Morsi’s Win Is Al Jazeera’s Loss
Al Jazeera Arabic’s love affair with the Muslim Brotherhood was clear from the channel’s beginning, writes Sultan al Qassemi. And since the Brotherhood decided to run a candidate for the Egyptian presidency, the channel has blatantly promoted him. What viewers end up with is propaganda, and it's damaged more than one revolution.
“Mohammed Morsi reminds Egyptians of President Gamal Abdul Nasser.” Thus proclaimed Al Jazeera Arabic’s Cairo bureau chief Abdel Fattah Fayed shortly before the new president was due to take oath, apparently in reference to his down-to-earth behavior. Not only was this statement incorrect, it would ironically be offensive to Mohammed Morsi himself, who only a day before deplored the Nasser era using Koranic language. And yet, this is only one minor incident in the channel’s history of romancing the Muslim Brotherhood and its victorious candidate President Mohammed Morsi.
Al Jazeera Arabic’s love affair with the Muslim Brotherhood was evident from the channel’s beginning. Its chief religious program’s main guest is none other than Yusuf Al Qaradawi, a long-time Muslim Brotherhood member and resident of Qatar who has taken that state’s citizenship.
