9 Jun 2008 | Comment, Middle East and North Africa, News
A recent French court decision leaves us no closer to the truth about footage that shook the Middle East, writes Natasha Lehrer
A seven-year debate over the authenticity of the footage of the death of Mohammed al Dura in the arms of his father Jamal reached a new stage on 21 May when the Paris Court of Appeal overturned a defamation verdict against blogger Philippe Karsenty.
In 2004 Karsenty joined the chorus voicing scepticism about the al Dura footage. He accused the veteran France 2 Middle East correspondent Charles Enderlin, who provided the voiceover for the report from Gaza, which was filmed by freelance cameraman Talal Abu Ramah, of knowingly having broadcast faked footage of the shooting at the Netzarim Junction on 30 September 2000. Enderlin and France 2 have consistently rebutted this accusation and have so far taken four bloggers, including Karsenty, to court. In the original court case, in 2006, the court did not demand that France 2 hand over the rushes. Karsenty was found guilty of defamation.
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21 May 2008 | Comment, Middle East and North Africa
Recent factional fighting in Beirut saw journalists come under attack, writes Charles Chuman
On 7 May 2008, Hezbollah and its allies in the Lebanese opposition began dismantling the authority of the Lebanese government. The army and police force could not respond to the situation, and the Lebanese opposition took control of Beirut’s streets.
Along with their systematic military takeover, Hezbollah and the opposition immediately began censoring the Lebanese media through direct intimidation, infrastructural destruction, and a disinformation campaign. Media analyst and former editor-in-chief of the Middle East Broadcasting Journal, Habib Battah, explains, ‘The media was a primary target in this campaign. It was one of the first things to be attacked as Hezbollah took control. They could have chosen other places to attack, but they chose the media.’
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14 Feb 2008 | Comment
The banning of a “preacher of hate” raises far more problems than it solves, writes Abdul-Rehman Malik
The recent denial of a visa to Yusuf al Qaradawi, the influential Qatar-based scholar accused of preaching hatred against homosexuals and encouraging terrorism amongst Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, is unsettling. The reasons for the rebuff are based on ad hoc, inconsistent policy and more importantly on a fear that a certain segment of our population is so particularly gullible and immature that they cannot be trusted to filter good ideas from bad ones.
The truth is that the UK welcomes all kinds of nefarious characters to its shores, whether they are retired despots (like Augusto Pinochet) or leaders of autocratic regimes (the list is rather long).
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6 Dec 2007
Bridging the gap between the monitoring of abuse and effective advocacy for change through facilitation, research, publication, advocacy and new commissioned works.
Index on Censorship is internationally renowned for bringing leading thinkers from the creative communities to tackle the key issues of free expression, as the practitioners most often affected by censorship and most often least protected.
At the same time Index is respected for its rigorous documentation of free expression rights abuses, in partnership with free speech groups in some of the world’s most complex and dangerous regions. This unique combination of research skill and literary intelligence underpins 36 years of effective, timely and valued contributions to the free expression debate. It makes Index simply more accessible, relevant and authoritative on the issues than most media and think tanks.
- Facilitation: Index is an invaluable international partner when it comes to bridging the gap between human rights monitoring and effective advocacy for peaceful change. We give practical support for project development, fundraising, publication, advocacy and local capacity building. This year we are taking a key role in the development of the World Forum for Free Expression, to be held in Oslo and the Amsterdam World Book Capital events in 2009, in particular facilitating the involvement of international experts and advocacy groups; developing project concepts to support Burmese artists, writers and performers as well as media workers.
- Research: Index analyses how and why free speech is filtered and mediated, how the perceptions and positions of opposing communities are represented. This way the positive results of the process can be encouraged, and the negative ones contextualised and challenged – not censored. This year we are researching the links between public politics and the generation of hatred for short term political gain in countries like Turkey, Sri Lanka, Russia, Kenya and Zimbabwe; the cultivation of fear and hate in times of conflict through the spoken and published word, especially in the Middle East; how societies in conflict such as Ireland, Israel, Palestine and South Africa can be dividing or united by open debate on history and heritage; and a study of censorship of creative communities that challenge dissent, in countries like Burma, Iran, Zimbabwe and China.
- Publication: Index plays a key role in the formulation of balanced cases to underpin local campaigns for change, as a respected multi-lingual publisher in print and online and by organizing events to raise awareness or gather key actors and practitioners in free debate. We plan the publication of an updated edition of an Arabic language training guide to election coverage for reporters in the Middle East; publication of a special report on Censorship in the Maghreb; an extensive research, publication and related events programme to inform media industry debate surrounding the national regulation of the Iraqi media; continuing a three year programme to develop an Arabic language edition of Index on Censorship.
- Advocacy: We closely coordinate activities with our many international local partners so that the ideas generated and opinions heard can inform their own advocacy campaigns for peaceful change and fundamental rights to free expression, especially in societies in conflict. This work includes developing a programme of monitoring, publication and advocacy in defence of Latin American journalists facing deadly threats from drug gangs, insurgents and paramilitaries on behalf of a consortium of local media rights groups. We are also developing a programme in support of independent media and judicial groups in the Magreb.
- New works: Index on Censorship works internationally to support the creation of new work, not only articles for print and online, but also new photography, film & video, visual arts and performance – using the act of free expression to defend the right to free expression itself. This includes a European exhibition of Open Shutters, photostories produced by women in Iraq); developing a participatory online arts project for refugees and IDPs in the Middle East based on the participatory exchange of stories and images by mobile phone.
