Algeria’s Francophone press, whose raison d’etre is to defy state censorship, has been editorializing its news coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with an emphasis on Mahmoud ‘Abbas’s incompetence as Palestinian leader.
While ‘Abbas’s installation as Palestinian prime minister in April has been widely criticized in Arab circles, Algeria’s Francophone newspapers have overtly disapproved of his diplomatic maneuvers of late. Moreover, the editorialization of the Israel-Palestinian conflict has sullied a relatively accurate reporting style.
For example, while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s trip to Europe last week was boldly painted as an attempt to discredit Arafat in the Francophone press, it also served to diminish ‘Abbas’s credibility as leader.
Perhaps the most blatant editorialization of a news article calling the Israeli bid to ostracize Arafat “a strategy to destabilize Palestinian society” appeared on the web site of the daily La Tribune on July 22. Though the article was clearly a pro-Arafat opinion piece by reporter Chabha Bouslimani, the article appeared in the “World” rubric of the publication’s website.
Bouslimani also credited the tensions within ‘Abbas’s camp to the “Israeli strategy to force Palestinians to give up everything without giving up anything of their own.”
Following Sharon and ‘Abbas’s meeting on July 20, the daily Le Matin’s Djamel Boukrine blamed ‘Abbas for the implied failure, by standards that he did not attribute to anyone.
“Mahmoud Abbas did not manage to extract one concrete concession out of his Israeli counterpart…not the liberation of Palestinian prisoners, nor the removal of the siege on Yassir Arafat, nor the removal of roadblocks on Palestinian villages, not even a simple promise of the retreat from the zones occupied by the Israeli army since September 2000,” Boukrine wrote on July 21.
Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom’s attempts to win the support of the European Union at the same time were qualified as desperate and ingratiating by the daily Liberté Algérie. He “caressed the fur of his European counterparts in the right direction,” Abdelkamel K. wrote on July 23 in the daily’s “Foreign” section.
“It is noted that Washington leans a lot more towards Tel Aviv (a reference to Israel for those who do not recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital) than to Ramallah,” wrote Abdelkamel K. in the same article. Was the absence of a surname a coincidence?
A subtler, but not so conspicuous mechanism used to emphasize a pro-Palestinian agenda was the use of inflammatory quotes without attribution by Le Matin reporter Djamel Boukrine in an article called “Sharon’s ‘concessions’” dated July 28.
The article, which details the Israeli Prime Minister’s discussion of the separation wall and release of Palestinian prisoners with U.S. President George W. Bush, is molded around quotes. By calling the proposed fence “the Berlin Wall” without citing the quote, Boukrine characterized the fence as a divisive measure, when, in fact, it is a hotly debated issue.
Boukrine also quoted two leaders of the Palestinian terror group Islamic Jihad, as well as Palestinian Information Minister Nabil ‘Amru and a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, aside from Sharon and ‘Abbas. On the Israeli side, the journalist quoted one politician, dovish Labor party leader Shimon Peres, and the Israeli daily Ma’ariv.
In other cases, though the reporting may have been relatively objective, slanted headlines revealed a bias. On July 22, an article about ‘Abbas’s visit to Washington in Liberté Algérie was titled “An Impasse called Sharon.” Following Ariel Sharon’s trip to Europe, the same publication published an article with the headline “The Undefeatable Arafat” on July 21.
In 1988, the Algerian Journalists’ Movement proclaimed itself independent from the state for the first time; the group condemned state-sanctioned violence and demanded freedom of expression, in an unprecedented protest against the government.
However, the current war of attrition between Islamic militants and the country’s army has made frequent victims of journalists since 1991.
Similarly, between 1993 and 1996, 57 journalists and 40 other media specialists were allegedly killed by Islamic activists, according to Reporters Without Borders, a free press advocacy organization.
Many media outlets are state-owned, and private publications are closely monitored. The government also has jurisdiction over which international publications enter the country.
Furthermore, the Algerian Penal Code stipulates that any harsh criticism of the president, parliament or army is punishable by a prison sentence and fines.
On July 3, 2003, the government expelled all foreign correspondents covering the release of two Islamic militants from prison. Initially, the communication ministry had imposed a press blackout, threatening foreign journalists to withdraw their work authorization.
The trend in Algeria’s relatively recalcitrant print media is frightening: blurring the distinction between news and editorials, promoting points of view blatantly and conforming to the notion of Arab media bias.
Has the Algerian press sold itself out?