Saudi newspaper: Official Palestinian declarations no longer credible
Ahmad Al-Rab’i, a columnist for the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq
Al-Awsat, on February 16, 2002 apologized to his readers for reporting the Palestinian
Authority’s (PA) version of the Karine A weapons ship affair. Al-Rab’i called on
his readers not to believe the PA’s declarations any longer.
Following are excerpts. Translation by MEMRI, the Middle East Media
Research Institute (MEMRI), an independent, non-profit organization that
translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East.
“When Israel announced that it had seized the weapons ship, I
doubted the Israeli account and espoused the PA’s claim – that the whole thing
was a fabrication. I did this out of a sense of obligation to support our
Palestinian brothers, and out of trust in the veracity of their account. But it
seems that the leadership deceived us with its account, and we, in
turn, unintentionally deceived our readers.”
“I remember when my colleague Abd al Rahman Al-Rashed, editor of Al-Sharq
Al-Awsat criticized the Palestinian version . All the conspiracy
theory ‘bulldozers’ rose up against him; they charged him with ‘serving’ the enemy.”
“Now, not only is Arafat confessing to the account, but he goes further
still, and has sent to the American secretary of state which it
can be interpreted that he takes responsibility for this incident.”
“Therefore, I take responsibility before my readers; I and my readers were
victims of our obligation to and trust in the Palestinian leadership. I assure the
readers that since Arafat has confessed his responsibility to Colin Powell, I will
no longer take the Palestinian leadership’s declarations seriously.”
“A journalist in our Arab world is confused, between his respect for
himself and his readers and the Arab attitude towards the news. Fearing that he
will be denied, the journalist misses the opportunity to analyze important news.
If he writes about it , he… is stricken with anxiety, lest his
commentary be published in the same issue that carries the denial of what he
reports.”
“The principle is not to treat the public with candor
and transparency, but to conceal information , such that if is
picked up by the foreign press, we can deny it. Sometimes we are forced to
confirm an item after we have denied it, because it has turned out to be a
proven fact.”
“When we defended the Palestinian] National Authority in the weapons ship
incident, we faced two problems:
First, some commentators and Palestinian leaders denied the story,
claiming that it was a fabrication, a show, and an attempt to divert public
opinion from the peace issue.
Second, smuggling weapons in this way is a naive act attesting
to ignorance – primarily because these weapons will not shift the military
balance in favor of the Palestinians. Likewise, smuggling weapons on a route
controlled by the Israeli navy is an escapade no reasonable person would attempt.”
“However, what matters here is that the PA ‘bestowed’ upon us lies, and we,
on our part, pressed our readers to support the PA. We, and our readers, were
victims of our commitment and of the trust we placed in it –
which is now lost.”
