Crescent International
The Qatari regime’s TV station Al Jazeera announced plans to launch a new media platform in the US called “Rightly”.
It will target American conservatives.
While it caught many by surprise, politically it was expected and perhaps fits into a pattern.
Seeing Al Jazeera’s move strictly from the media perspective would be a mistake.
To assume that a media outlet financed by a Muslim/Arab government will be accepted by a segment of the US population favorably is naïve.
Most Americans view Muslims and Arabs as aliens and a threat.
Al Jazeera is owned by an unrepresentative regime.
Important decisions are not taken outside the oversight of the autocratic Qatari royals.
Anyone who assumes that Qatar has a system that serves the people is unaware of the wider regional geopolitical structure and Doha’s place in it.
Qatar’s decision to reach out to the so-called conservative audience in the US that includes a significant segment of Americans who blindly support Zionism, is clearly political.
The Electronic Intifada’s extensive research in 2018 revealed that “Qatar donated $250,000 to some of the most extreme pro-Israel organizations in the United States, including one that funds senior Israeli military officers to go on propaganda tours. Joseph Allaham, a lobbyist working for the Qatari government, transferred the money through his firm Lexington Strategies in late 2017 and early 2018. The sums included $100,000 to the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), $100,000 to Our Soldiers Speak and $50,000 for Blue Diamond Horizons, Inc.”
Qatar’s cozy and subservient Israeli connection points to the fact that Doha’s role will be to serve as Israel’s regional political control valve and a trusted regional informer.
Thus, Al Jazeera’s expansion to cater to the hardcore pro-Zionist segment of the American society should be viewed within this political context.
Al Jazeera’s latest decision was met with intense internal opposition.
More than 100 staff at the network signed an open letter to management objecting to the launch of a new rightwing digital platform.
In their open letter as reported by the 5pillarsuk, the staff pointed out that the rightwing branch of Al Jazeera is being launched “following layoffs, budget cuts, hiring freezes and a lack of promotions and pay raises. Many women of color have been performing jobs above their titles without proper compensation. This raises serious questions about the network’s priorities and distribution of resources.”
Analyzing Al Jazeera’s latest move, many pundits rarely touched on the channel’s potential for success among the right-wing segment of the US population.
Al Jazeera’s success will depend on how much support it gets from the current US regime.
If the Joe Biden regime sees Al Jazeera as a potential vehicle which can softly peddle a pre-Trump narrative to US right-wingers, the network will face favorable working conditions.
However, considering that Trumpism which is the dominant trend today among US conservatives is also staunchly pro-Zionist and anti-Biden, Al Jazeera may find itself in a predicament of the internal dynamics of American politics.
The Qatari network’s catch-22 situation may arise from being pressured by Israel to provide a platform to nutcase Trumpist narrative or play ball with the current establishment.
Time will show how the Arab world’s most sophisticated propaganda media outlet will balance its politics.
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