Michael Widlanski: Palestinian Media's Secret Sweetheart: Osama Bin-Laden

Thursday, December 27, 2001

Carefully and quietly, the Palestinian media are sending a message to their
readers, listeners and viewers: Osama Bin-Laden is an "okay guy."

The Palestinian media are strongly monitored and even directed by Yasser
Arafat's Palestinian Authority which badly wants to keep Western, especially
American, support, but at the same time covets the backing and the money of
the Islamic community, parts of which see Bin-Laden as a saintly
giant-killer.

This means that the Palestinian media takes their cues from Arafat himself
and his top aides, who tip-toe a careful line, always willing to proclaim
"we condemn terror from all quarters" but never willing to call Osama
Bin-Laden a terrorist.

A clear example is Arafat's Voice of Palestine Radio which never uses the
Arabic word "irhaab"-terror-- to describe Bin-Laden. The term "irhaabi"-or
terrorist-is reserved for use in describing Israel, Israeli military actions
and leading Israeli officials.

When American military strikes in Afghanistan are reported, the term
"terrorist bases" appears only with the additional phrase "according to the
American" or in the formula "what the Americans call terrorist bases."

Meanwhile, Palestinian newspapers regularly feature flattering color photos
of Bin-Laden without ever labeling him as a terror mastermind.

The front page of Al-Ayyam has four color photographs-two of pro-Palestinian
demonstrations, one of Arafat speaking in Europe, and a big picture of
Bin-Laden, gun at his side, speaking to the world via a video recording.

The picture of Bin-Laden in Al-Ayyam (which was taken off Al-Jazeera
television) ran with the "off-lead" (the second top story of the front page)
account of Bin-Laden's video address to the world.

"THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR AMERICA IN ITS WAR," declared the "kicker"
headline-without any quotation marks-- above the story and the photograph of
Bin-Laden. The headline was not offered as a quotation of Bin-Laden.

The back-page of the same PA-subsidized newspaper features a huge color
cartoon with the heading "Strike Against Terror" in which Palestinian
children are seen sitting dejectedly near the remnants of American-made and
Israeli-fired rockets and bullets.

The Nov.2 issue of the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds shows a big back-page
picture of a man in Bangladesh selling pens with a smiling visage of
Bin-Laden printed on them.

Al Quds's Nov. 3 weekend edition (Friday is the big weekend edition in the
Islamic world) has a color front page picture of Bin-Laden as a "teaser"
advertising a big magazine piece.

Two days earlier Al-Quds, the largest selling "private" Palestinian
newspaper featured only three color photographs in its daily edition, and it
selection of pictures is worth many words:

The first picture shows a smiling Arafat in one of his diplomatic junkets
flanked by European officials.

The second picture shows Palestinian soldiers clearing rubble from the house
where a "martyr" was killed by an Israeli helicopter, with an inset smaller
color portrait of the "martyr" holding two hand grenades and a Quran (Islam'
s holy book).

The third picture is of Pakistani demonstrators holding huge colorful
banners with the picture of Osama Bin-Laden.

"Believe me we are all meant to get the message," said Abed, an out-of-work
Palestinian house-painter who lives on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem
(but whose last name is not being given here so that he does not suffer
retribution).

"Most Palestinians are sick of this message and sick of war and sick of
Arafat's lies," said Abed.

The subliminal message also includes an anti-American side. For example, a
huge back-page color cartoon in Al-Quds's November 4 edition features a torn
and sweating Bin-Laden fleeing for the hills between an American combat jet
and a huge wolf with saliva dripping from his jaws.

© 2001 Michael Widlanski, www.themedialine.org
(For fuller version of articles, see The Media Line's website.)

Michael Widlanski, senior analyst at The Media Line, lectures at the
Rothberg School of the Hebrew University.