In a tempestuous discussion at Fletcher in mid-October, Al Jazeera co- founder Omar al Issawi, tried to answer the many questions that Fletcherites and undergrads had about the controversial Arab newspaper.

Born in Kuwait and educated in the US and the UK, al Issawi, after being fired by the BBC spearheaded the formation of the first independent Arab newspaper in 1995.

The biggest problem facing Al Jazeera and journalists from the Middle East, according to al Issawi, is freedom of speech – this concept, he said, may be foreign to most Americans: “For those of you here who have been in this country all of your lives perhaps don’t know what that means, but to us over there it's looking over your shoulder to see if somebody is listening in on your conversation.”

Journalists are seen as troublemakers, he said, but then he did not see the treatment given to journalists as much better than the treatment he received in the United States. ‘I was stuck for three hours with immigration at Dulles International Airport before finally being fingerprinted and photographed and interrogated, which is actually a more humiliating experience than when I went to Iraq during the last part of Saddam Hussein’s rule.”

Al Issawi went on to explain to those who thought that Al Jazeera is a vehicle for Bin Laden: “What you people get in the West is that ‘Bin Laden has broadcast this message through Al Jazeera.’ I would like to stress that nobody has taken Bin Laden up on his incitement from the Arab population… any attacks that have been carried out have been carried out by al Qaeda’s operatives, but not by people who are influenced by Bin Laden through Al Jazeera. Our viewers are smarter than that.”

Further, he continued, “Al Jazeera is more than Ossama Bin Laden tapes, Al Jazeera is more that Saddam Hussein appearing on our screens, we brought people together from opposite ends of the spectrum, for the first time for the people to see and realize that it is not that bad to talk about your frustrations and about your complaints.”

Al Jazeera refrains from labeling any one as ‘terrorists,’ al Issawi said. “We simply do not label [groups] because if we were to label them, then we would have to label governments that also hurt people, we would have to label certain Prime Ministers that have been implicated in massacres, so we just avoid that labeling game.”

He proffered the reason why such groups have large adherents. People, according to al Issawi, are attracted to extremist groups “because there is a lack of leadership in the Arab world. What are classified as extremist organizations do more than kill and maim people, they provide services, they build clinics, they establish schools, they help people with their daily needs. Please don’t take this as if I am coming out in the defense of any particular organizations, I am just telling you the facts.” Al Issawi did make it abundantly clear that he sees Islam as a religion of peace.

Al Issawi stated that the US needs a greater understanding of the Arab world. “I have been in the United States for about two weeks and I tried to watch the news and I don’t see any. This is why America finds itself in a sticky situation in Iraq today because they fail to understand the intricacies of that region.”

Student reactions to al Issawi were mixed. One first year, found al Issawi rather aggressive: “He came as if ready for battle, poised to launch an attack on an unsuspecting crowd, but then this is quite a controversial topic, not exactly Sunday morning meditation thoughts.” Marcin Szajda, MALD 05, thought al Issawi was quite matter-of-fact. “He was informative in most cases but on some occasions he did not substantiate his claims.”