Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ron Paul, Al-Jazeera, and Iran's Press TV
World Tribune ^

Posted on 08/21/2011 3:09:29 PM PDT by mnehring

A journalist for Al-Jazeera has been arrested on suspicion of being an agent of the Palestinian terror group Hamas.

The journalist, Samer Allawi, Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Afghanistan, is a Palestinian. He was apprehended by Israeli authorities as he attempted to leave the West Bank.

Meantime, Republican Rep. Ron Paul, a presidential candidate who has appeared on Al-Jazeera, has picked up the support of another foreign propaganda channel. In addition to getting major sympathetic coverage from Russia Today, which is funded by Moscow, the Texas congressman is getting rave reviews from Press TV, the channel funded by the Iranian regime.

The latter has mostly to do with Paul’s declarations during the Iowa debate that he would not object to Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. He also faulted the CIA for its alleged involvement in Iran in 1953 for bad relations with the current fanatical Islamic regime.

“We started it in 1953 when we sent in a coup, installed the shah, and the reaction — the blowback came in 1979. It’s been going on and on because we just plain don’t mind our own business. That’s our problem,” he said.

The detention of Allawi, a major development in the media wars over the future of the Middle East, is not the first time that Israel has detained journalists from the channel. During the 2006 war in Lebanon, several Al-Jazeera journalists working in Israel were apprehended and warned about providing military information to Hizbullah, another terrorist organization. The accusation was that Al-Jazeera journalists were reporting the specific location of Hizbullah rocket strikes on Israel, enabling the terrorists to more accurately aim their weapons. In total, Hizbullah rained an estimated 3,970 Katyusha rockets and longer range missiles on military and civilian targets in Israel. The rockets have no internal guidance system and needed to rely on spotters or media coverage of their strikes to increase their accuracy.

This kind of activity earned the channel a lawsuit, filed by the Israel Law Center in the U.S., accusing Al-Jazeera of facilitating the deaths of Israeli and American victims of the war. Judge Kimba Wood dismissed the suit, claiming that the victims had failed to show Al-Jazeera had the specific intention of aiding Hizbullah.

Since its inception, however, Al-Jazeera has functioned as a mouthpiece for terrorist organizations, including but not limited to Al Qaida. Tayseer Alouni, the channel’s Afghanistan correspondent during the 9/11 attacks, was apprehended by U.S. military authorities and turned over to Spain, his native country, where he was prosecuted, convicted, and jailed as an agent of Al Qaida. Al-Jazeera defended him and paid his legal fees.

Similarly, the channel is defending Samer Allawi as an innocent victim of the Israelis who is being denied due process. So-called press freedom groups have either called for Allawi’s immediate release or a detailed explanation from Israel of why he is being detained.

Al-Jazeera says that Allawi is refusing to cooperate with the authorities interrogating him.

Critics of Al-Jazeera have called upon Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, to hold hearings on Al-Jazeera’s involvement with terrorist organizations and whether that activity qualifies the channel to be officially designated by the U.S. Government as a global terrorist entity that provokes violence against Americans and American interests.

Under such a designation, which has been applied to Al-Manar, an affiliate of Hizbullah, the channel could be banned from operating in the U.S. Al-Manar was labeled a global terrorist entity and banned from the U.S. in 2004.

Al-Manar is said to be the second most popular television channel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after Al-Jazeera. Experts believe it to be financed by the government of Iran, which has also launched Press TV, a channel that, like Al-Jazeera, has production facilities in Washington, D.C.

Press TV contacted Accuracy in Media on Tuesday, looking for a guest for one of its programs to discuss why Republican Representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul is not getting more favorable attention from the U.S. media. Paul pleased the Iranian regime during the Iowa GOP debate by defending its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

AIM declined the invitation but considered the request as more evidence of how foreign propaganda channels, such as Russia Today and Press TV, have embraced the isolationist foreign policy views of the Texas congressman.

Press TV ran a story under the long headline, “Ron Paul Censures U.S. policy on Iran.” The propaganda channel had previously run a story about his remarks in the debate under the headline, “Ron Paul blasts U.S. policy on Iran.”

In a “Quick Facts” entry, Press TV highlighted Paul’s views on Israel and the Middle East, noting that he opposed the raid to kill Osama bin-Laden and opposes U.S. aid to the Jewish state.

Three years ago Paul appeared on Al-Jazeera to talk about his views, which were described as “libertarian.” On the show, hosted by Riz Khan, Paul insisted that he advocated a “strong national defense.”


TOPICS: Egypt; Front Page News; Government; Israel; Politics/Elections; Syria; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 911truther; aljazeera; allawi; egypt; hamas; iran; israel; libertarians; presstv; randpaultruthfile; randsconcerntrolls; ronpaul; ronpaultruthfile; russiatoday; syria; waronterror
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last

1 posted on 08/21/2011 3:09:32 PM PDT by mnehring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: rdb3

Ping


2 posted on 08/21/2011 3:10:31 PM PDT by mnehring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring

3 posted on 08/21/2011 3:12:49 PM PDT by humblegunner (The kinder, gentler version...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring
On the show, hosted by Riz Khan, Paul insisted that he advocated a “strong national defense.”

For who Iran?

4 posted on 08/21/2011 3:16:20 PM PDT by svcw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring

Ron Paul for President.....because a few nuked US cities are just a dandy idea!


5 posted on 08/21/2011 3:19:46 PM PDT by Erik Latranyi
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring

When your foreign policy is to have no foreign policy, bad actors rejoice.


6 posted on 08/21/2011 3:25:21 PM PDT by Drill Thrawl (0 - 537 They ALL must go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring

Ron Paul is crackers.


7 posted on 08/21/2011 3:27:47 PM PDT by Havisham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring

Adolf Hitler’s propaganda medias would have praised Ron Paul aswell. All of the evil in this world loves him. The devil is on Ron Paul’s side.


8 posted on 08/21/2011 3:43:58 PM PDT by DanielSilverman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring

Adolf Hitler’s propaganda medias would have praised Ron Paul as well. All of the evil in this world loves him. The devil is on Ron Paul’s side.


9 posted on 08/21/2011 3:44:11 PM PDT by DanielSilverman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

Ron Paul is the least viable candidate in the graphic!


10 posted on 08/21/2011 3:48:12 PM PDT by Eaker ("If someone misquotes you, it's because they know you're right.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Eaker
Personally I'll take Ronald McDonald. That dude knows how to run a budget surplus!
11 posted on 08/21/2011 4:13:15 PM PDT by Drill Thrawl (0 - 537 They ALL must go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Eaker
I would never vote for him, but what , preytell is the poison about him that has everyone wetting their pants compared to the other painted up scumbag a$$clowns proffered up by the powers that be?
12 posted on 08/21/2011 4:22:53 PM PDT by de.rm ('Most people never believe anything you tell them unless it isn't true."-Groucho Marx)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: de.rm
I would never vote for him, but what , preytell is the poison about him that has everyone wetting their pants compared to the other painted up scumbag a$$clowns proffered up by the powers that be?

If you would never vote for Paul, as you say, then why are you wondering what, prey tell is the poison about him that has everyone wetting their pants? Surely you can give a reason why you would never vote for him. Maybe it's the same as some other people's reasons for refusing to vote for him.

13 posted on 08/21/2011 4:25:34 PM PDT by 10thAmendmentGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: 10thAmendmentGuy

Because I’m old and about to die, and we’re all F’d anyway because not enough care to peek behind the curtain to see whose pulling the strings on all the S C U M B A G A $ $ C L O W N S !


14 posted on 08/21/2011 4:31:00 PM PDT by de.rm ('Most people never believe anything you tell them unless it isn't true."-Groucho Marx)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: de.rm

Ron Paul would be a compelling candidate if he doesn’t have such wacked-out views on foreign policy. I’m sure a lot of people on here would vote for him if his views were more within the Republican mainstream, and I include myself in that group. I can’t really think of one domestic policy position of his that I disagree with. His foreign policy views, however, make him completely unelectable and unfit to serve as President.


15 posted on 08/21/2011 4:33:58 PM PDT by 10thAmendmentGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: 10thAmendmentGuy

First sentence in the previous post should say didn’t instead of doesn’t.


16 posted on 08/21/2011 4:34:44 PM PDT by 10thAmendmentGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks mnehring.
In addition to getting major sympathetic coverage from Russia Today, which is funded by Moscow, the Texas congressman is getting rave reviews from Press TV, the channel funded by the Iranian regime... he would not object to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. He also faulted the CIA for its alleged involvement in Iran in 1953 for bad relations with the current fanatical Islamic regime... Press TV contacted Accuracy in Media on Tuesday, looking for a guest for one of its programs to discuss why Republican Representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul is not getting more favorable attention from the U.S. media. Paul pleased the Iranian regime during the Iowa GOP debate by defending its pursuit of nuclear weapons. AIM declined the invitation but considered the request as more evidence of how foreign propaganda channels, such as Russia Today and Press TV, have embraced the isolationist foreign policy views of the Texas congressman... Press TV highlighted Paul's views on Israel and the Middle East, noting that he opposed the raid to kill Osama bin-Laden and opposes U.S. aid to the Jewish state.

17 posted on 08/21/2011 5:15:33 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Yes, as a matter of fact, it is that time again -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: mnehring
Oh, shut up, Ron Paul. Your hot air is shattering summer temperature records.
18 posted on 08/21/2011 5:23:08 PM PDT by Allegra (Hey! Stop looking at my tagline like that.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring
Why would any sane person in government or seeking to be in government, talk to al-jazeera? It would be like giving an interview with Pravda during the Cold War.
19 posted on 08/22/2011 1:20:04 AM PDT by jmcenanly ( "We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him." -Samuel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson