MER EDITORIAL:
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THE HASHEMITE REGIME'S UNOFFICIAL
WEBSITE?
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THEY CALL IT ARABIA ON-LINE
MER - Washington - 20 April:
The world is full of subterfuge and pretense these
days; and Middle East affairs is more than ever a hall of distorted mirrors,
with disguised and confusing connections everywhere, many leading nowhere,
many leading to the Arab power elite -- to the client-regimes and the associated
business interests that prosper under their rule.
Control and manipulation of the major media may come
only third on the basic list of importance to these regimes that still
rule in the Middle East region as nowhere else on earth -- but it is nevertheless
an essential element of domination over the people of the entire region.
First there is control and manipulation of the army
and secret police -- the primary method of staying in power. And
second there is control and manipulation of the economy and the major sources
of wealth.
Both of these primary elements of power are then
used to control and manipulate the third pillar of control, the media --
what people are allowed to know about, to write about, and as much as possible
to think about. And these days this media domination is being done in ever
more sophisticated ways, oftentimes "hands off" third-party ways.
The regimes already control the airwaves, radio and
TV, and the major printing presses. Over the past few decades any semblance
of a truly independent and free press, has dissolved, including in Kuwait
and Lebanon where there were far better days. True, the means of control
may be increasingly subtle and disguised; but they have also become more
pervasive and near total.
Also, outside the region but controlled from it,
the main international
papers and magazines about the Middle East are really
from the Middle East, in many cases owned and manipulated by the Saudi
royal family and associated interests. These associated interests also
have their hooks deeply into such special interest publications as Middle
East International in London, and The Washington Report on Middle East
Affairs in Washington. (There is of course considerable Israeli control
and manipulation as well, but this
is another story unto itself.)
Then, in the largest of the Arab countries, there
is that narrow-clique
of government/business/military that control everything
Egyptian. And the most recent phenomena is inter-regime press connections
and alliances that have begun to form in this age of the satellite as computers.
Which brings us to the brave new world of cyberspace
and the Internet.
Among many that are embryonic at the moment, there
is a very well-financed and glitzy English-language web site known as Arabia
On-Line and headquartered in Amman. Though they no doubt deny being any
such thing, think of Arabia On-Line as the unofficial web-site of the Hashemite
Regime. Nothing direct or day to day, mind you; but the combination of
sponsors, motives, personnel, and news choices, all make Arabia On-Line
serve this basic interest, however "laundered" the trail of actual ownership
and management.
There is a persistent and escalating pattern of intimidation
and censorship in Jordan now relating to the Internet. Even people reading
and distributing MER for instance have been "warned". Quite clearly, the
regime has decided to do what it can to make people getting and sharing
news and insights using the new egalitarian medium of Internet anxious
and frightened.
And at the same time the Jordanian power elite is
increasingly using
modern-day tactics of co-optation and deception;
and this is where Arabia On-Line seems to fit in to the larger picture.
Started and supported by businessmen and friends well-connected with the
Hashemite regime, including Aramex and the Arab Bank, the role of Arabia
On-Line it seems is to provide a very well-designed and well-financed place
for people to go, keeping them as much as possible away from spending their
time at much more useful but less colorful locations.
In short, Arabia On-Line's news sources are very
politically selected and edited, its forums carefully monitored and censored,
its content not very different from the print newspapers the regime has
favored and sponsored over the years. The hope seems to be that by providing
a vast array of controlled information in colorful fashion -- from sports
to business to current events -- people will come to spend their time on
Arabia On-Line rather than going to far less glitzy, but far more independent
and far more content-worthwhile places.
Much money is being thrown at this kind of thing
these days. So simply said, "Watch Out".
And yes, this is a subject MER will be paying ongoing
attention.
