In case you have not heard the news, the ramifications of al-Ghad’s irresponsible journalism continue to reverberate.
Thousands of Iraqi Shi’ ites protested Monday after hearing reports that relatives of a Jordanian suicide bomber suspected of killing 125 people in the town of Hilla celebrated him as a martyr.
After breaking into the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad and tearing down the flag, protesters called on all foreign Arabs to leave the country and then denounced Jordan’s King Abdullah.
The journalist that wrote the story has also found himself in trouble with the law. According to Petra news agency (the state news agency), the interior minister announced that the reporter, Hadi al Nsour, was arrested for "publishing false information that harmed the country." Personally, I think it shouldn’t be the journalist alone that takes all the blame. There had to have been a page editor and there should have been a managing editor that allowed this monstrosity to be published.
This all developed because of one tiny inflammatory article published in a new daily that is trying desperately to be “controversial." Amazing no? This likely would not have happened several years ago when the Arabic media published inciting articles regularly but got away with it. Things are no longer the same due to modern technology. If this didn’t teach al-Ghad a lesson, I don’t know what will.
It really is a scandal and a major embarrassment to each and every Jordanian. We say in Arabic "Fada7oona alla yefda7hom," or "they scandalized us,
May God scandalize them." And this is exactly what the suicide bomber,
his family and al-Ghad did to us! They tarnished our reputation. On a personal note, today an Iraqi Shia acquaintance
approached me saying: "What, you guys are celebrating? Natasha, I’m
going to kill you!" He was joking, fortunately.
With regard to the demonstrations, what’s with the the Star of David painted [see picture] on this particular Jordanian flag? On Aljazeera I even saw a report showing an Iraqi holding a banner decrying the "Jordanian (Israeli) Government." Does everything in this region have to be a ‘Zionist conspiracy?’ Grow up people!
I am being paid to sit on my behind and pretend like I am “analyzing” data today. But for me this is funnier in engaging in the ongoing conversation in the lab about “salvation”. I hate Utah…
It must be that time of night..
Hey Natasha, in one of the pictures, the way you are holding the golf club makes it look like you are prospecting for water.
Hahahahahaha…
Okay confession time. I have no life except Natasha’s blog.
I hate her for it…cos…staring at the wall in this city…is much…more…funnyyyierest.
Here ya go:
Arabs targeted:
Arabs targeted in Iraq – From Yahoo News
notice the reference to Al-Iraqiya, funded by the US…and the new “free” Iraqi newspapers…
I’m all for non-Iraqi fighters out of Iraq…but to target people who have lived there for years and suffered as the Iraqis have suffered is pure racism…
Oh, the Iraqis have learned nothing yet. Woe, woe…
Iraqi blogger, I’m very surprised by your attacks on Jordan when it was among the first countries to condemn the terrorist attacks in Iraq. Did you forget that Jordan strongly condemned the Hilla attack? You can not unleash your anger on a whole country just because one disillusioned lunatic decided to blow himself up and kill innocent Iraqis.
If you really want to vent why not save some for Syria, for example, for keeping its borders open for all the Arab fighters coming from Yemen, Syria and Saudi that cross into Iraq over Syrian borders? Or why not vent at Saudi for allowing imams to preach Jihad?
Iraqi national TV showed these foreign fighters confessing, a majority saying they came from Syria. How many terrorists were from Jordan? It seems few compared to the Sudanese, Saudis and Syrians, no?
Jordan has been clear from the beginning on the issue of border control. It has not and will never open its borders for those lunatic jihadis. How this guy managed to get into Iraq is beyond me.
Isn’t Jordan also the place where Iraqis find a safe haven? Have you been to Jordan lately? It is jam-packed with Iraqis and Jordan is among the very few countries that accepted them. I think all Iraqis should be grateful for what Jordan has provided and continues to provide both before and after this most recent war.
Yes, al-Ghad made a horrible mistake and I was among the first people expressing my anger and condemnation. Don’t lash out at me just because I happen to be Jordanian. This is wrong and very racist actually! Your enemies are not Jordanians, trust me. Your enemy is extremism in general. Jordanians and Iraqis have always been on good terms — at least on a personal level. Actually, in Jordan they are well-respected and everyone sympathizes with their cause. I understand your anger, but you make little headway throwing baseless accusations in my direction.
Iyas,
Oh, the pain. Agreeing with me twice in one week must take a toll on you.
Try some aspirin and sleep it off.
= )
Hahahahahahahahahaha….
one more thing about the stars…
i think its disgraceful on anyone of any nationailty to do that to the star which is a representation of islam, especially if they are muslims attempting to burn it.
some people dont think before they act on their whims…especially the socio-political ones
lol everyone has to put the blame on someone else. i think to myself we fail to realise we are all in the same boat of misery that is sinking faster than our guilt trips. iraqis, jordanians, palestinians, syrians etc, the same color of blood is running so theres no logic in standing still and discriminating which blood is whose.
but more importantly, when it comes to this article.
i think from an objective point of view (as far as that can stand) that the article was not fueling hate or anything it just lacked the required objectivity when it comes to this incident. Specially in iraq.
they should, upon hearing such news in my opinion, lean neither to the left nor right, neither support it nor denounce it…simply…report it. i can acknowledge biases exist especially in jordan but with journalism i expect one has to know the full story before writing its conclusion.
I agree with metalordie (scary, this is the second time I say this in a week)
Let’s not turn this into an ugly case of nationalism because we both can argue about it for hours until we both start coming up with examples we don’t even believe in to support our claims.
The case again (and I am not downplaying the horrid act): A murder, victims, ignorant family, irresponsible journalism, and arguably slow governmental reaction that did not cope with today speed of information transfer.
Natasha, I think I had metalordie’s comment somewhere in the back of my head when I typed the last line but I consciously avoided referring to Chalabi or others in my comment.
Iraqi blogger, people need to stop sticking religion up everything’s ass. The whole region is F*ed up because we attribute everything to religion. We have a murder and victims. He may blown himself up because he hates Shiites. The fact that you accuse the Jordanian gov and the newspaper of not doing anything (which is not entirely true BTW) has nothing to do with that though. Emphasizing “Shiite Iraqis” in your comment greatly diminished its already insignificant value. Your “honored” Arab tradition is one that probably worked a few thousand years ago but in today’s world we have laws, something you should look forward to respect once things settle down in Iraq. I suggest we stick such “honored” traditions up Zarqawi’s ass. Oh, when you say the past 20 years, do you mean the time Iraq could not do any trade through the northern Kurdish/Turkish borders, the eastern Iranian borders or the southern Kuwaiti/Saudi ones? If you lived in Iraq during that time, you should be grateful the tea you used to drink and the aspirin you took for your headache from all the mess was allowed to pass through Jordan!
And Jeff, you are such a nice person to respond to a question that could have been answered by a simple Google search.