January 19, 2006

The Other Side

I finally got around to seeing Control Room, about a year later than I intended. One of the key points the movie makes is that when the Arab populace looks at Middle East and Arab political issues, the Israel-Palestine conflict largely informs their interpretation of these events, especially when the US is involved. In the west, unless Israel is directly involved, we tend not to connect the issues. So when I found this nice little roundup of Arab media on the BBC website, I was surprised.
A quick glance at our coverage of Iran's nuclear program has focused on whether or not Iran will use the technology peacefully, and how to react. What our media have not addressed, is a certain hypocrisy that Arab media appear incensed by. (They also seem to ignore the peaceful/aggresive use of technology issue entirely in these excerpts, caring only about the double standard).
Here are two of those excerpts, the first from Saudi Arabia's Al-Riyad and the second from Egypts Al-Jumhuriyah.
" Encouraging Israel, supplying it with the material and scientific means and encouraging it to create a balance of terror in the region is the main cause for seeking weapons equal in strength and deterrence. "

"
No to double standards - Israel relies on its nuclear arsenal to carry out an expansionist aggressive policy and to reject any just settlement to the Palestinian issue. As a consequence, the international community's failure to address this aggressive nuclear arsenal removes the credibility of any international move to prevent others from attempting to follow in Israel's footsteps."

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