Al Jazeera management orders Joseph Massad article pulled in act of pro-Israel censorship | The Electronic Intifada
▻http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/al-jazeera-management-orders-joseph-massad-article-pulled-act-pr
Le dernier article de Joseph Massad sur Al-Jazeera english retiré.
Explication:
Although Qatar-based Al Jazeera receives much criticism, and often deserved for reflecting Qatar’s foreign policy, the censorship of Massad’s article for political reasons is unprecedented because the English-language website had, until now, enjoyed complete editorial independence.
It is well understood that Al Jazeera’s red lines have always been criticism of Qatar or its Emir, and yet, Massad has even published several articles on Al Jazeera English that harshly criticized both Qatari foreign policy (See here, here and here) and the Emir himself without ever being censored.
And Massad has written plenty of articles that have enraged Zionists.
This indicates, without doubt, that the decision to remove Massad’s article today was taken at the highest level.
But why would this happen now?
One reasonable interpretation would be that the removal of Massad’s article reflects a tightening of the editorial line as the Qatar-based network launches its new channel, Al Jazeera America, which will rely – for access to cable systems, and “mainstream” credibility – on forging good relations with US elites.
An illustration of what this process might look like was on display when Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director of Al Jazeera’s international operations and the official responsible for setting up Al Jazeera America, recently visited Chicago – which will be home to a major Al Jazeera bureau.
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