Consider the Sources

Javed Iqbal, a man in NYC, is stuck in jail for allegedly conspiring to sell access to al-Manar TV to his customers. Adam Davidson covers this story for NPR by talking to Iqbal's lawyer and Donna Liebermann of the New York ACLU. The lawyer, of course, defends his client, and the ACLU states that it is investigating the case and might well take it on. Neither of these people speak about the substance of al-Manar TV or about Hezbollah. For this viewpoint NPR turns to reactionary, pro-Zionist sources that are worth taking a closer look at.

Davidson interviews Mark Dubowitz (misidentified as Mark Dubinksy). Take a look at Dubowitz' biography where you can find his dishonest article on the Israel wall. Davidson notes that Dubowitz founded the Coalition Against Terrorist Media, but Davidson doesn't tell you anything about who else is behind this pro-Zionist, rightwing organization. If you look at their statement you will see that they were founded by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) (of which Dubowitz is the Chief Operating Officer). Now more interesting than the FDD's website above is their website showing their staff--a real neoliberal/neocon hall of shame: Jeanne Kirkpatrick, William Kristol, Newt Gingrich, Zell Miller, Sen. Joe Libermann, etc.

In the report Davidson plays a clip from al-Manar in which a student on a moderated program (Is it an uncensored talk show?) is apparently (if the translation can even be trusted) spewing virulent, anti-Semitic bile. But where does this snippet come from? It comes from the Middle East Media Research Institute which again is an extreme pro-Zionist organization with a history of unreliable and biased "information." After airing the clip, Davidson mentions in passing that al-Manar is "not like that all the time."

It's a shame to hear such a biased and lopsided report on NPR. People in the US need information on the Middle East that is not provided by apologists for Israel's military actions in the region. Or, if those sources are quoted, they should be clearly identified by their staff, their ideological background, their history, and their connections to governments--foreign and domestic.