's reluctance to either raise its interest rates to levels comparable to those of other European Exchange Rate Mechanism countries or to float its currency. Finally, the Bank of England was forced to withdraw the currency out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and to devalue the pound sterling, and Soros earned an estimated US$ 1.1 billion in the process. He was dubbed "the man who broke the Bank of England."
The Times October 26, 1992, Monday: "Our total position by Black Wednesday had to be worth almost $10 billion. We planned to sell more than that. In fact, when Norman Lamont said just before the devaluation that he would borrow nearly $15 billion to defend sterling, we were amused because that was about how much we wanted to sell."
In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad accused Soros of bringing down the Malaysian currency, the ringgit."
Ol' George also said he'd spend his fortune to keep Bush out of the White House. Soros obviously likes to break things, whether they be currencies or people.
I do not think he is a nice man, though I'm sure he believes in what he is doing. People who are willing to destroy and destabilize are not to be trusted.
__________
As for my words, style, or contents of my post, that is up to me. If I want to be flip, I can. You don't have to read the blog, and you can skip any entries you don't like, or not visit at all. But snarky comments don't add anything to the mix.
Based on your response to my post, you certainly picked the right adjective for your nic.
Lone Ranger--
Hah. You don't think the Jews are going to be allowed to die *that* peacefully, do you? The Koran is about blood and guts, not about drowning. Nope, we're talking obliteration here.
Besides, what if the sea parted and the Jews walked across. Imagine the Arab frenzy!
No, I think the Persians have a bomb and they're dying to show it off. How can they resist? Besides, it allows them to get rid of those pesky, expensive Palis at the same time.
Alas, indeed, dear uncooked data. Thus chastened by your amazering powers of deception, I shall hie myself to a ninnery, there to contemplate my many sins as delineated by such a shining soul.
Out, out, bright light! Your reflection is hurting my eyes....
Give it a rest, raw. You are a self-righteous, pompous and unintelligent twit. I feel justified in name calling since the last time you visited us with your superior wisdom, you called the baron a "right wing boob" and this time managed to call Dymphna an "infant", and bemoan the absence of "intelligent life on this blog". Beam yourself up, pal.
Your original point, as usual, was somewhere between trivial and nonsensical (how can you prove or disprove someone "might do" something"?) and dished up as usual with a dose of insult. In this case your dudgeon was provoked in response to an offhand light-hearted jesting (get it?) remark about a fairly odious man (the man who broke the Bank of England in 1992 and thereby destroyed the savings of countless pensioners to line his own pockets, did the same with millions of poor Asians in the late 90's, and has since devoted his fortune to saving the world from GWB and TGWOT). If you want to get overheated and pompous about something why not try something worth arguing about?
As for "facts", do you actually have any "facts" about Soros? (don't answer, I don't actually want to hear from you). You didn't present any, just accusations of ignorance and another juvenile snit.
You are free to seek a forum that is up to your high standards. I recommend this blog and its esteemed author - you and he share a similar "debating" style. Deny us the light of your divine wisdom - we can take it.
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