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BEIRUT – A new pan-Arab TV station that went on the air Monday courtsviewers who see mainstream coverage of the political upheavalsweeping the Middle East as biased against the regimes in Syria andIran and their close ally in Lebanon, the powerful Shiite militantgroup Hezbollah. The Beirut-based station Al-Mayadeen, Arabic for The Squares, hopesto counter the influence of regional media heavyweights likeAl-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, both funded by oil-rich Sunni Gulf Arabcountries that have backed the uprising against Syrian PresidentBashar Assad. It also promises to support the Palestinian cause andall forms of "resistance" — a term in Mideast parlanceusually used to describe Hezbollah and other groups that fightIsrael. Al-Mayadeen is headed by Ghassan bin Jiddo, a well-known Tunisianjournalist who quit Qatar-based Al-Jazeera last year to protestwhat he contended was one-sided reporting in favor of the Syrianopposition. Since the Syrian revolt began 15 months ago, some Arabshave accused Al Jazeera of whipping up public opinion againstAssad's regime and playing on sectarian tensions. "I am against any media that may deviate to the level ofprovocation, incitement and sedition," bin Jiddo has said of hisresignation from Al-Jazeera. Bin Jiddo has pledged a balanced and professional approach atAl-Mayadeen, but his background has skeptics wondering whether thestation will simply be a mouthpiece for Iran and Syria. Bin Jiddoused to lead Al-Jazeera's Beirut operations and was the onlyjournalist who was granted an interview by Hezbollah leader SheikHassan Nasrallah during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. "We do not speak in the name of Iran or the Syrian regime, we are acompletely independent channel which reflects reality as it is,"bin Jiddo said at a press conference in Beirut this week. There has been much speculation over the source of funding forAl-Mayadeen, which employs about 300 workers. Bin Jiddo has deniedit was receiving money from any country, saying it is funded bybusinessmen whose identities he would not disclose. Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the two most viewed news stations in theArab world, are funded respectively by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. TheSyrian regime often refers to the two stations as the "incitement"channels or "death" channels. The new station will also be competing with scores of otherall-news Arab TV news channels, including BBC News Arabic and morerecently, Sky News Arabia — all trying to draw viewers at atime of momentous political change in the Arab world. The ArabSpring uprisings that have swept the region since last year havepolarized the media, with journalists accusing each other of takingsides. The split has highlighted a growing schism in the region. Sunni-ledGulf Arab countries are at odds with Shiite Iran and its allySyria, and have called for international military intervention tooust Assad. Many of Assad's supporters deny that he is facing a genuine popularuprising, saying the revolt is instead a conspiracy fomented byforeign countries seeking to topple the Syrian leader because ofhis support for anti-Israel groups. Syrian opposition groups say more than 13,000 people have diedsince the uprising started in March 2001. The revolt, which beganas a largely peaceful movement, has morphed into an insurgency. Apeace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan has failed to endthe violence. On Monday, activists said dozens were killed as Syrian troopsattacked a rebel-held town in central Syria with helicoptergunships and shelled other restive areas across the nation. The new station led its Syria coverage with statements from boththe opposition and Syria's state-run media. In a later program, thechannel hosted Anis Nakash, a Lebanese pro-Iranian figure with acontroversial past. Bin Jiddo said earlier that the new channel will champion Arabnationalism, primarily the Palestinian cause. "We will fight sectarianism and stand against colonialism andforeign intervention," he said. "The station's compass will alwaysbe turned to Palestine and the resistance." The channel has attracted journalists from across the Arab worldand even beyond. George Galloway, an outspoken former Britishlawmaker, will host a weekly program called "A Free Word." In the run up to the launch, billboards advertising Al-Mayadeenpopped up across Lebanon with the words: "Reality as it is.". We are high quality suppliers, our products such as CO2 Fractional Laser Manufacturer , China Breast Beautifying for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Diode Laser Hair Removal.
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