Al-Jazeera English has been the home page on my computer for a couple months now, and it really has had a large role in changing my concept of what is newsworthy these days. American politics is great for its squabbles and media-created "scandals", just ask Common. But in the end, media coverage in the United States has become reduced to a Neil Postman-esque "entertainmentization" of the news. This is why I have come to respect al-Jazeera's approach, and I always feel that its coverage is simply on the side of the people, and in many regions, the oppressed people. It is with this context that I have been following the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, etc. While I could easily delve into the issue of U.S. involvement and our foreign policy, one recent al-Jazeera article really caught my attention.
Dorothy Parvaz, a journalist for the network, went missing on April 29. The only reason I knew this, was because al-Jazeera adamantly stood up for the reporter, although the story might have been covered on American networks as well, I'm not sure. She returned 19 days later, having been held for 3 days in Syria, and then a following 16 days in Iran. Her story is grim to say the least, and is very telling of the situation that the Middle East is currently in. During Parvaz's detainment in Syria, she recalls hearing beatings and screams of young Syrians, men and women, who were accused of being involved in anti-government protests. Many of them had no idea why they were being interrogated, and only wanted to return to their families. Parvaz's cellmate at one point was a 16-year-old girl. She asked herself, how much of a threat could this girl really be to the regime? Were they really that scared? The Syrian interrogators were convinced that Parvaz was either an American spy for Israel, or a journalist for al-Jazeera (it seemed that both options were equally threatening). Parvaz was then sent to Iran, were she was treated more kindly, but had to defend herself against the accusation of being a Zionist spy in the Middle East before finally returning to Qatar. The whole story can be found on al-Jazeera's website here: Dorothy Parvaz: Inside Syria's secret prisons.
Now, occurrences like this are not new by any means, and the U.S. has even sent some of its prisoners to Egypt to be detained in secret prisons probably similar to the one described here. However, a detailed and first-hand experience like this is the first I have personally heard about, and it affected me on two main levels.
On the one hand, it makes me thankful to live in a country where I don't have to worry about this sort of occurence happening to me. Although, with the Patriot Act and other laws, it is debatable as to whether we enjoy many more freedoms, or simply live believing the myth of individual freedom and privacy.
Secondly, it is extremely difficult to call for the U.S. to help out every country with military aid (our government picks and chooses those scenarios depending on what it has to gain). However, that is not all that we are limited to doing as Americans. We can support the people of the Middle East uprisings in other ways. Facebook and social networks allow communities to form and stand up together.
Not only this, but simply being aware of these situations around the world can shift our attention to what we believe is really important. We are continuously reading about people around the world who are very much in favor of democracy and all its ideals, yet have no chance of that in their own country. Dictators and oppressive regimes are being pressured by their own people to either reform or step down. Those of us who are privileged enough should be supportive of their cause, after all, such is how our own country was founded . It's important to step out of our own little bubble once in a while, and realize that perhaps the news of the day in the United States is not the most important development in the world and consequently, our own lives.
I strongly suggest reading the article. Here is a video from al-Jazeera as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment