Introduction
Al Jazeera As The Strong Factor and Cause of The Arab Spring
Al Jazeera is a television channel owned and funded by the government of Qatar and is currently in various regions in the World. Initially launched as an Arabic news channel, Al Jazeera has been an important source of information for most Arab nations in the Persian Gulf since its establishment in 1996 (Hroub, 2011). This channel has grown to become very influential in the Arab World and in fact, it has been a major force in the recent revolutionary wave of protests and demonstrations occurring in Arab countries.
Discussion
The wave of Arab revolutions (also known as Arab spring) started on December 17, 2010, in Tunisia after a street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire near a government building protesting against the confiscation of his wares by the police. This sparked a wave of protests which intensified on January 24, 2011, after the vendor succumbed to fire injuries. Ten days later, Tunisia’s president, Zine ElAbidine Ben Ali, stepped down and fled out of the country.
According to Hijjawi (2012, p. 2), Al Jazeera had not been allowed in Tunisia for around two years. Though the channel had no established network in Tunisia, it was the first international media to note the protests in streets in the country (Fromherz, 2011, p. 8). During the initial stages of the protests, Al Jazeera relied on bloggers from Tunisia to gather information, which was then compiled to provide accurate and credible news. As the protests intensified, Aljazeera adopted an open cycle in which it broadcasted live news from Tunisia as they streamed online through blog sites.
The local media had also been transmitting news both locally and internationally about unrest in Tunisia. However, according to Hijjawi (2012, p. 2), its popularity had declined among civilians in Tunisia due to lack of adequate coverage of their concerns. As a result, Tunisians citizens increasingly followed their revolution on Aljazeera which was then hosted by friendly local TV stations. During the protests, Tunisians lifted placards praising Aljazeera. With time, Aljazeera became close to the hearts of Tunisians and as they saw it as a mirror in which they were being represented. In fact, as (Fromherz, 2011, p. 8) explains, Aljazeera became the closest channel to the hearts and minds of Tunisians. Generally, the channel helped them to believe in the revolution they had embarked on, which they succeeded. One remarkable thing Al Jazeera during the Tunisian case was that it did not create deep awareness or solid political culture in the country. Rather, it allowed Tunisians to have faith in their own thoughts, similar to the Egyptian case.
According to Hijjawi (2012, p. 3), prior to the Egyptian unrest, Aljazeera was unpopular among Egyptian households and in fact, it was practically absent in Egyptian screens. This was largely caused by the presence of numerous local TV channels which broadcasted local news with a great degree of professionalism. TV stations thrived under a high degree of freedom of information that used to exist in the country for a long time. However, the freedom suffered a strong and painful blow from the Egyptian government’s security apparatus a few days before parliamentary elections, two months prior to the boycott which began on 25 January 2010. Local television stations were given strict restrictions regarding the channels to host and information to broadcast. During the period, Aljazeera started gaining some ground in Egypt.
According to Schattle, (2012), p. 53), though Al Jazeera had been absent in Egyptian screens it had had been airing Egyptian features for five years prior to the revolution. The government of Mubarak regularly criticized the channel for airing documentaries of torture acts in Egyptian police departments. It also arranged talk shows regularly attacking Al Jazeera, with the intention to discredit it. To be precise, Al Jazeera gave Egypt greatest coverage compared to all other nations in the Arab League. However, given that it was absent in Egyptian screens, it played little role in mobilizing people to the streets. The move to the streets was galvanized by young men and women of Egypt’s middle class who had set January 25 as a date of protest on internet social sites (On Facebook and YouTube).
As protests intensified, the government of Mubarak ordered local television stations to obscure the events of the protests. Aljazeera started broadcasting on NileSat satellite, the only way that the channel was viewed in Egypt. This satellite was interrupted the Egyptian government making it difficult for Al Jazeera to broadcast news in Tunisia. Nevertheless, Al Jazeera managed to resume its broadcast through friendly local stations. As the protests continued, the channel increased its broadcast in country and managed to touch the hearts of many Egyptians. The channel managed to imprint one idea in the minds of Egyptians; that they lived in a shadow of the regime which defied time (Hijjawi 2012, p. 3).
According to Sidlow & Henschen, (2012, p. 272), Aljazeera displayed the image of Mubarak’s after his speech on February 1, 2010 “as an old president telling his people that he wants to die on Egyptian soil.” The channel kept reassuring the protesting Egyptians that it believed in them and in their struggle. Over time, Aljazeera gained much popularity among Egyptians and they started giving much praise to the channel, as Tunisians did. Generally, the channel was very clear in its support for the revolutionaries as opposed to other international and local stations that visibly wavered.
After some time, Al Jazeera’s reporters based in Egypt were arrested and its office’s networks closed. Al Jazeera sent people secretly from Qatar to Egypt to work as reporters. For several days, it was unable to display images from the scenes and when it did, it relied on the work of amateur reporters (Hijjawi 2012, p. 3). It sent reporters in all cities in Egypt, which helped to increase coverage. The channel’s reporters relayed information to Egyptians and to the world in any way they could. It invited studio guests from Egypt whose contributions further inflamed the street protests. The station worked hard to commit to the demands of protesters until the fall of Mubarak on February 12, 2011. The successful revolution was also success to Al Jazeera. Similar to the case of Tunisia, this TV broadcaster did not promote any particular ideology or party but kept broadcasting the events as if it represented the revolutionaries.
Conclusion
Three days after the fall of Mubarak, Libya’s opposition party, National Transitional Council (NTC), led civilians to protest against the dictatorial regime of Colonel Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi. The opposition also called for Al-Jazeera, which responded immediately and took a stance for the people against Gaddafi. The channel started airing news and events from the country and hosted television channels from Egypt which covered the trends of the unrest. The channel managed to mobilize public opinion just as in the case of Tunisia and Egypt. In coalition with other major forces, Al Jazeera led to a successful revolution in Libya, which ended in the death of Muammar Gaddafi.
In more recent cases of Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria, the trend has been the same for Al Jazeera. In these countries, Al Jazeera has made full use of social media by gathering feeds from protesters who take footage on their mobile phones, Facebook postings and Twitter feeds (Hamiyyeh, 2012). In all these cases, Al Jazeera has managed to mobilize crowds, given them the confidence to rise against oppressive rules.
References
Fromherz, A., (2011), Qatar: A Modern History, I.B. Tauris, New York
Hijjawi, A., (2012), ‘The Role of Al-Jazeera (Arabic) in the Arab Revolts of 2011,’ Accessed 27
March 2012 from, http://www.ps.boell.org/downloads/Perspectives_02-10_Aref_Hijjawi1.pdf
Hroub, K., (2011), ‘How Al-Jazeera’s Arab spring advanced Qatar’s foreign policies’ Autumn
2011, Accessed 27 March 2012 from, http://www.europesworld.org/NewEnglish/Home_old/Article/tabid/191/ArticleType/ArticleView/ArticleID/21877/HowAlJazeerasArabspringadvancedQatarsforeignpolicies.aspx
Seattle, H., (2012), Globalization and Citizenship, Rowman & Littlefield, London
Sidlow, E. I. & Henschen, B., (2012), Govt (with Political Science Coursemate with EBook
Printed Access Card), Cengage Learning, Washington DC
Hamiyyeh, H., “Aljazeera” Channel Merchandises the “Arabic Spring”: From Bahrain to Syria’s,
Accessed 27 March 2012 from, http://www.english.moqawama.org/essaydetails.php?eid=13982&cid=269
Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?
- Plagiarism free papers
- Timely delivery
- Any deadline
- Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
- Subject-relevant academic writer
- Adherence to paper instructions
- Ability to tackle bulk assignments
- Reasonable prices
- 24/7 Customer Support
- Get superb grades consistently
Online Academic Help With Different Subjects
Literature
Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.
Finance
Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.
Computer science
Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!
Psychology
While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.
Engineering
Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.
Nursing
In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.
Sociology
Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.
Business
We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!
Statistics
We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.
Law
Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.
What discipline/subjects do you deal in?
We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.
Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?
Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.
What if I don’t like the paper?
There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.
Reasons being:
- When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
- We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.
In the event that you don’t like your paper:
- The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
- We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
- Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.
Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?
Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.
What if the paper is plagiarized?
We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.
When will I get my paper?
You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.
Will anyone find out that I used your services?
We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.
How our Assignment Help Service Works
1. Place an order
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
2. Pay for the order
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
3. Track the progress
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
4. Download the paper
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!
