It is still not known when Al-Jazeera’s long-awaited English-language news channel will launch. First mooted in 2004, Al-Jazeera International (AJI) initially had a target launch date of late 2005. But despite regularly announcing the signing up of star names such as David Frost and Rageh Omaar, the launch date kept slipping. It is now thought that it may go on air sometime during November. One of the reasons cited for the delay is the ambitious technical nature of the project. During a 24-hour cycle the channel plans to broadcast for four hours from its Kuala Lumpur bureau, 11 hours from its base in Doha, five hours from London and four hours from Washington. Read more about Analysis: The wait for Al-Jazeera's international channel
On October 20, EI co-founder Ali Abunimah appeared on Flashpoints Radio to discuss his new book: One Country, a Bold Proposal to the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. The program also features excerpts from his recent speech in Oakland, California. Listen to Ali discuss the need to break through the current impasse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and hear his proposal for a better future for all concerned parties. “Flashpoints” is KPFA’s newsmagazine, regularly featuring voices of resistance, education and information from around the world. It airs every weekday at 5 PMPST on KPFK. Read more about EI's Ali Abunimah discusses "One Country" on Flashpoints
Electronic Lebanon, however, is more of an electronic newspaper/magazine that combines editorial pieces, blog entries, news, and analysis. It is a project from the Electronic Intifada (EI), a nonprofit electronic publication devoted to the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. EI was created 5 years ago by two Palestinians, an American, and a Scot, each with their own biases. But if you need a better analysis of the situation (other than comments from President George W. Bush when he was unknowingly recorded at the recent G8 Summit), they make much better reading. Read more about News updates over the past year
“There’s been a war going on for Palestine at some level for the last 100 years and as technology changed from telephone and faxes to email and the Internet, … those have been appropriated into the battle for public opinion. Because in the end, this is not going to be decided by who the superpower is or how many weapons Israel has and the balance of power in the region. It will be decided by public opinion, as was South Africa.” EI co-founder Nigel Parry spoke with Free Speech Radio News on August 15th about how communications technology plays a role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Read more about EI's Nigel Parry on Free Speech Radio News
“I felt besieged, my movement was completely hampered, I enjoyed breaking the siege and having the freedom to write and having space to reach out to people and not feel as isolated,” said Rasha Salti, an independent curator and freelance writer, told Reuters on Thursday. She said her postings appeal to people who want to know more about the everyday aspect of living in a country surrounded by war as opposed to media coverage which generally focuses on the breaking news developments. “The media look for the breaking news obviously. They look for the stories, but when they find a story, they don’t find an ordinary story, one that appeals,” Salti said, whose postings can be seen at electroniclebanon.net. Read more about Lebanese use blogs to vent frustration at war
Web logs, or “blogs,” have become popular with computer-savvy Lebanese looking to express their anger and grief over the monthlong war between Hezbollah and Israel. The blogs range from furious rants against Israel and the United States to sentimental pessimism for their war-battered nation, which only recently held elections that were hailed as a model for emerging democracies in the Arab world. One Web site, “Electronic Lebanon,” features a blog entry titled: “War is becoming a way of life,” written by artist Zena el-Khalil from Beirut. “Blogging is a means of survival,” Mrs. el-Khalil, 30, told The Washington Times by telephone yesterday. Read more about Lebanese speak out on the Web
With most nightclubs, bars, shops and cinemas closed and with few other distractions left to them, increasing numbers are turning to the internet to express their misery, hopes and worries. Contributors work by candlelight, their computers powered by batteries because much of the city is fortunate if it gets two hours of electricity. One site, called Electronic Lebanon, has had 2.5 million hits. Antiwar petitions and cartoons are exchanged by e-mail, along with photographs of Lebanon’s dead and injured. The bloggers also swap their black humour about how it feels to be Beiruti today. Read more about Support for Hezbollah strengthens with every bombed Beirut building
“I don’t want to be a war story … I just want to be me … not what is imposed on me … I don’t want to be another depressing story in your Inbox.” Beirut-based artist Zena al-Khalil began sending email updates to her friends, colleagues and contacts on July 13, the day Israel began bombing her city. Like Khalil, writer and curator Rasha Salti started organizing her thoughts into “siege notes.” Her missives, poignant, personal and rife with pointed political analysis, are now posted online at “Electronic Lebanon” - an offshoot of Electronic Intifada that launched within hours of Israel’s attack of Lebanon’s infrastructure and citizenry. Either way, they are collective memory in the instant, a readymade archive. Read more about The Beirut blogs: People under siege tell their stories online
Like many of her compatriots, artist Zena el-Khalil has turned to blogging on the Internet to express her longings and fears amid the fighting in Lebanon. Writing from Beirut, the 30-year-old tells of wanting to have children and worries about Israeli air raids on the capital. “Word on the street is that Israel is threatening to hit Beirut now. I feel so helpless,” she said in a recent entry in her online diary. “I called my husband and told him to come home right away. If I die, I want to be in his arms.” Read more about Besieged Lebanese Turn to Internet
At a recent Palestine Center briefing, experts analyzed the current developments in the Middle East and addressed the root causes of the conflict. Halim Barakat explained the historical context which allowed for the eruption of the recent events and Electronic Intifada’s Laurie King-Irani discussed the meaning of democracy, terrorism and international law. Sam Husseini pointed out that the media could do a better job in informing the public of the events in the Middle East and Jim Lobe analyzed U.S. Foreign Policy toward the Middle East since 9/11. The briefing was televised on C-Span. Read more about Seeds of Crisis: The U.S., Israel and the Middle East
