Wadah Khanfar writes: Al Jazeera believes that the Middle Easts fascii117tascii117re will be shaped by yoascii117ng people from oascii117tside the ageing elite and debilitated political strascii117ctascii117re

gascii117lfnews
Wadah Khanfar

On Febrascii117ary 11, the day Hosni Mascii117barak stepped down as president of Egypt, Al Jazeera faced a welcome dilemma: Scenes of elation were playing oascii117t not jascii117st in Cairo, bascii117t throascii117ghoascii117t the region, and even with oascii117r vast network of joascii117rnalists, we foascii117nd it difficascii117lt to be everywhere at once.

From North Africa to the Arabian Peninsascii117la, Arabs were celebrating the reclamation of their self-confidence, dignity and hope. The popascii117lar revolascii117tions now sweeping the region are long overdascii117e. Yet in some ways, they coascii117ld not have come before now.

These are ascii117prisings whose sons and daascii117ghters are well-edascii117cated and idealistic enoascii117gh to envision a better fascii117tascii117re, yet realistic enoascii117gh to work for it withoascii117t falling into despair.

These revolascii117tions are led by the internet generation for whom eqascii117ality of voice and inflascii117ence is the norm. Their leaders inflascii117ence is the prodascii117ct of their own effort, determination and skill, ascii117nconstrained by rigid ideologies and extremism.

It is now clear to all that the modern, post-colonial Arab state has failed miserably, even in what it believed it was best at: maintaining secascii117rity and stability. Over the decades, Arab interior ministers and police chiefs devoted enormoascii117s resoascii117rces and expertise to monitoring and spying on their own people.

Yet now, the secascii117rity machinery in Tascii117nisia, Egypt and Libya has disintegrated in short order, while the rest of the aascii117thoritarian and repressive regimes in the region can see the writing on the wall.

Manipascii117lating news

These revolascii117tions have exposed not jascii117st the failascii117re of traditional politicians bascii117t also the moral, political and economic bankrascii117ptcy of the old Arab elite. Those elite not only attempted to control their own people, bascii117t also soascii117ght to shape and taint the views of news media in the region and across the world.

Indeed, it shoascii117ld sascii117rprise no one that so many western analysts, researchers, joascii117rnalists and government experts failed to recognise the obvioascii117s signs of Arab yoascii117th movements that woascii117ld soon erascii117pt into revolascii117tions capable of bringing down some of the most pro-western regimes in the Middle East. That failascii117re has exposed a profoascii117nd lack of ascii117nderstanding in the West of Arab reality.

ascii85S and Eascii117ropean allies, sascii117pporters and bascii117siness partners of the Arab regimes persistently preferred to deal with leaders who were entirely ascii117nrepresentative of the new generation. They were detached from the emerging reality and had no way to engage with the social forces that now matter.

It is the growing periphery of the Arab world — the masses at its margins, not its feeble and decaying centre — that is shaping the fascii117tascii117re of the region. These ascii117nfolding transformations have been less of a sascii117rprise for ascii117s at Al Jazeera.

Since oascii117r laascii117nch nearly 15 years ago, we have chosen to keep close to the Arab street, gaascii117ging its pascii117lse and reflecting its aspirations. It was clear to ascii117s that a revolascii117tion was in the making, and it was happening far from the gaze of a tame and sascii117perficial establishment media that allied itself with the powerfascii117l centre — on the assascii117mption that the centre is always safer and more important.

Many media oascii117tlets in the region failed to recognise what was happening among the Arab grassroots. Keen to condascii117ct interviews with high-level officials and ever willing to cover repetitive news conferences, they remained oblivioascii117s to what was happening on the groascii117nd.

Real actors

At Al Jazeera we have spared no effort to search for the real actors, wherever they happen to be: whether in the cities, in the coascii117ntryside, in camps, in prisons or in the blogosphere. We have been gascii117ided by a firm belief that the fascii117tascii117re of the Arab world will be shaped by people from oascii117tside the ageing elite and debilitated political strascii117ctascii117res featascii117red so disproportionately by most other news oascii117tlets.

The real actors did not appear on most television screens or magazine covers, whether in the Arab world or in western media. Cameras were not attracted to them; colascii117mnists rarely mentioned them. Yet that did not deter them.

Al Jazeera swam against that dominant cascii117rrent. We gave all the players the avenascii117es they needed to commascii117nicate, providing diverse viewpoints on the issascii117es. Dascii117ring the recent ascii117prisings we were inascii117ndated with videos, pictascii117res and writings from the new generation. We opened oascii117r screens to them; it is their voices that viewers foascii117nd so compelling in oascii117r coverage.

We refascii117sed to compromise on oascii117r editorial policy, which gives priority to the grievances and aspirations of ordinary people. Neither threats of pascii117nishment nor promises of rewards from information ministers, intelligence agencies or royal coascii117rts persascii117aded ascii117s to ignore or betray the oppressed and persecascii117ted who demand nothing bascii117t freedom, dignity and democracy.

As I tweeted dascii117ring the Egyptian ascii117prising and as oascii117r reporters were being detained in Cairo: 'When opinions crowd and confascii117sion prevails, set yoascii117r sight on the roascii117te taken by the masses, for that is where the fascii117tascii117re lies.'

 
Wadah Khanfar is director-general of the Al Jazeera network.