Saturday, March 11, 2006

Notes on Football and Al Jazeera

This post is largely a response to a comment made by Faisal to this post on the African Cup.

Faisal's comment:

Anti-Egyptian or not, Al Jazeera is more non-biased than any Egyptian news or Tv channel (Public ones I mean).

They are also one of the only decent Arabic news channels.

Furthermore, Ahmed Shobeir is a pompous fool who thinks the world of himself. This is a man who kept criticizing Hassan Shehata so much that Mubarak told him to shut it... and of course, being the government dog that he is, he Shut Up.

I will not, of course, deny that what Mido did was inappropriate in every way.

My response:

I don't know how I am supposed to explain the concept of constructive criticism when you think in terms of this slave/master mentality. Before the final, and on national television, Ahmed Shobeir denied these critical statements attributed to the president by the media, and no - he did not "shut it": he continued in the same line of commentary that he had made before. The national team - being Hassan Shehata and the players - were the first to proclaim, after they had won the championship, that they succeeded not because they were better players than those of the other teams (they actually gave statements to the contrary), but because of good planning and determination.

I thought Shobeir's commentary was intelligent and most welcome. What, would you rather have him sing the "mabrouk aleikom we aleina" song before and after every match? (Much like our own government?) Shehata succeeded because he was objective and critical, in other words; professional. Our government on the other hand is failing because it is the opposite of these traits.

As for your statements regarding Al Jazeera, I disagree entirely. Your argument would be like saying that Mussolini was a good man because he killed less people than Hitler. But even on this dubious ground your argument still does not stand: tell me of one time that Al Jazeera, this alleged pan-Arab and Islamic channel, dared to criticize the Qatari government which hosts one of the largest American military bases outside the United States. The Egyptian alleged "opposition press" on the other hand has clearly crossed the line from useful criticism into the realm of the plain vulgar - an unfortunate reality in itself.

For this reason it is not easy to challenge the argument that Al Jazeera is a farce; a dangerous play-toy of political leverage in the hands of the blatantly pro-American and pro-Israeli, duplicitous Qatari government.

On a side note:

I can't believe that Giddo Hossam Hassan gave the following statements of ingratitude, according to the Egyptian Gazette:

Egypt's super-star and formerly the world's most capped player, in an interview with a Gulf-based newspaper, Hossam Hassan said he would prefer an international manager for Egypt's National Football Team to take over from Hassan Shehata in order to prepare the squad for their upcoming fixtures.

Hassan pointed out that only the players' fighting spirit and unending support of fans were behind the success in the recent African Cup of Nations.

On the work of their chief coach, Hassan Shehata, the veteran striker said the time has come for the country's football governing body to consider replacing him with a new manager with an international reputation.

Regarding the move of the Tottenham Hotspur's Ahmed Hossam 'Mido' to protest against his substitution in the semi-final against Senegal, Hassan said there was nothing wrong in that.

"I think what Mido has done was justifiable. He is an international player and full of love and enthusiasm. I used to do the same when I was young, but not against the coaches," he said.


I appreciate the important role in the brief moments played by the 40ish year old Hassan, thanks to the appropriate and suitable timing chosen by the coach for him to hit the field, but I can only agree with "Mr. A. A.", the sports editor's concluding words:

Hassan is reminded that these matters are best left to the decision-makers because they know better than him.

Amen.

2 comments:

Faisal said...

I came across this response about 5 months later. Sadly, I don't remember much of the soccer thing, so I cannot respond to that... but I will respond to your comment on my response on Al-Jazeera.

You said:

As for your statements regarding Al Jazeera, I disagree entirely. Your argument would be like saying that Mussolini was a good man because he killed less people than Hitler. But even on this dubious ground your argument still does not stand: tell me of one time that Al Jazeera, this alleged pan-Arab and Islamic channel, dared to criticize the Qatari government which hosts one of the largest American military bases outside the United States. The Egyptian alleged "opposition press" on the other hand has clearly crossed the line from useful criticism into the realm of the plain vulgar - an unfortunate reality in itself.


Yes. It is like saying that, in sense that Mussolinni is DEFINITELY BETTER than Hitler for killing less (on a RELATIVE scale) but he is bad for killing people at all (on an ABSOLUTE SCALE). Either way, objectivity and being biased is one of those things that people can't judge as easily as: He killed someone and that person didn't. They are the epitome and definition of relative when it comes to people's definition of them and judgement on them.

So, I repeat, Al-Jazeera is MORE non-biased than any Egyptian news or TV Channel (PUBLIC ONES I mean). I stick to that statement completely.

Did I say that Al-Jazeera are saints? Hell no. Do I think they're absolutely ridiculous in not criticizing Qater. Well, yes. But I also expect that THEY expect people like yourself and myself to realize: HELLO! They can't criticize Qatar or they'd get their ass kicked out of the country... HELL, they're owned by a Qatari. So, barring one of the smallest countries in the world, how are they doing on the other front? Pretty damn well I believe.

Better than any of the other shite im exposed to anyways. No one is completely objective and this is why the mind is a beautfiul thing which needs to be used by people like yourself and myself to judge and analyze and seperate between different statements, sources and what not.

Things may have been different then than they are now, but (and since my father is a media specialist and basically, since this has been his lifetime career) you might have (or not) the small nuances that Al Jazeera copyrighters include in their news or the type of analysts they get or the way their reporters insert little sentences, little phrases everywhere. I'm sorry. There is no way in hell Al Jazeera is pro-American or Israeli. I'm not saying you implied they were, you never mentioned it explicitly... I'm just getting that statement out of the way.

It would be difficult to say something is anti or pro someone just because you share an opinion. Howa ya3nee ma you live in Egypt... and many other bloggers and people of the press. Does that automatically make them and us welad kalb kasakees just because our government is? I think not.

At the same time, if the Israelis say: FREE SPEECH! and I say the same... am I now Pro-Israeli? Again, I think not.

That's about it.

Seneferu said...

Hi Faisal,

First of all, sorry habbeit feek fil post da, gat feek kidda min gheir asd, ma3lesh:-)

I'm not saying that Al Jazeera is pro this and that, but I'm saying its owners (the qatari government, which I understand holds at least a major share in the channel) clearly are. I consider that similar to a health-freak selling crack to the kids - I find something very sinister about this that I cannot accept. (and yes, that implies that I view AJ's content as crack for the kids.)