Obama Campaign’s Muslim American Affairs Coordinator Resigns

As if the Obama campaign isn’t having a difficult time reaching out to Muslim Americans…

Found this interesting blog post responding to Mazen Asbahi’s resignation as Muslim American Affairs Coordinator for Barack Obama’s Campaign:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/perspective-on-mazen-asbahi.html

Mazen's resignation comes after … well… after accusations that he served on a business board with a prominent Chicago community Imam who was linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood political movements (?)   However, Mazen left the board once he learned about the accusations against the Imam. So he spent less than a few weeks “tied” to an Imam with fundamentalist political ideals.

Mazen is my cousin and I had the chance to catch up with him at a wedding a few weeks ago. He was excited about taking part in Obama’s campaign – wore his lapel pin and all at the wedding reception and all! He said he had big plans for motivating Arab and Muslim Americans to get involved in “change.” I don't endorse either campaign, but his passion for "change" and motivating the Arab American community to take part in it was inspiring. It is disappointing to see that misinformation has pushed him away from a great opportunity that seemed perfect for the prominent and accomplished lawyer.

It will be interesting to see how/if both presidential campaigns will significantly reach out to Arab Americans. Can you think of anything either contenders have done so far?

Guide to Arab World participation at the Beijing Olympics

As a Palestinian and an Arab I was extremely proud to see such a large contingent of athletes from the Arab World participating in this year’s Olympics. Even though they are being held in Beijing, one of the most repressive nations in the world, the Chinese people themselves have a tremendous and rich culture and heritage that was spectacularly represented in the opening ceremonies. I doubt any opening ceremonies can ever match the spectacle that China orchestrated.

But seeing all the Arab countries participate is an enormous source of pride we should all share. I am especially excited that the Palestinian Athletic team continues to grow, despite Israel’s oppressive occupation policies. Here’s a rundown of some facts I was able to glean from the opening ceremonies and from my own research:

Boycotts:

1956 Games Melbourne, Australia Boycott: to protest the Israeli- planned invasion and occupation of the Sinai.

1976 Games Boycott in Montreal, Canada. Africa’s nation’s boycotted the game sin Montreal after New Zealand broke a world boycott of South Africa’s apartheid regime and participated in a rugby competition. South Africa was banned from Olympic games.

1980 Games Boycott in Moscow, Soviet Union, to protest the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The boycott was initiated by the United States.

1984 Games Boycott. Citing terrorism threats against their team members, the Soviet led a boycott of the Los Angeles, United States games, also partly in protest to the boycott organized in the prior summer games by the United States.

Highlights:

The Arab Nations have hosted their own Olympics. The 11th Arab Olympic Games were held in Egypt in 2007. It was previously hosted by Egypt in 1965 when it was founded to promote Arab Nationalism by Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser.

South Africa was banned from the Olympics between 1964 and 1992 because the nation prohibited Blacks from participating as athletes in its sports programs.

Islamic extremists have threatened to kill female athletes from Muslim countries that have participated in the Olympic Games.

The Arab Athlete to watch: Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco won the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres at Athens 2004, becoming the first male athlete since Paavo Nurmi, 80 years earlier, to succeed in that double. Prior to Athens, El Guerrouj had won 84 of his 89 races at 1,500 metres or a mile since 1996, At Atlanta 1996, he tripped and fell in the final, finishing 12th. At Sydney 2000, he placed second to Kenya’s Noah Ngeny. The sports pros believe he has a shot at Gold and was named by Time Magazine as one of the top 50 athletes at the Beijing Olympics.

The Olympic Torch in the Biejing Games made its way through only one Arab city and country, arriving in Muscat, Oman on April 14, 2008, the ninth leg of the torch relay that eventually opened the Beijing games in a spectacular display August 8, 2008. The international leg of the Olympic Torch Relay took 33 days and crossed five continents and visited 21 countries. More than 2,000 torch bearers participated in the relay. The 20-kilometer torch relay (of 137,000 total km) in Oman began at al Bustan Palace which features a wooden dhow used to make an eight month water voyage to Guangzhou, a harbor city in southeast China, in 1981.

The International Olympic Committee determines how many athletes a nation may enter into competition, not the athletes’ country.

Although China hopes to use the Olympics to soften the tarnished image caused by its oppressive policies and restrictions on civil rights, the country still is among the leaders in blocking web sites from foreign nations, mostly political or that feature news, opinion and information.

The official IOC Olympics web site (www.Olympics.org) is the worst resource for information on the games.

Arab Countries in the Biejing Olympics:

The Arab League was established in 1945 and it currently has 22 member nations defined as being Arab. Here’s a rundown of Arab countries and their Olympic histories:

ALGERIA – athletes. First competed in 1964. One of 26 nations led by African nations to boycott the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada. Competed in Moscow and Los Angeles, Atlanta and Sydney. Has won 12 Olympic medals, including three in 1996 and five in 2000.

In 1996, 1500m runner Noureddine Morceli and lightweight boxer Hocine Soltani won gold. The five medals it won in Sydney were the most ever at a single Games for Algeria. Its lone gold medal in Sydney went to Nouria Merah-Benida in the women’s 1500m. Hassiba Boulmerka won Algeria’s first gold medal in the 1992 Barcelona women’s 1500m. The prior year in 1991, Hassiba Boulmerka of Algeria scored a stunning upset victory in the 1 500m run at the World Athletics Championships. When she returned to Algiers, she was hailed as a national heroine and as a model for Arab women who wanted to break away from restrictive roles. But she was also condemned by Islamic fundamentalists and was forced to move to Europe to train.

BAHRAIN – 15 athletes. Planned to attend the 1980 Olympics but boycotted along with many countries to protest the Soviet Unions invasion of Afghanistan, and attended its first Olympics in 1984. Has never won an Olympic medal, though Adel Darraj won a bronze medal in taekwondo when it was a demonstration sport at the Seoul Olympics.

COMOROS – 3 athletes. Founded its Olympic Committee in 1979 and was officially recognized by the IOC in 1993. Was one of 25 countries that made its Olympic debut in Atlanta. Never won a medal.

DJIBOUTI – 2 athletes. Made its Olympic debut in 1984, when it sent three athletes to Los Angeles in 1984. In 1988, Djibouti earned its first and only Olympic medal when Ahmed Houssein Salah won a bronze in the marathon. He returned this year to carry Djibouti’s flag in the opening ceremony for the competing athletes.

EGYPT – 104 athletes. First competed in 1912. From 1960 to 1968, competed with Syria as the United Arab Republic, but it is believed that most of the athletes were Egyptian. Boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980 because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Has won 21 medals. Mohammed Ali Rashwan’s silver in the open judo division in 1984 ended a medal drought since 1960.

Egypt was a weightlifting power in the 1930s and 1940s, dominating the lighter classes. Won five medals in Athens (one gold, one silver, three bronze). Karem Gaber won gold in men’s Greco-Roman wrestling (96kg/211.5 lbs) and boxer Mohamed Aly won silver in the men’s super heavyweight (91kg/201 lbs). No Egyptian woman has ever won an Olympic medal.

IRAQ – 4 athletes. Iraq made its Olympic debut in 1948 and has earned one Olympic medal: Abdul Wahid Aziz’s weightlifting bronze in 1960. In 2004, after the United States invaded and then occupied the country, the Iraqi men’s soccer team qualified for Athens.

JORDAN – 7 athletes. Made its debut in 1980 by sending four athletes to the contentious Moscow Olympics, breaking the Arab League boycott of the Soviet Union because of its invasion of Afghanistan. It has competed at each Olympics since. Has never won an Olympic medal.

KUWAIT – 8 athletes. Kuwait first competed in 1968, and has competed continuously since. Won its first Olympic medal at the 2000 Sydney Games - Fehaid Al Deehani won bronze in the men’s double trap shooting event. Danah Al Nasrallah became Kuwaiti’s first female Olympian in Athens, where she competed in the women’s 100m.

LEBANON – 6 athletes. Lebanon first competed in 1948. Boycotted the 1956 Games in Melbourne to protest Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula. Has won four Olympic medals, none of them gold, and none since 1980. Three have come in Greco-Roman wrestling, the other in weightlifting.

LIBYA –7 athletes. In 1964, Libya’s only athlete in Tokyo was marathon runner Fighi Hassan, but he got sick and could not compete, delaying Libya’s entrance into the Games until 1968. Did not participate in the 1984 Games, although it was not part of the Soviet-led boycott. Did not have any athletes competing in Sydney though it did send a delegation. Sent eight athletes to Athens. Has never won an Olympic medal.

MAURITANIA – 2 athletes. Mauritania was to have competed at the 1980 Games in Moscow but boycotted. Made its debut at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Had two athletes in both Sydney and Athens. Has never won an Olympic medal. It’s athletes in Track & Field are Bounkou Camara and Souleymane Chabal El Moctar.

MOROCCO – 49 athletes. Has won 19 Olympic medals - six gold, four silver, and nine bronze. Thirteen of the medals have come in men’s track and field. First competed in 1960. Was one of four African nations to participate in the Opening Ceremony of the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, before withdrawing from competition in solidarity with the 22 other African nations that had boycotted the Games. Boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow.

In 1984, Nawal El Moutawakel won the women’s 400m hurdles and Said Aouita won the men’s 5000m. Some consider Aouita, who was a world-class athlete at every distance between 800m and 10,000m, to be the greatest runner of all time.

Its most infamous medal came in Barcelona - Khalid Skah’s controversial win in the 10,000m. Skah’s lapped teammate, Hammou Boutayeb, interfered with Kenya’s Richard Chelimo, who held a slight lead over Skah. Skah won the race, but Chelimo’s initial protest was granted by officials and he was considered the winner upon Skah’s disqualification. The ruling was later overturned and Skah reinstated as the winner.

Won two medals in Atlanta, both track and field bronzes - Khalid Boulami (men’s 5000m) and Salah Hissou (men’s 10,000). Added five medals in Sydney (one silver, four bronze). The biggest shock was the performance of Hicham El Guerrouj in the men’s 1500m - Kenya’s Noah Ngeny upset the favored Moroccan, who, for the second time, entered the Olympics as a favorite and left without gold.

In Sydney, El Guerrouj managed to hang on for the silver. In Athens, he settled for nothing less than gold, winning both the men’s 5000m and 1500m. He became the first man to do since Finnish great Paavo Nurmi accomplished the feat in 1924. Hasna Benhassi won Morocco’s other medal in Athens, a silver in the women’s 800m.

OMAN – 4 athletes. Made its debut at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Has not won a medal. Buthaina Yaqoubi is Oman’s first female athlete to compete in an Olympic game. Buthaina Yaqoubi will compete in the women’s 100m sprint, as well as the long jump or the triple jump. Oman won its first gold medal in the Asian Games held in Beijing in 1990 by 400-meter runner Mohammed bin Amer Al Malky. Other athletes include shooter Dad Allah Al Balushi, and athletes Abdullah Al Sooli, and swimmer Mohammed Bin Nassib Al Habsi.

PALESTINE – 4 athletes. Made its Olympic debut in Atlanta. Palestine was so excited about the possibility of competing in the Olympics that a Palestinian Olympic Committee was one of the first things established after the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat signed a peace agreement on the White House lawn in October 1993. Even though the Palestinian Authority is not a state, its status as an independent territory makes it eligible for the Olympics.

Sent just two athletes to Atlanta and one of them competed. Majdi Abu Marahil, who had a full-time job in Force-17, Arafat’s secret service, finished last in the first round of the men’s 10,000m.

Sent two more athletes to Sydney - swimmer Samar Nassar and men’s 20m race walker Rami Deib Abdel Hami. The Athens delegation consisted of three athletes, including a female flag bearer: Sanaa Abu Bkheet, a 19-year-old 800m runner.

For years, Israel blocked recognition of “Palestine” arguing it was not a sovereign nation, yet non-sovereign nations like Puerto Rico, for example, which is an American territory, have a tradition of participation, since 1948. Puerto Rican athletes can participate on either the Puerto Rican or the American teams.

QATAR – 22 athletes. Qatar boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow. First competed in 1984. In 1992, Mohamed Sulaiman finished third in the 1500m to win Qatar’s first Olympic medal.

In Sydney, weightlifter Saeed Saif Asad (one of eight former Bulgarian weightlifters who Qatar bought for a reported $1 million) won bronze in the men’s 105kg/231 lbs division. He was formerly known as Angel Popov.

Many nations attract foreign athletes and give them citizenship, but Qatar is often singled out by the mainstream American media, which has an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias, as having “bought” eight Bulgarian weightlifters prior to the 2000 Sydney games, resulting in one bronze medal. In 2004, several African runners applied for and received Qatari citizenship and competed. One of its best gold medal prospects would have been Saif Saaeed Shaheen, the 2003 world champion in steeplechase, a Kenyan who became a Qatari citizen two weeks before the 2003 World Championships. But Shaheen did not receive clearance from the Kenyan National Olympic Committee to run for Qatar in Athens.

Doha bid to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016, but was eliminated in June 2008 as a result of a negative Western media campaign.

SAUDI ARABIA – 17 athletes. Debuted in 1972 and has since missed only the 1980 Moscow Games. Was the first country to announce it would boycott the 1980 Games in response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan; the declaration came two weeks before Jimmy Carter announced the U.S. boycott.

After sending just nine athletes to Barcelona, Saudi Arabia had a team of 35 competitors, all male, in Atlanta. Won its first Olympic medals at the 2000 Sydney Games. Hadi Souan Somayli won the country’s first medal, a silver, in the men’s 400m hurdles. Khaled Al Eid later won bronze in equestrian’s individual jumping competition. Did not win a medal in Athens.

Newscasters make a point of always saying its team is “all male.” Women are prohibited by Saudi Arabia’s government from participating, but many other nation’s also have teams that are also only all male.

SOMALIA – 2 athletes. Somalia has never won an Olympic medal. Boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow. The country’s best hope in Atlanta, Abdi Bile, the 1987 world champion at 1500m, finished sixth in the final. Somalia sent two athletes to the Biejing Olympics, Samiyo Yusuf, a young teenaged woman who competes in the 800 meters race for women, and Abdinasir saeed, a young man in his early twenties who will compete in the 5000 meters race for men.

SUDAN – 9 athletes. Sudan has never won an Olympic medal since first competing in 1960. It first participated in a team sport at the 1972 Games, when the men’s soccer team qualified. Boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow.

SYRIA – 7 athletes. Syria made its Olympic debut in 1948, sending a diver to the London Games. It first participated in a team sport at the 1980 Games, when the men’s soccer team competed in Moscow.

Syria has won two Olympic medals. The first was a silver earned by freestyle wrestler Joseph Atiyeh at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Atiyeh, a student at Louisiana State University at the time, was pinned by American Lou Banach in the final.

The second medal was by heptathlete Ghada Shouaa, Syria’s only female athlete in Atlanta. Shouaa won the gold medal in Atlanta - her country’s first Olympic title. First competed in 1948. From 1960 to 1968, competed with Egypt as the United Arab Republic, but it is believed that most of the athletes were Egyptian. Has never boycotted.

TUNISIA – 4 athletes. Has won six medals in the Olympics, four of them by distance runner Mohamed Gammoudi - in 1964, a silver in the 10,000m; in 1968, a gold in the 5000m and a bronze in the 10,000m; and in 1972, a silver in the 5000m. Gammoudi is in some select company. He is one of six men who have won multiple medals in both the 5000m and 10,000m, joining Flying Finns Paavo Nurmi, Ville Ritola and Lasse Viren, Sweden’s Edvin Wide, and Czechoslovakia’s Emil Zatopek.

Was one of two Arab nations and four African nations to participate in the Opening Ceremony of the 1976 Montreal Games and then join a 22-African-nation boycott of those Olympics. Boycotted in 1980. After failing to win a medal in Barcelona, Tunisia won a boxing bronze in light welterweight thanks to Fathi Missaoui. Its last Olympic medal came in 1996.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – 8 athletes. 1980, but did not compete in Moscow. Made its Olympic debut in 1984. In 2004 in Athens, shooter Ahmed Almaktoum won the nation’s first medal, a gold in men’s double trap. Maitha al Makthoum will compete in taekwondo, and Latifah al Makthoum will compete in show jumping (equestrian). Maitha is the daughter of Mohammed bin Rashid al Makthouhm ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE and Latifah is a niece. NBC sports reporters said that both are al Makthoum’s daughters.

YEMEN – 5 athletes. Until 1990, Yemen was divided. Yemen made its Olympic debut as a unified country in Barcelona. South Yemen boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Games and made its first appearance in Seoul with six athletes. North Yemen made its debut by sending two athletes to Los Angeles in 1984 and it sent 11 athletes to Seoul, where one of them made headlines.

Abdallah Alizani, a Greco-Roman wrestler, was believed to become the first Arab athlete to follow through on the Arab policy of not participating in head-to-head competition with Israelis. Alizani failed to appear at his first-round match against Israel’s Dov Grobermann, who was awarded a victory by forfeit.

(Compiled by Ray Hanania from numerous broadcast and online sources. Contact Ray with any updates at www.TheMediaOasis.com and by email at rayhanania@comcast.net.)

Analysis of the media wars taking place behind the scenes in Palestine

Fadi AbuSada, a journalist member of NAAJA based in Bethlehem, Palestine, has an interesting column today about the war taking place between the partisan media allied with Fatah and Hamas.

Read Column?

While the world focuses in the politics of the tensions between Hamas and Fatah, the division of the Gaza Strip politically from the West Bank, and the recent news of changes in the Israeli government, not enough attention is being given to the conflict waged against journalists in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Follow up on the DISUNITY Journalists of Color conference

I would not go to UNITY. There was no place for me. I could have sat through the panel discussion on Arab Americans proposed by the National Arab American Journalists Association (NAAJA) and then rejected by UNITY, but then hosted thanks only to the intervention of the Asian American Journalists Association, but I have had enough of being exploited by people who claim they care when they don't.

Several Arab American journalists who did attend said they were shocked at how few Arab American journalists attended, and that is no slight on the professionalism of those few who did participate on the panel that was offered only to patronize and shut Arab American journalists up.

Imagine, Barack Obama was invited to speak to UNITY and the focus was ont he very topics that are closest to the heart of Arab American journalists, except UNITY didn't think we had any real place at their exclusive journalism country club.

But a few did take notice. Emil Guillermo of Asian Week did a great column addressing the issue. I'll interview him for a podcast on what he saw and experienced at UNITY. Here's his column that he wrote before going to the DIS-UNITY conference.

And this is a column by Lou Ransom of the Chicago Defender. It takes real courage to speak out about the phoniness of the conference, a conference that claims to represent minority journalists of color but in fact is really controlled by mainstream media. They control the money and just because they pick a few front people to stand up in the window doesn't mean they care about changing the industry.

Here's Lou's column in the Chicago Defender this week.

But Arab American journalists are not going away and neither is the Middle East conflict, which is mainly a "threat" to America because Americans don't think they need to really understand the real issues in-depth. American mainstream journalism has an understanding based on their own comfort and convenience. They see the issues in a way that makes them think they know what's happening, but they don't. And that phony knowledge in a way, unfortunately, exposes the American people through their lack of knowledge to great tragedy and threats.

Don't just put all the blame on the terrorists for the threats we face. You have to blame it on our own refusal to understand and our conscious acts of racism that oppresses those the mainstream media dislikes.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

UNITY pushes for diversity in mainstream media, but not really in their own ranks

UNITY: "Journalists of Color" are gathering in Chicago this week promoting a limited constructed definition of "diversity" that represents only a small percentage of "journalists of color." The group was founded by Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American journalists some 20 years ago and they have done a great job of keeping other "journalists of color" out of their leadership ranks and out of a major presence during this year's quadrennial convention. And they haven’t let any other major group "of color" into their inner sanctum since.

UNITY is pandering to the non-UNITY colored journalists, including olive-skinned Arab American journalists, in much the same way as the mainstream White media panders to UNITY's "founding" members. I guess after working for "the man," you learn things and start practicing both the good and the bad.

Of course, UNITY has some token panel discussions on Arab American issues buried deep in their thick agenda of alleged diversity exploration, the fact is that UNITY is more of an oxymoron than it is an effective voice for "journalists of color." UNITY is a voice for Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native American journalists and that's it.

The mainstream media doesn't care because the last thing they want is for more journalists to demand a place at "the table" and expand the rainbow. And honestly, I don't believe that's what UNITY really wants either. I think UNITY is less about "journalists of color" and more about "journalists of clout color." They have a certain number of seats at the journalism table and they don't want to make room for more journalists.

How else do you explain their refusal to work with Arab American journalism organizations, for example, by respecting them? I can imagine that's how the mainstream media must have treated the first African American journalist who tried to demand a place at "the table,"  to be given the first seat in the theater of "journalism diversity." I bet the mainstream media hated that person as much as they are now disparaging me when the issue comes up. (No one likes the person who stands up for civil rights until the issue is won.)

Of course, there are groups supporting diversity from the mainstream media, like the Tribune Foundation. They can't help Arab American journalists much as our group doesn't have a 501 (c) 3 designation. So, diversity does come down to money, not principle, I guess?

But later today, The Tribune Foundation will release a study they funded for UNTIY on the Washington Press Corp which reiterates what it discovered the last time they studied diversity in the journalism clique in the nation's capitol. There isn't much diversity for "journalists of color" or even UNITY's definition of "journalists of clout color." Then, the Tribune Foundation study deterined that less than 10.5 percent of the reporters, correspondents, columnists, editors and bureau chiefs in the Washington daily newspaper press corps are "journalists of color" - 60 out of 574.

I bet they didn't include Arab Americans who live in limbo. Blacks consider Arabs White and Whites consider Arabs Black. That tension between Blacks and Arabs is also a possible source behind the refusal of UNITY to address Arab American concerns more seriously.

Long before Sept. 11, 2001, Arab Americans have been discriminated in this country by the mainstream media. Since, that discrimination has only increased and more and more Arab American journalists are being either pushed from jobs or pressured into minimizing their "Arab identity" to the point were several over the past few years have actually been forced out of their journalism jobs.

You won't hear UNITY talk about those problems. I'll bet every Arab American journalist pushed from a job has been replaced by a "journalist of clout color."

But you will hear UNITY talk about how to cover Arab Americans, a panel suggestion made by the National Arab American Journalists Association (NAAJA) that thankfully one UNITY member cares about. The panel was advocated by the Asian American Journalists Association which has shown a real concern for the plight of Arab American journalists, which spins off of an internal presence of a significant number of Muslims in the Asian community. (Okay, one of the big problems is that mainstream and "journalists of color" interchange words that are not interchangable like "Muslims" and "Arabs" but that's okay when they do it out of compassion not discrimination.)

So we won't be at UNITY. Ironically, UNITY is trying to compensate by increasing from one to two the number of panels addressing Arab American related issues -- they want to dilute the term "Arab" and convert it into the broader "Middle Eastern" category. And, they have at least one function at one of our Arab American restaurants.

Too bad there are not more Arab American journalists participating at UNITY. There could have been. But maybe that's too much diversity for UNITY to swallow.

Ray Hanania
www.NAAJA-US.com
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Arab Families Yield Genetic Clues to Autism

While our blog has mainly focused on national or political issues concerning Arabs, there are many other newsworthy Arab issues and contributions across all news divisions. One in particular – health.

One in 150 children within the United States is diagnosed with Autism – a wide spectrum of developmental disorders. While there is no scientifically proven cause or cure, one study identified nearly a half dozen new genes in autism. The study, conducted by Children’s Hospital in Boston identified these genes by researching Middle Eastern families.

According to researchers, the genes are not inherited by a parent, but are caused by a genetic mutation. In many traditional Arab societies, it is common for cousins to marry – which makes it more likely for the offspring to have a genetic mutation.  Also, because Arabs tend to have more children than average, researchers were able to look at a larger pool of genes within one family. 

Researchers say the genes located of the children with autism disabled connections within the child’s brain, so the child is unable to respond to environmental stimulus.

The researchers say that locating genetic mutations within the Middle Eastern families with autism may lead to spotting one identifiable cause. And by further looking into these mutations, they can develop therapies to reactivate the gene to respond to stimuli. 

-Lara Salahi

Jordanian King declares the local media "the enemy within."

I am still trying to sort through the typically confused and muddled mess over the facts of a recent controversy in the Arab World that involves an Arab government and the Arab media. These things are so rare and are refreshing.

It's not surprising that controversies in the Arab World are so confused and muddled because the media there is mostly controlled and those that are not are mostly pressured, intimidated and threatened with both political punishment, imprisonment and the more frequent pressuring of advertisers to stop buying ads to keep the newspapers afloat.

Yet, in reading both sides of the most recent squabble, it seems that something is wrong and needs more coverage, not less as Jordan's King Abdullah insists. But, on the otherhand, we shouldn't blame everything on the King, because it is true that rumors and lies spread through the Arab orld media far faster than truth, especially when they involve "Israel," as this controversy does. Here's one account of the battle:

It all started with one columnist at a small independent newspaper called Al Arab Al Yawm ("Today's Arab"), Salameh Daraawi, who wrote a column based on an interview with some offiicials in the Jordanian Government that an agency used by Israel to promote the country's 60th Anniversary Celebrations -- an event Arabs justifiably look at in a different perspective, as their "catastrophe (al-Nakba) -- was also hired to help organize the country's national cultural festival.

When word broke, many of the performers said they planned to back out. King Abdullah intervened and in a rare public address insisted it was not true, although somewhere between the accusation and the denial is the real truth.

But it wasn't just about Israel, whose government works hard with its oppressive hypocritical policies and to earn its status as the Arab World's whipping boy. It also had to do with the sale of a major chunck of Jordanian land.

Now, some people look at this issue and say the concern is "the truth," as King Abdullah insists. Others in the media, who are now being harassed and intimidated, say it is also about "the truth," which the Arab World public rarely really gets.

I say this is a good development. What we need is more conflict between the Arab World media and the Arab World governments because in that conflict the public actually benefits. When the media and the public go at it, as they are now doing, they are forced to retreat from their early confident arrogance where they can say whatever they want, to defensive damage control, which usually involves, pulling back, correcting lies, adjusting claims and being more accurate.

Sure, there is going to be siome public relations "spin." But in conflicts like this, the media and the governments are forced to be "accountable." And accountability is more important than the "truth." Because the truth can be spun, distorted, analyzed in conflicting ways, seen in different lights and presented in contrasting context, far more than accountability which is the simple act of making those in power address the issues that concern the public.

The public is not stupid. They are very educated, be it in the Arab World or the West where there is just as much absence of government accountability than in the Arab World. They can tell who is telling the truth, but only when government leaders, and the media, are forced to openly discuss and explain and even squirem a bit by conflicts like this.

The battle in Amman Jordan between King Abdullah and the Jordanian and Arab World media is not a bad thing. It is a good thing.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

If you can't break into the mainstream media, the Internet offers guerrilla journalism

One of the ways I help cover my costs as a freelancer (it's not easy to earn enough money on a consistent basis to pay your bills if you are a freelancer, unless you are wealthy, of course) is to gives speeches, present workshops and offer training on "Guerrilla Journalism." (I have a new book coming out in a few weeks just on that topic, coincidentally.)

Journalism has changed since when I first entered the profession in 1976, although the strategy for minority and ethnic journalists and writers like myself have not changed much. In 1975, after finishing two years active duty during the Vietnam War in the U.S. Air Force, I took my GI Bill (back when the GI Bill had real value, of course) and used it to fund my first Guerrilla Journalism project. I published my own newspaper.

It only cost about $500 a month, coincidentally about what the government was paying me over the course of four years to go to school -- I did go back to school by the way, but the money spent on school that I saved was redirected to publishing my own newspaper. I published a 12-to 24 page newspaper called "The Middle Eastern Voice." In English, every month, and featuring stories that you could not find in the mainstream media. I published it for two years, until I was hired first as a stringer and then later as a reporter for a small community newspaper in the Chicago suburbs, which led me to a 16 year stint at City Hall covering Daley to Daley.

The paper had impact, not only in my community -- which had absiolutely no voice (and still don't) in the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times and local TV and radio stations, but also in the mainstream coommunity. It was in English, with some Arabic. Easy to read. It helps to be a great writer (I'm just polishing a spot on my chest right now.)

In the old days, I wrote the copy on a typewriter and brought it to a typesetter who converted it to type. Gave them my photographs and they laid it all out. It wa svery time consuming. I had little control over design, although I supplied photos and graphics.

Today, I sit at a computer, load up a $600 software program (QuarkXpress) and not only write but place the stories. I then upload the file via FTP (the Internet) to the printing plant and they print it! Cost: About $1,200 for 10,000 copies of a 12 page paper, with four pages of color.

Whenever there was some violence in the Middle East, the mainstream media would call to get my opinions. Of course, the FBI also assigned two agents to follow me around for two years and keep a file -- which I later obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

By the way, an agent later told me if you asked for your file and you didn't have one, they would open one on you. Makes sense to me, more so than profiling. My file was already 45 pages long, filled with a lot of black magic marker lines covering the names of people they interviewed and sources who, for money I am sure, told them I was a "potential terrorist" as documented in the introduction of my report. It ended concluding I was just an American concerned with bettering the status of my Arab American community in this country."

And by the way, and here is where the power of the media comes into play: There was a paragraph that said the FBI agents were instructed not to confront me or speak with me directly as they feared I would write about such an encounter in my newspaper, The Middle Eastern Voice. Which I would have done, of course. (As I did when Jay McMullen called me in the City Hall Press Room in 1979 and threatened to punch me in the nose when I wrote a column suggesting his wife, Mayor Jane M. Byrne, fought his battles for him -- male ego always feeds the hungry news animal. He said if I ever wroite about him again, he would come to the press room and punch me in the nose. I wrote about the threat int he next column.)

But publishing a newspaper is not the only way to go. There are others and I am dabbling in all of them:

Brokered radio programs: It cost between $150 and $300 per hour to host your own radio show live in Chicago.

Column writing: You can write your columns and self-syndicate them directly to newspapers. The pay ranges from $50 to $300 per Op-Ed.

Feature writing: there are many magazines that will purchase your features and payment ranges from $3009 to $2,000 depending on the publication. Generally, here, the less political, the more you will sell. So, you really don't achieve your goal of educating the public unless it is a feature on something that needs educating, like who are the Arab Americans?

Blogs: Blogs are a great way to get out there. Once indexed on Google and Yahoo the world is your oyster, which is what most newspaper editors really look like anyway on a typical, hectic day. The nice thing about Blogs, of course, is you don't need to know how to program web sites or write HTML or XHTML code.

Design and post your own web site. (Mine is www.TheMediaOasis.com.) There is a big debate between writers and artists over which is more effective eye candy or mind candy. Personally, I think content drives repeat and quality visits. Great graphics and heavy Flash may impress the big fish, but if you want to reach the masses, "trash the flash" and replace it with low resolution, small sized, graphics that offer just enough visual to meet the principle a picture is worth a "thousand words" Don't make a picture worth a "thousand MegaBytes."

People in today's work don't want to wait for anything.

Comic strips: If you have the gift of writing and satire, it is nothing these days to put it to a caricature. I do one called "Ray Hanania's World" (after experimenting with a lot of other titles -- this one covered all the wide range of topics, Middle East and domestic and international mainstream politics.) Comics have power. If you can say it in a few words with a decent graphic, you can really make an impact on the audience. Images combined with humor that carry a message can be powerful! PCs and MACs have software that will help you design those cute little "bubbles" and text, the hardest part of a comic strip in my opinion. Practice drawing caricatures. I start with a nose then add the eyes then hair and then mouth. Design the strip on the computer, add the bubbles and the text, title, etc., and then print it out. Hand drawn the images. Scan it in,. save it in a low-resolution format -- you don't want the file to be more th 65 KB because as you add comics, they add up. Place them on a Blog to archive them. (Blogger gives you 500 MB of graphic image space).

Standup comedy, of course. I lampoon the Middle East conflict on stages across America and in Israel and Palestine. (Of course, some Arab activist rgoups have blacklisted me because I "crossed the line" and perform not just with "Jewish" comedians -- which is acceptable -- but I appear with "Israeli" comedians, which apparently is not that acceptable to some activists in the Arab American community. (It's called "haram," or "normalization." Pathetic if you ask me. Activists love this, of course, but when it comes to educating through journalism and professional communications, it gets in the way. But it is great for the "choir" I guess.)

Podcasting -- phenomenal. Video and audio. I tape all kinds of audio and video programs.

Video podcasting:  I use a SONY VX2100 TV quality camera ($1,800). I broadcast on Cable TV, but reach hundreds of thousands of people through the Internet using Google and YouTube video. YouTube has a 100 MB or 10 minute (when the file is compressed) limit. But Google has no file limit. Still, you want to compress a 30 minute program from 1.5 GigaBytes down to 225 MegaBytes, using a compression software once it has been edited (using an editing software program like Vegas for PC, or another).

Audio Podcasting: Easiest. Use SkypeOut (you can call anywhere in the US from your computer and then record the conversation using a veriety of software programs which then save the file to your computer. You can edit it down to the 20 minute ideal limit and then post on a podcasting site that feeds into the behemouth of podcasting sites, iTunes. I use LibSyn.com, which costs me $10 a month to post up to 250 MB of files (about 20-25 files every month. It was great when I was on brokered radio at WCEV 1450 AM -- I'm moving to a new station soon.)

Publishing your own books: CafePress.com is the best place to go to publish your own books. You can publish one (they charge a basic fee based on size and page length) and you add your profit to it. They take orders, print and ship the books to the buyers and send you your commission. Color front and back cover, black and white interior. A 250 page book will cost about $12 to print, add $8 and you are doing far better than a standard book publisher (15 percent after costs). And chances are your book will do just as good through your own efforts as they will through publishers, who don't promote your books unless they anticipate making a fortune off you. So you end up promoting your own books anyway. But in the network of webs and blogs I've just outlined (and using the various strategies to promote your works) you can reach probably more. To publish more than one book, you would need to pay $5 a month of $50 a year. Process payments through PayPal.

Create an online newsletter to keep your fans and followers up-to-date on what you are producing. I use Yahoo. People enter their emails into my little entry boxes (which you can grab in HTML from Yahoo and place on your own web site designs) or just click the email address: mine is eTelevision-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Click it and get-it!

Finally, network everything together. It's amazing that a group of web sitres you manage can network together and build and promote your presence on the Internet exponentially. I use Technorati.com to measure the power of my blogs and web sites. Amazing reach.

Hope this all helps!

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Illinois Open Meetings Act Loophole?

It's tough enough being recognized by the mainstream news media as an Arab American -- most ignore us and most refuse to publish our columns, features and news stories (only covering us when we are "bad Arabs.")

It's even more discouraging when you happen to be Arab American and local governments ignore you because you are not considered "mainstream," even when you walk with one foot in the mainstream base and the other foot in the ethnic media base.

Recently, I came across a posting for a special board meeting by the Village of Orland Park to discuss budget issues. For months, the officials in the village said the municipal finances were in great shape. Suddenly, a few weeks ago on June 27, 2008, on a Friday, the village posted a notice, as required by the Illinois Open Meetings Act, to announce that a Special Village Board meeting would be held on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 6 PM at the village hall.

I cover Middle East and international issues for the Arab American Writers Syndicate and the National Arab American Times Newspaper, but also write about local, regional and national politics for several regional newspapers including the Southwest News-Herald Newspaper. (But for some reason, journalists who happen to be Arab American are pegged as "Arab Journalists." Why keep fighting it? is my sighing motto.)

The notice of the special meeting announced that the topic would be the budget. But, at the very top of the notice was the caution from the village, "NOT FOR PUBLICATION."

Hmmm! What's the point of an Open Meetings Act notice if the government agency issuing the notice tells you not to publicize it.

Apparently, the media that did cover the meeting that Monday night did not pre-publicize the information that there would be a special meeting to discuss the budget. A notice in and of itself about a special meeting being called to discuss the village budget WOULD BE A NEWS STORY, even before the meeting. But, who would publicize it and risk being alienated by the village if they violated the village's caution, "NOT FOR PUBLICATION."

Here's the link to the notice.

Here's the link to my column on the issue.

Turns out that at the meeting, which no one from the public attended, the village officials announced they had a $4.8 million shortfall. In a $127 million budget, that 4 percent shortfall would be the equivalent of a $150 million budget shortfall in the City of Chicago, for example, which is huge and has a budget of $3 billion.

But, who cares and who is listening? Right?

Ray Hanania
http://professivecomicstrips.blogspot.com/

Barack Obama isn't just running from "Muslims," he's running from Arabs, too

In a profession where the term "dumb down" ranks next to the phrase "if it bleeds it leads," one might be expected to better understand the reality of Barack Obama's so-called "Muslim problem." But the problem and the issue is way larger than just whether Obama is a Muslim. It reaches into the depths of the hypocrisies not only of mainstream Americans but also the discriminatory practices of some Muslim organizations against Christian Arab activists and journalists and leaders. It's very complicated, and that by itself explains why it is so much easier to address the entire matter as "Obama's Muslim Problem."

In addressing the issue, many are ignoring the fundamental problem. It is NOT a Muslim issue. It is an issue of stereotyping. Americans can't tell the difference betweenb Muslims and Christian Arabs, but the media can. So we're all lumped into the problem (discrimination against Muslims and Christian Arabs is rampant), BUT, we are separated in the solution. The media only addresses the problems facing Muslims.

America has an "Arab Problem" but Americans don't seem to distinguish between Muslim and Christian Arabs, and many Muslim organizations discriminate against Christian Arabs who don't embrace their agendas or who speak out too forcefully against the extremists in our community. In fact, speaking out against the extremists is more of a crime for many Muslim activists and organizations than media criticizing a Muslim's religion.

In preparation for a Detroit speech recently, volunteers asked a woman in a Hijab to step down from the stage where Obama was to speak -- she would have been visible behind in (this new thing candidates do to show they are "close" to the "people).

Obama apologized, as you would expect a candidate to do even if he didn't want to do it.

Now, the media is filled with stories about the "controversy" surrounding Obama and his "Muslim problem." It was sparked in part by a slip of the tongue by Chris Matthews who reportedly referred to Obama as "Osama."

GOP Jihadists -- extremist Republicans in politics and the talking-head circus that passes itself off as journalist -- are helping to spread false email messages that Obama is a Muslim, has a Muslim agenda, plans to convert Americans to Islam, will be sworn in using the Qu'ran (Muslim holy book). It goes on endlessly.

But it's the media that is perpetuating the myth. Obama isn;'t afraid of Muslims. He is afraid of "Arabs." Had the woman in the Hijab in Detroit been an Arab American -- they come in many varieties but mainly Christian and Arab -- who wore a kaffiyeh on his or her head, the volunteers would have asked that person to stay off the stage.

So when reporters ask, as they are now doing, is Obama's denial that he is a "Muslim" a form of racism, they are contributing to the problem. The real question is this, is the news media married to the better story that Obama is a "Muslim" and ignoring the real issue that they can't seem to tell the difference, like most Americans by the way, between a "Muslim" and an "Arab?"

Even ADC (the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) criticized the notion in a letter to the New York Times that Obama is afraid of associating with Muslims. The letter started out by noting the fear of "Arabs and Muslims" but quickly funneled down to the real focus, Muslims.

There are about 7 million Muslims in America and the majority are non-Arab. Only about 22 percent are Arab. There are about 4.5 million Arabs in America, and the vast majority are Christian Arabs (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Baptist and more).

Muslim leaders like Salam al-Marayati are questioning Obama as a "self-hating Muslim," a loathsome term for anyone's religion. Yet, al-Marayati heads up an organization that sometimes is criticized for marginalizing Arabs by focusing on Muslim issues only even though it embraces Arab World issues that include many non-Muslims. Many Muslim groups pander to Arab American issues under the Islamic umbrella, and as a result Christian Arabs are excluded from the dialogues, unless they embrace their political agenda and strategy.

Muslim Americans complain about discrimination, but some,e specially the leaders, are engaged in a campaign of ostracizing, isolating and intimidating Christian Arabs and secular Muslims who, for example, speak out against the wearing of a Hijab. (A Hijab is not a berqa, and only covers the head. But, it is not mandated in the Islamic religion, but rather has become 1) a symbol of Muslim women's pride, 2) a political statement of defiance and 3) a symbol of devotion. All three. But 15 years on the streets of America, you NEVER saw a Muslim woman wearing a Hijab, only the grandmothers and the elderly women wore it.

Many point out accurately that Obama "seems" to be avoiding speaking at Mosques. He has spoken at many Christian Churches and even synagogues. But no Mosques.

Well, guess what? He hasn't spoken at a Christian Arab Church, either. Well, who cares about that? Right? Because "Obama" doesn't rhyme with "Jesus." It rhymes with "Osama." And Osama is NOT a "Muslim" name. "Osama" means "lion Like" in Arabic and while it is most often used by Muslims, some Christian Arabs also use the name.

So why am I asking that Christian Arabs not be excluded from the anti-Muslim hatred in this country?

HEY! CHRISTIAN ARABS HAVE RIGHTS TOO!

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

When the media/journalist cross the line and disrespect an audience: ESPN raises the bar demonstrating professionalism

UPDATE: The National Arab American Journalists Association (NAAJA-US.com) has accepted Bonnie Bernstein's apology, and the apology of the producers of the Mike & Mike show and ESPN, who all acknowledged that the reference to the Palestinian suicide bombers was out of context and inappropriate. In fairness to Ms. Bernstein, while she referenced the stereotype, we are satisfied she was not advocating it. Her error was to use the stereotype to make another, unrelated point. We recognize that as an example of "innocent construction" and believe that Ms. Bernstein did not intend to defame all Palestinians. She did not hesitate to acknowledge the inappropriateness of the comparison. NAAJA

Overview of issue below

What is racism? Someone's mean comment that embraces a stereotype? A slip of the tongue? An innocent comment that an audiences takes as racist? Intent? Of all those, "intent" must be the most difficult to assess. But response in the face of controversy can sometimes define intent better than anything.

Take the Don Imus incident -- again. He makes what audiences took to be racially insensitive remarks about African Americans -- he was the one who injected race into the most recent controversy regarding suspended Dallas Cowboy's cornerback Adam Jones' run-ins with the law. When Imus' team was discussing Jones' problems, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Sports announcer Warner Wolf said Jones -- known as Pacman -- is "African-American." Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."

Imus, under siege for his clearly racist remarks before about the women's Rutger's Basketball team, wiggled out of the controversy later asserting that his comments were misconstrued. "What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason." Imus said Tuesday.

Well, those were words Imus could have said had he really meant that when the issue came up. He didn't.

I don't trust Imus' intent in this latest incident. He has a history of making racist remarks and a radio staff that joins in when it suits them and when they can get away with it.

Now, turn to ESPN and its Chicago affiliate radio show "Mike and Mike' Hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg who were talking with veteran sports reporter Bonnie Bernstein about how NBA hopefuls are taught to pursue the NBA as their goal, and then compared that to how Palestinians teach their children to become suicide bombers. Let's skip the politics, for now.

Many mostly Arab, Muslim and Palestinians who heard the broadcast Wednesday morning reacted with anger believing Bernstein had slandered Palestinians. Bernstein was cautious in making the remark saying she didn't mean to imply that NBA hopefuls were Palestinian suicide bombers. She also cited the New York Times -- not the most objective media when it comes to the Middle East. They're notorious for one-sided, often anti-Arab media reports.

Anyway, people were offended. They were hurt by the comparison. The National Arab American Journalists Association received some 30 emails and several calls complaining about the comments made on the nationally syndicated show in Chicago.

The comments had the three aspects of a typically racist commentary: it depicted an entire people in a heinous and negative manner or stereotype; it did so in a passing manner which often is the most hurtful form of racism, when it is presented so casually and innocently; and there was no one from the agrieved community on the program to challenge the comment.

We turned it over to NAAJA Media Watch and we asked that ESPN and Bernstein clarify their remarks and apologize.

Within hours that is exactly what they did. They did it genuinely and with sincerity. They didn't try to make excuses or to engage in a political debate about whether or not the comment was or wasn't offensive.

They apologized immediately recognizing that whether it was or wasn't the intent of racism, that a segment of the audience -- one that has been the target of much mainstream American animosity -- was offended.

I wish all media acted that responsibly. In fact, Bernstein took the added step of recording an apology that was distributed to NAAJA and then distributed to its members.

Here's Bernstein's audio link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3460824

I give ESPN, the Mike and Mike show and Bernstein credit for recognizing that comments they made entered a highly volatile public arena of debate and racism that caused harm to a large group of people. They responded the way all journalists should respond and acknowledged that the context was not intended. They showed professionalism. They received our grief and complaints when the comments were made. And now, they desevre our respect.

I sure wish Don Imus could learn a few of these very simply basic lessons. Maybe he should hire Bernstein as a consultant to tell him how to act like a dignified member of the human race. Don Imus really needs that.

Ray Hanania
www.NAAJA-US.com

www.TheMediaOasis.com

Here's the link to the emails and notes that went back and forth:

http://arabjournalists.blogspot.com/2008/06/arab-american-protests-espn-chicago.html

# # #

Here's the transcript for the ProPublica/60 Minutes "report" on al-Hurra TV

If you did not see the broadcast Sunday night, here is a transcript of the report. The only real criticism of al-Hurra was that it reported "anti-Israel" news. The fact that it is a government-controlled, propaganda outlet posing as a journalism site was of secondary importance, and as far as I am concerned, a professional journalist, that report is pathetic and should never have been allowed to be broadcast by 60 Minutes.

Criticism of Israel is NOT unprofessional journalism. The fact that criticism of Israel is a story, is unprofessional journalism.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june08/alhurra_06-23.html

I am saddened that mainstream American journalism continues to sink further down each day.

But even if I didn;t have the Pro-Publica report to disturb my senses, there is always Don Imus.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Investigative group falls short of exemplary journalism and panders to partisan bias

ProPublica describes itself as "an independent, non-profit newsroom that will produce investigative journalism in the public interest. Our work will focus exclusively on truly important stories, stories with 'moral force.' We will do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them."

So one of their first big "exposes," produced in conjunction with the powerful investigative journalism broadcast media, CBS 60 Minutes, is about how a television station designed to promote pro-American propaganda (at the expense of truth and honesty) that is funded by the U.S. Government is "biased" because ... (aghast!) ... it criticized Israel.

Yes. This could be the first real evidence that American journalism is driven by one very important priority: "to protect Israel."

ProPublica discovered, with the backing of CBS 60 Minutes, that al-Hurra TV, the American government funded satellite TV station created in the wake of allegations by President Bush (an icon of investigative journalism) that the Arab World media is "anti-American" and a purveyor of "propaganda that “just isn’t right, it isn’t fair, and it doesn’t give people the impression of what we’re about.”

So, that's the job of al-Hurra TV. Funded by American taxpayers, controlled by the U.S. Government. And the biggest problem it has according to an exhaustive investigation into al-Hurra's programming by ProPublica's esteemed investigative journalists, is that they discovered "one extremist" Palestinian, Hani el-Masri, who, on a program on al-Hurra TV, called Israel some names. The exact quote from the "investigation" is: "[Israel] is the occupying and racist state that imposes the stifling and deadly blockade and perpetrates a holocaust against 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza."

And worse, according to ProPublica, is, el-Masri's comments (in Arabic to a mainly Arabic audience) went "unchallenged."

Now, I don't like Israel's policies in the Gaza Strip or for that matter in the West Bank where my relatives live and are often treated like animals. But I wouldn't call it "racist" or even compare its brutal policies against the Palestinians to the "Holocaust."

The program that al-Masri made his comments is, ironically called, "The Free Hour." The name of the station in Arabic, al-Hurra, means "the free one." (Or, one that is free.) I guess it ain't so free at all, is it?

Al-Hurra, which is supposed to help educate the people of the Arab World by showing them how real Democracy and Freedom work (let me take a deep breath here), even broadcast a speech by Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah, presumably during the war between Hezbollah and Israel last summer.

ProPublica also discovered as evidence, "A few weeks later, an Al Hurra reporter named Ahmed Amin delivered a biased report from the Holocaust Denier’s Conference in Tehran. He said that while some participants were sure that millions of Jews died in Germany, 'the group did not reinforce their statements with scientific evidence, but instead they were content to tell stories passed on to them by their ancestors'." (Congress demanded Amin be fired even though the report suggested that the reporter accurately described the ridiculous nature of the conference's content. The news director, Larry Register, was fired.)

ProPublica asserts that "Investigative journalism is at risk. Many news organizations have increasingly come to see it as a luxury. Today’s investigative reporters lack resources: Time and budget constraints are curbing the ability of journalists not specifically designated “investigative” to do this kind of reporting in addition to their regular beats. This is therefore a moment when new models are necessary to carry forward some of the great work of journalism in the public interest that is such an integral part of self-government, and thus an important bulwark of our democracy."

This is ProPublica's model. Let's defend Israel against the angry, emotion-filled rhetoric of a Palestinian who probably has seen many of his friends and colleagues killed -- over the past year in the Gaza Strip, according to a news report on CBS I heard, Palestinian killed 7 Israelis with rocket fire. During the same period, Israel killed 40 Palestinians. 

The issue for me isn't about whether Israel is or isn't racist, or even whether al-Masri is or isn't an extremist. The issue to me is that the report from ProPublica reflects not professional journalism, but rather a crystal clear reflection of the biased, unprofessional, hypocritical, no-talent, bigotry that passes as "journalism" in the mainstream American media that is important only because it defends Israel and silences any Arab, Muslim or Palestinian who dares to even criticize Israel's government policies.

I am not criticizing Israelis. I criticize the Israeli "government," the same way I criticize the American government AND the same way I criticize the Arab governments. That is principled journalism, and apparently in the United States, courageous journalism, too. 

What is really pathetic is that in America, a place where "all men are created equal" (apparently some are just more equal than others, I guess), no one has the courage to accurately depict the real challenge in the Middle East. It's not about Palestinians and Arabs and Muslims versus Israelis and Jews. IT IS about separating the "moderates" from the "extremists" and recognizing that this complex conflict that has a direct impact on the American people. Our interests as a nation are served not by pandering to partisan politics, or censoring a news media, but rather fighting to insure an open and unrestrained public debate where even the extremists have a voice. (Moderation IS moderation only because it is placed next to extremism.)

ProPublica is led by Paul Steiger, the former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, a newspaper that many Middle East professionals would acknowledge has been about as far as a newspaper can be from balance and objectivity on Middle East issues as one can be.

Here's the link to the ProPublica report:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/19/60minutes/main4196477.shtml

In this country of more than 4,500 newspapers, thousands of radio stations and many thousands of television stations, only a handful of Arab American professional journalists have been hired as columnists. There are some newspapers -- usually the biggest -- that will publish columns that can be characterized as "pro-Arab," but for the most part, very few newspapers will run a pro-Arab column of any kind. In fact, when the media does include the Arab viewpoint, and especially the Palestinian viewpoint, it is oftentimes "partnered" with the pro-Israel viewpoint. (Ironically, when a pro-Israel column is published, that is not the case.)

Al-Hurra is a government sponsored propaganda outlet, not a professional journalism medium, as much as they claim they are, and no disrepect to the journalism talent hired to work there. But, they live under government funding and censorship. The real issue should be how public dollars are being spent to spread propaganda rather than truth, to oppress free speech rather than encourage it, and that is sending a message the Arab audience is intelligent enought o see that "freedom" has two meanings in America, one for Americans and one for Arabs.

ProPublica could investigate those issues. But then, if they did, no one in the United States would fund ProPublica, no major television station would partner with it to give it credibility, and all but only a very few courageous voices in the mainstream American media would denounce it "as unchallenged pro-Arab propaganda" and demand that they be put out of business.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Are minorities, race and ethnicity that big a factor in how we cover issues?

There's a story this morning in several newspapers about how campaign volunteers in Detroit to Barack Obama asked one Muslim Arab woman who was wearing a Hijab (head scarf) not to be on the stage when the candidate was to speak, and another was told she could appear ont he stage if she removed her Hijab.

Obama's camp quickly said they did not instruct the volunteers to engage in that discrimination. And the incident got some media coverage. Nobody seemed angry and everyone seems to have accepted Obama's campaign's explanation.

But I wonder how different it might have been covered had this happened to John McCain? I think there is a double standard.If I were McCain, I would be screaming. But then, how many in the news media owuld be listening?

Now, in addition to what I think would be the clear difference between how it would be treated between McCain and Obama, imagine if the person's removed were not Arab Muslim women wearing Hijabs, but Jewish supporters wearing Yamulkes, or a Christian priest. "Listen, you can be on stage, but do you mind removing your collar."

Here's one of the news stories:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama19jun19,0,887788.story

And here's my column on the Arab American Writers Syndicate:
http://arabwritersgroup.wordpress.com/

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

The State of the Arab American Ethnic Media

I was privileged to participate in the Chicago Community Media Workshop Thursday June 12, at Columbia College on a panel discussing the challenges facing ethnic media in this country.

My presentation is posted online. Here is the link:

http://arabjournalists.blogspot.com/2008/06/state-of-arab-american-journalism.html

My prepared remarks included an overview of the State of the Arab American news media as well as some background on the challenges we face as an ethnic American media.

Issues included:

• Advertising
• Circulation
• Content
• Arabic language versus English language
• Distribution
• Professionalism (journalists versus activists)

And, the ongoing push by Arab American journalists to push UNITY: Journalists of Color to truly be unified and represent ALL Journalists of collor, including Arab American journalists. The sad fact is that after several years of lobbying UNITY, we have been ignored, either as a result of the disconnected bureaucracy that "manages" UNITY -- I say that because several of the UNITY people I met and spoke with are great and sincere people. But when nothing happens and the issue is only addressed, informally and never formally, weeks before the quadrennial convention coming up in July, that is a tragedy that reflects badly on UNITY as an organization.

This is difficult to address because on one hand, we want to work with UNITY, but on the other hand we want respect. Arab American journalists face the exact same challenges facing Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American journalists, and maybe in recent years more challenging, in a different way.

We need the help of UNITY, but we are getting nothing.

It's sad to say, but it is true.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com