U.S. makes Al Jazeera a target

On Monday, March 24, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) decided to ban Al Jazeera Satellite Channel from reporting live from the trading floor. The arbitrary decision was relayed to Al Jazeera reporter Ammar Sankari on his arrival to the NYSE to do his show. He was told the decision was effective immediately and he was to hand over his pass to the market along with the other Al Jazeera reporter Ramzi Shibber.

The reason for the decision, in a letter sent later to Al Jazeera, was scaling back live broadcasts for space and security concerns. NYSE officials told the media that they couldn't accommodate Al Jazeera as they preferred to give its slot to broadcasters with responsible business reporting. Nobody believed that reason, and two days after sources from the market gave the real reason for kicking Al Jazeera out of it: Its coverage of the war in Iraq.

That coverage was not to the liking of military and political leaders in Washington and London, only because Al Jazeera is reporting factual from Iraq. Showing the real footage of the material and human damage and loss the American and British forces are inflicting on the Iraqi people, was not tasty though Al Jazeera give enough air time to American and British commanders and officials to tell their account of the war to Arab viewers.

The core of the issue seems to be that the Western democracy are not willing to admit that an Arab media outlet could be professional, independent, objective and impartial. One would understand that Arab governments get angry at Al Jazeera, but those who preach democracy and free speech day and night should be at least tolerant, if not welcoming the rise of such an outlet like Al Jazeera.

The irony is that Western values are based on two pillars: individual freedoms and market liberalism. Now the "freedom" officials, and the "liberal" market want to silence an Arab free voice.

Apart from the official stand expressed by Al Jazeera, any liberal journalist in the world should feel sorry for the subjectivity of the symbol of capitalist liberalism. As the New York Times concluded its editorial on Wednesday, American foreign policy is not among the functions of stock markets, but these markets' actions can stamp this policy. Patriotism shouldn't jeopardise professionalism, and there's a fine thread between self-esteem and arrogance. The later is fatal.

Al Jazeera business coverage may not be as much as CNBC, Bloomberg, or CNN, but still – as to the best of professional skills and editorial experience – it's the first independent, objective, and professional business coverage in Arab media. Though it's reporting the same market developments everybody else reports, it does this from an Arab perspective, specially catering for more than thirty five millions of Arab viewers.

For those viewers' needs, Al Jazeera will cosntinue covering U.S. markets. The U.S. stock markets may think that "others" need them, yet they're not in need of any "others". But out of more than a trillion dollars of Arab investments abroad, a huge amount pours into U.S. markets within the more than a billion dollars it borrows daily. Those investors, mainly in the Gulf respect Al Jazeera business coverage. Those Arab investors are also patriotic, but they tune to Al Jazeera for professional reasons.

The attack on Al Jazeera, since it showed the first footage of civilian Iraqis killed in Basra last week, and American soldiers killed and captured a day after, was not because of the Western enthusiasm for human rights conventions.

The problem with such revealing pictures is that it contradicted the promises of the warriors and the statements of the generals at the beginning of the war. For national security reasons, Washington and London can ask their national media outlets to restrict their coverage of the war.

Some of these media would be more royal than the king and fall to the line of propaganda. Whatever pressure exerted on Al Jazeera to follow suit, it can't risk the reputation it built over more than six years.

The writer is a well-known Egyptian journalist based in Qatar.