Putting the Middle East Into Context
In this post-911 era, it's vitally
important for Americans to be able to access real and practical
information about issues related to Arab and Muslim communities.
Sadly, however, the information we get about the Middle East from the
major media is often narrow in focus and limited in scope.
Last week I interviewed a California
academic of Lebanese descent, who spoke about his contiuned
frustration with major media's coverage of Lebanon. We specifically
discussed a November 27 New York Times article entitled “Chilling
Echo for Lebanon, Mirror of Regional Tension.” While the story
offered lots of detail related to the assassination of Pierre
Gemayel, founder of a right-wing Lebanese Christian militia movement,
it did not, as my academic guest pointed out, adequately discuss the
conflict in Lebanon in the context of U.S. foreign policy. Similarly,
the major media rarely connects issues in Israel and the Occupied
Territories (and the unquestioning U.S. support of Israel) with
conflicts in other parts of the Middle East.
I worry that there is a fear among U.S.
journalists that if they quote from Arab media or seek out expertise
from Arab and Muslim experts that they will be labelled unpatriotic,
or in the case of coverage of Israel, anti-Semitic. We do all of our
readers, viewers, and listeners a disservice if we worry so much
about playing it politically safe that we lose the courage to put
forth issues in a way that will help people better understand the
complex past present and future of the U.S. involvment in the Middle
East.
--Andrea Lewis
KPFA Radio and The Progressive