News

Screening: Bahrain: Shooting in the Dark Q&A with May Welsh, Jon Blair, and ex-Bahraini MP

2012-02-03T12:22:39Z

By Ivana Davidovic

"With our souls, with our blood, we would sacrifice anything for you Bahrain" people chanted on the streets of Bahrain. In February 2011, while the media glare was firmly focused on the uprising in Egypt, the Bahraini people were left to shout in the dark.

One of their rare witnesses was Al Jazeera's May Ying Welsh, who went undercover, without the permission of the Bahraini government, to record the people's desperate and unanswered calls for democracy which started in February last year.

Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark, as its tagline states, tells “the story of the Arab revolution that was abandoned by the Arabs, forsaken by the West and forgotten by the world.” It went on to win one of the most prestigious recognitions in journalism -2011 Foreign Press Association's Documentary of the Year Award.

On his Twitter account Bahraini Foreign Minster Khalid Al Khalifa criticised Qatar, where Al Jazeera are based:

“It's clear that in Qatar there are those who don't want anything good for Bahrain. And this film on Al Jazeera English is the best example of this inexplicable hostility.”

The reaction of the regime is hardly surprising as Welsh has exposed all of the brutality which was, at least at the time, hidden from the eyes of the world.

We see unarmed people shot, beaten, teargassed. We see doctors and nurses, Sunni and Shia, in the Al Salmaniya hospital reduced to tears after treating injured protesters for 48 hours without a break, unable to comprehend what is happening to their country.

We see how the regime's brutal crackdown against its own people gathers force with the introduction of martial law and media “witch hunts” - all with the help of the military forces from the Gulf states.

We see how the protesters are desperate for their revolution not be portrayed as some sort of sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis, but as a unified call of all Bahrainis for the end of the authoritarian regime and the introduction of constitutional monarchy.

The film's executive producer, Jon Blair, who moderated the Q&A, asked Welsh, who talked via Skype, to explain how did she found those months living and working in Bahrain.

“Because of the undercover aspect of the filming, I needed to leave the hotel system. I moved into an apartment where the details of my passport were not reported to the interior ministry.”

“I started being monitored by the government through the sim card in my phone so I had to take it out. I did have the police coming to my apartment, a large group of them. There were check points everywhere. I had to wear an abaya and hijab and put my camera in my feminine purse so I wouldn't look like a foreigner or a journalist.”

When asked why the Western world decided to stand back, when they got involved in Libya for example, Walsh said:

“I think the reason is not being able to afford to upset Saudi Arabia, it's not so much to do with the US Fifth Fleet presence. That is my opinion at least. If Bahrain were to have a real democracy, that would impact the eastern part of Saudi Arabia where all the oil is and we depend on that oil. Shias living in Bahrain are the same people, the same tribe, who live in that part of eastern Saudi Arabia, they would probably also rise up then and demand change.”

Present at the Q&A session was also an ex-Bahraini MP Ali Mahdi Alaswad who resigned in February 2011, along with 17 other Al Wefaq MP's, in response to the brutal crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrations.

He said that the situation in his country has hardly improved since then.

“The clashes are still continuing. If there are casualties, they still can't go to the Al Salmaniya hospital. The situation is still the same."

“Most of the people who were interviewed in the film are still detained or are out awaiting trial, they cannot travel anywhere.

“The opposition politicians were talking to the Crown Prince, unfortunately he has no power now. People in Bahrain are still demanding. Their demands for reform are still increasing. But the authorities don't want to upset the Saudis, as about 75 per cent of their income depends on them. The situation is very difficult. But the people are still demanding democracy and they won't stop until it is achieved.”

With the anniversary of the first Pearl Roundabout protest coming up on February 14, one audience member who lived in Bahrain was worried that there might be another carnage on the horizon. Alaswad hinted that the people are certainly not going to let that day slip quietly.

“People in Bahrain are getting angry now. They don't want to see politics, they just want to be outside, protesting, they want to express their feelings. Everybody in Bahrain is waiting for February 14. The regime in Bahrain are thinking what to do. We are planning many activities, but I can't say more now”

You can watch the Shouting in the Dark Q&A here. Click here to watch Shouting in the Dark.

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Getting Somalia Wrong

2012-02-02T14:09:07Z

http://www.royalafricansociety.org/events/details/1137-getting-somalia-wrong-faith-war-and-hope-in-a-shattered-state.html

Next week I'm planning to attend this event at the Royal African Society, where BBC journalist Mary Harper will be launching her new book 'Getting Somalia Wrong'. Mary has a long history of association with Somalia, she's travelled there many times. One of her best stories came about when she was trying to get through to Somali pirates on her mobile phone; she gave up because they didn't answer, and then gave the phone to her daughter. When it rang her daughter answered and said 'mummy it's the pirates on the phone'; a story immortalised on the BBC's From Our Own Correspondent.

I'm looking forward to reading the book as I'm sure Mary's viewpoint will be different to some of the other experts who've written about it over the years. She's spent a lot of time talking to Somalis and really trying to understand what's going on there. Great that Zed Books exists so that these less well-known topics can be written about.

Social media from the front line

2012-02-02T11:50:24Z

Major Paul Smyth is one of the people responsible for changing the Ministry of Defence's approach to social media particularly in the context of front line operations.

I've spoken to him previously for the Frontline Club about his Frontline bloggers project.

In this interview with David Bailey, Maj. Smyth talks in some detail about how he used social media to tell the story of British military deployments from Kosovo to Afghanistan.

These are a few of the things that caught my eye (after I'd spent a few moments puzzling over the indoor brick wall):

1. In Kosovo, Maj. Smyth began making 2 minute YouTube videos and sending the URLs to journalists in Sarajevo to try to capture their interest. Putting these videos online meant they could also be viewed by military wives, girlfriends and families in the UK.

2. He says that in order to get coverage in national newspapers or on the BBC, he needed an "incredible story". But a blog allowed him to provide "behind the scenes" footage and to publish smaller stories for interested audiences on a regular basis.

3. He targeted influential defence correspondents and outlets such as CNN's i-Report spreading his news "footprint over a wider area".

4. He describes how his blogging team inadvertently trumped the established news procedures of Buckingham Palace and the MoD Press Office.

The team had published a blog post revealing a visit by Princess Anne to Camp Bastion an hour too early. He claims the subsequent coverage of the post on the BBC and in The Times and The Telegraph "surprised a few people".

Wael Ghonim in conversation with Ben Hammersley: Revolution 2.0

2012-02-01T23:18:24Z

By Emily Wight

A key element to the Arab Spring was the role of social media in giving momentum to the revolution. In countries such as Egypt, Facebook and Twitter have been used as a democratizing force, a platform for activists to share ideas.

At last night's #FCBBCA event Wired UK's editor at large Ben Hammersley spoke to Wael Ghonim about his creation of one of the most influential of these platforms. We Are All Khaled Said - a Facebook page commemorating the 28-year-old man who died by the hands of Egyptian police in June 2010 - attracted 36,000 people in just 24 hours.

Ghonim spoke of the affinity he felt with Khaled Said:

"I could just have been him under the same circumstances – someone could kill me and no-one pays the price, and at the same time I think that we are all Khaled Said because we are going to get his rights.”

Ghonim believes that this sentiment was spread among the Egyptian people, saying, “We all knew that Khaled Said was not the first guy who died by security forces.” When 300 people had signed up to the page within 3 minutes, he said it gave him hope that he was not alone.

But he is nothing if not modest, and he seemed reluctant to take any credit for his role in sparking the uprisings. Yes, the power of the internet allowed people to connect with each other, but real change had to be physical. He said, “The revolution had to happen on the street.”

He was quick to praise the revolution in Tunisia:

“Tunisia should get all the credit because the Egyptians were angry, mad, frustrated; we wanted to see change - but everyone was saying there is no hope and no-one had envisioned how this would happen.”

The Egyptian authorities must have seen Ghonim as somewhat of a threat, however, because on 27 January they arrested him. He was detained for 11 days, and although the fear was unimaginable, he was only grateful that he wasn’t subjected to physical torture, like so many of his fellow activists. While in jail he spoke to his guards, who he refuses to see as the enemy.

Ghonim spoke of the importance of the choice of the Egyptian people.

"If the people choose to support the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, let them; they have voted for him; they have engaged themselves in a healthy democratic process."

He dismisses the view that Egyptians - and, indeed, other activists in the Arab World – were props of western governments seeking to overthrow dictators:

“Any of these conspiracies is a direct insult to the sacrifices of the Egyptian people and to the amazing things that they have done: they were determined, they wanted something to happen and it happened.”

With Tahrir Square still alive with protest one year later, when asked what his future plans are, Ghonim told Hammersley, “I’m a spontaneous guy.”

Part 2: Frontline Club discusses Italian press after Berlusconi

2012-02-01T07:25:12Z

By Charlene Rodrigues

Interestingly, condemnation of Berlusconi's media involvement was not wholesale. Paolo Mancini, professor at the University of Perugia said:

"Everyone here will expect me to say one thing but I don't think Berlusconi is controlling the media. It’s overstated."

"Berlusconi tried to limit freedom of journalists but he did not succeed because there was the opposition press, particularly the print media," agreed Gianpietro Mazzoleni, University of Milan academic. "RAI 3 constantly make shows that have continued to alert people against Berlusconi."

Mattia Bagnoli, UK correspondent at the Italian news agency ANSA opposed:

"I must say he controlled much of the Italian media for a long time. We are not talking about news here but we are talking about culture and reality shows. What’s on television is a reflection of what he projects on to Italian people to enjoy life."

"He had control in the media not only through television but also through print in the form of advertising through his company Mondadori," he added.

As with all modern European countries, most Italians depend on television for their source of news and information. So was Berlusconi clever in choosing his medium?

Marco Niada, a former London bureau chief of the political and financial Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore, said:

"He knows many Italian people don't read. He thought without imposing too much influence through papers he could control them through TV. However, he started to be defeated by technology. He was still stuck to terrestrial TV and social media started to take over."

It didn't take long for the lurid saga of Berlusconi's bunga bunga parties to surface. An Italian documentary director in the audience, pointed out coverage of the scandal in mainstream Italian TV media was poor, saying most people relied on the internet. Meanwhile a reporter from the Financial Times in the audience defended the Italian news output:

"Don't make the Italian media sound clandestine. La Repubblica went all out to cover the scandal extensively for days."

Bagnoli added, "As an Italian news agency we are obliged to cover it impartially and we did."

The discussion swiftly moved into the future of Italian media, now that Berlusconi is gone. Bagnoli and Mazzoleni weren't entirely optimistic, as they feel many of the Italian MPs are still linked to Berlusconi.

"Mario Monti is here just to bring the country back from default. They need to rewrite the constitution for RAI," said Bagnoli.

"The Monti factor is crucial at this point,” said Mazzoleni. "We don't know about the future but we can guess, Monti will take the opportunity to reform RAI but he will be cautious.”

Coming back to the question of press freedom, Hewlett asked whether a more liberal Italian media is possible in five years. Niada said, "The worst enemies of press freedom are journalists themselves, it will take more than five years.”

As the Leveson Enquiry uncovers more evidence of press corruption in the UK, these words may ring true for the British and Italian news industries alike.

Part 1: Frontline Club discusses Italian press after Berlusconi

2012-01-31T22:29:41Z

By Will Turvill

The Frontline Club last night hosted a lively and informative discussion on what the future might hold for Italian media in the post-Berlusconi era.

The event was hosted by BBC Radio 4 presenter Steve Hewlett who was joined on the panel by four Italians and an Anglo-Italian lecturer from the London School of Economics.

First attempting to determine the state of the media prior to Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation in November, Paolo Mancini, professor at the University of Perugia, claimed the common belief about the Prime Minister’s control is overstated:

“There is a common wisdom that Italy does not have a free press – but it does,” he said. “I’m not a fan of Berlusconi, but I don’t think he controlled the media fully.”

In agreement with him was University of Milan academic Gianpietro Mazzoleni, whose research interests lie in media policies and political communication:

“I share [Mancini’s] scepticism about this common knowledge. He tried to limit the freedom of this media, yes, but he did not succeed.”

“Of course Berlusconi didn’t control everything,” said the LSE’s Damian Tambini, who suggested that host Hewlett had taken the wrong approach to the issue:

“The more interesting question for us to answer,” Tambini proposed, “is did he control too much? The answer is yes.”

Marco Niada interjected that the former Prime Minister’s fall came not only due to the “eurocrisis”, but because he failed to take control of all the media:

“He is unable to control new forms of media,” said Niada, a former London bureau chief of the political and financial Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore. “He started to be undermined by new media – social networking defeated Berlusconi.”

Although the panel was in agreement that Berlusconi would be unlikely to return to the strength he once was, none could say exactly what the future might hold for the media under his replacement Mario Monti.

“Italy has a new government,” said ANSA journalist Mattia Bernado Bagnoli, “We are only now starting to appreciate how things work in a normal country.”

Gene Sharp's 'terrifyingly simple' methods for non-violent revolution

2012-01-31T08:41:04Z

by Thomas Lowe

As he walks to sit at the front of the room one can see Gene Sharp is frail, and at times it’s hard to hear his gravelly voice. But you can’t doubt the passion with which he speaks, or the power in his words.

His ideas on non-violent revolution have been hugely influential in the ‘Arab Spring’ and further afield to Burma and the Ukraine. Sharp founded the Albert Einstein Institution in 1983 to promote ideas of non-violent revolution. These ideas, Sharp says in conversation with journalist/filmmaker Ruaridh Arrow, are “terrifyingly simple”: if you are less obedient then you restrict the sources of authoritarian power.

“When people lose their fear and use their brains and plan skilfully, and act bravely, and maintain non-violent discipline… you have a good chance of succeeding.”

Sharp’s conclusions on how best to organise non-violent action is the result of a long period over which his ideas matured. One of his first significant stands came in reaction to the Vietnam war.

“I had chosen a particular kind of conscientious objection - the most obnoxious kind: civil disobedience… I refused to fill out more applications for conscientious objector status, I refused to carry a draft card, I refused to report for physical examination.”

He researched non-violent action in Oxford, later moving to Oslo University.

“What I discovered is that I didn’t know a damn thing about political power. I learnt that I didn’t know, and that’s a great advantage… because you have a chance of learning if you want to and you’re not arrogant.”

He returned with a 11,000-page manuscript. Notes on different types of non-violent action littered his room until the ‘moment’ came.

“I discovered the mechanism of non-violent coercion – which I once thought was heretical I concluded was absolutely valid... I discovered that the way coercion could be established was identical with the beginning analysis that I’d almost forgot of the sources of power and that this type of [inaudible] takes away the sources of power of even dictatorships… That was the Eureka moment.”

A list of 12 methods to use non-violent action lengthened and he published '198 Methods of Non-violent Action' in 1973.

Perhaps his best-known book,‘From Dictatorship to Democracy’, published 1993 is available in 30 languages.

Sharp says the success of his books is unexpected but can be put down to the fact that;

“People have been quietly desperate, even hungry that something can be done so we don’t suffer these horrible fights that people all these decades have been suffering.”

In the question and answer section, two questions come about how to act to best effect change in Iran. Sharp’s answer is typical in its modesty.

“An outsider like me can’t tell you what to do and if I did you shouldn’t believe me. Trust yourselves, research, investigate it and think - and think and think and think.”

Frenemies entertain the Frontline Club

2012-01-27T07:43:46Z

By Will Turvill

A crowd gathered at the Frontline Club last night for a humour-filled evening hosted by comedian Katerina Vrana, who stood alongside jesting journalist Miss D (Daphna Baram) and Peyvand Khorsandi.

In an exclusive preview of the stand-up show Frenemies, controversy and laughter were coupled throughout.

With an Israeli Miss D and an Iranian Khorsandi, the onus was clearly on Vrana, to maintain a civil, friendly and politically-correct atmosphere. Clearly, though, this was not a possibility or her objective.

American Muslim: Freedom, Faith and Fear

2012-01-25T22:14:24Z

By Alan Selby

A lot has changed in the years since 9/11. The date itself has become emblematic of a change in attitudes towards Islam, perhaps most notably in the country which bore witness to the infamous attacks that day. Popular opinion has shifted, and the land of the free has become an increasingly hostile environment for Muslims. American Muslim: Freedom, Faith and Fear examines what it means to be a Muslim in America today and the consequences of the fact that, for many, the words Islam and terrorism are now permanently intertwined.

The documentary, featuring Karen Zarindast from BBC Persian and Samir Farah from BBC Arabic TV, was screened at the Frontline Club. The team travelled across the length and breadth of the United States in order to examine the lives and experiences of a vast range of American Muslims. They discovered a country in which fear and confusion surrounds Islam, and where politicians and the media often foment unrest in order to further their own objectives. What was once a thriving cultural melting pot where Muslims were welcomed has now developed into a nation over which a sinister and pervasive Islamaphobia has taken hold in the last decade.

A question and answer session followed, during which Darius Bazargan, the film’s producer, Azadeh Moaveni, the author of Lipstick Jihad, and Zarindast discussed the film and some of the key themes that emerged. One of the most important issues was the impact of American foreign policy, as Bazargan suggested in response to the question of whether or not American Muslims will ever be able to escape the dogma associated with 9/11:

“I don’t think there’s any chance of going back to the quiet life, especially because of the impact of American foreign policy in Islamic countries; either through the involvement with Israel or elsewhere. It will be less resonant if there are fewer coffins coming home, and there will be fewer coffins coming home if American foreign policy changes.”

The panel also talked about some of the difficulties faced when filming, including budgetary and time constraints, as Bazargan made clear:

“We had editorial difficulties, you’re a slave to the road in these kinds of documentaries. There were lots of interesting people we had to drop from the final cut simply because they popped up at the wrong point in our journey and didn't fit the arc of discovery."

As the evening ended somewhat acrimoniously, with conflicting views being raised from the floor over what is clearly an emotive issue to many, Zarindast did offer a consolatory take on her experience:

“I asked people if they would leave the country. They said no. I think it was fascinating, because I spoke to people in Birmingham after some of the recent trouble and they had never been to Pakistan or Bangladesh but they said that they would leave England in an instant. Nearly everybody I spoke to in America said no... this is their country.”

The Price of Kings: Yasser Arafat at the Frontline Club

2012-01-25T11:58:08Z

By Tom Lowe

The hugely important figure Yasser Arafat casts a long shadow over Middle Eastern politics even years after his death. Yasser Arafat takes a long hard look at Arafat himself as seen through the eyes of prominent people that knew him well. Yasser Arafat is one episode of a series being produced by Spirit Level Films, part of a 12 part series on stand-out leaders called ‘The Price of Kings’.

Arafat was important - certainly - but controversial too. Did the documentary team try to portray the former Palestinian leader in a sympathetic light?

“I don’t think so,” says director Richard Symons. “We just chose to portray him in a human light – as a leader.”

“The way we showed him… and I hope the way we showed everyone in the series, is through the prism of leadership… we try and find situations where he’s had to make tough decisions as a leader.”

An array of comments came from the audience members. One in particular recounted meeting Arafat.

George spent a night with the man in Lebanon – exactly where he still isn’t sure – in the company of the Guardian’s David Astor. Arafat’s inner circle was there in the house. After they had left, Astor turned and said ‘You know George, he reminded me of Christ’. A comment made by Sufa, Arafat's wife, in the film reminded him of this evening.

Producer Joanna Natasegara spoke to me after Q&A session. The challenges in making the film, she says, were many.

“Trying to secure interviewees that were mid-peace process at the time.” And: “Trying to ascertain balance in such a contentious character … I know that we allowed people to speak their own truths about somebody that they knew very well. That was key to us – to speak to people that knew Arafat closely, and particularly in key decision moments in his life.”

An audience member inquired about why the documentary spends little time on Arafat’s younger days.

“I think that reflects the man himself. I think he was many things to many people… He was what you wanted him to be and that was his skill.”

“And so finding ‘the truth’ about his childhood and who he was really didn’t matter. It wasn’t important to who he was. It was how he interacted with the people that he met – and every Palestinian has a photo of Arafat on their wall.”

A final question for Director Richard Symons: What of the current Palestinian leadership? Are the ‘Western media’ right to criticise ‘weak’ Palestinian leaders?

“I think for the Palestinian resistance to be successful, Israel needs a better leader”

"If I can turn the light on, I've still got my arms"

2012-01-25T10:16:19Z

In Kabul last week, an American friend working there as a freelance journalist told me he’d dreamed the night before that his arms had been blown off. John Wendle said he’d woken up in a terrified sweat and turned on his bedside light. If I can turn the light on, he told himself, I’ve still got my arms.

In early December, he had been at Kabul’s Abu Fazal Shia shrine when a suicide bomber killed more than 50 people. A lot of friends were there, including AFP’s photographer Massoud Hossaini.

Massoud’s picture of a girl wearing a bright green dress and headscarf for the Shia Ashura ran on front pages worldwide.

It captures the moment that broke John’s sleep – the teenager is mid-scream, her clothes splashed with blood, hands splayed, face contorted with shock, terror, disbelief.

At her feet are bodies of men, women and children, many of them her relatives. There’s a bloodied baby sprawled across the back of his mother’s neck; she is face down, dead. Another girl, wearing black and on her knees, is crying. Blood runs down her cheek.

The picture is so graphic one can almost hear the screams. Massoud still hears the screams. One of his hands was injured; he’s not sure what lodged in it, but at first thought it might have been a bit of bone from one of the dead. Or even the bomber.

When I was AFP’s bureau chief in Kabul, Massoud and our other photographer, Shah Marai, used to wipe the blood and flesh and bone off their shoes when they came back from covering bomb attacks.

Massoud says he’s having nightmares and suddenly bursts into tears. He had to stop doing follow-ups, he said, like going to hospitals to photograph survivors.

John has seen a counselor; she told him he is doing ok. “I know I am. But I worry it’s going to happen again. And more people will die,” he said.

There will be more attacks in Kabul and more people will die, needlessly, pointlessly. The Taleban have long been inside the wire and there’s a belief they’ll make their presence felt ahead of any peace talks.

I've just spent a few months as media adviser to the EU’s Kabul delegation, and the experience has shaken my confidence in the durability of the international project in Afghanistan.

Many young and capable Afghans do have faith in a peaceful, prosperous, secure and free future, and they're prepared to work hard for it. Many others are scrambling to get themselves, their families and their money out before 2014, when foreign combat troops will withdraw.

And for the foreigners? “It’s a fight without a fucking point,” as one friend, an NGO official, put it to me soon after I returned in October.

A TV reporter told me his fin de siecle moment came at a ball in Kabul when a senior military officer was so drunk she could only stay upright by holding onto the back of his dinner jacket. “That’s when I thought: ‘We’ve lost this’,” he said.

For me it was last week, when I heard tales from a party at a UN compound in Kabul where at least two Western ambassadors were said to have stripped to leap into the pool.

The pretence of victory in Afghanistan is dropping as fast as a vodka-fuelled diplomat's boxer shorts and now the imperative is to say that at least we, the West, didn't lose. Just as it ever was, the losers will be the Afghans.

'Shooting vs. Shooting' screening comes under fire

2012-01-24T10:41:29Z

By: Helena Williams

A documentary on journalist casualties during the Iraq war came under fire last night as members of the audience questioned the director’s stance on the US military.

Greek journalist Nikos Megrelis’ 2011 film, ‘Shooting vs. Shooting’, centres around the killing of Western journalists by American soldiers in Iraq and suggests that US forces often deliberately targeted the press.

It investigates the death of two cameramen, Jose Couso and Taras Protsyuk during the attack on the Hotel Palestine on 8 April 2003, the targeting of Al Jazeera which led to the death of correspondent Tareq Ayyub, the killing of ITN journalist Terry Lloyd and the execution of Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni by Al Quaeda.

But Megrelis’ controversial stance touched a nerve as some members of the audience found the film – which has recently won a number of awards – “anti-American”. When asked by a member of the audience in a Q&A session following the screening whether he thought the documentary was biased, he said:

"It is not my conclusion - it is fact. Facts drive us to make these conclusions."

“I don’t want to say they [the US military] committed crimes. I’m not judging them. The courts should judge them, but they were not judged,”

“We have to change the culture of impunity – there is a lack of investigation. This doesn’t only concern journalists,” he added.

The documentary centres around interviews with colleagues and family members of the victims, along with Aidan White, former General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

In his interview, White said:

“What goes on in war is deeply unpleasant. People violate other people’s rights. People act in very cruel and inhumane ways.
“The last thing that military leaders want is to have independent observers of those sorts of violations.”

But some audience members found that Megrelis had failed to create a balanced film.

"The film was not made for TV - it was made [as a] theatrical [documentary],"

Megrelis said, adding that he had chosen dramatic music to accompany his graphic archive footage and interviews for this purpose.

But the aim of the documentary, he said, was to highlight the dangerous conditions journalists faced – and still face – while trying to cover conflict zones, and the impunity that often accompanies journalist deaths.

“There should be a strategy so that journalists will be protected in a conflict zone. The important thing is they stay alive so that they can tell the truth,” he said.

Iraq remains one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists. The International News Safety Institute (INSI) has recorded that 275 journalists have died in Iraq from 2003 to the present day.

Tears of an Afghan Warlord

2012-01-23T08:58:49Z

By Rosie Scammell

After nearly a decade in the making, Tears of an Afghan Warlord had its UK premiere on Friday night, with director Pascale Bourgaux on hand to tell the story behind the screen.

Bourgaux dedicated the evening to Frontline News Television cameraman James Miller, killed in 2003 while filming in Gaza, and France 2 journalist Gilles Jacquier, who died earlier this month covering the Syrian uprising.

The risks taken by Bourgaux and her numerous crews have been equally great - returning to the village or Dasht-e Qaleh despite the encroaching Taliban, in order to portray the life of Mamour Hasan.

Hasan leads a life of hope in the opening scenes in 2002; having battled against the Taliban in the stunning green hills of northern Afghanistan, he enjoys the admiration of the local people and lives in relative wealth. But by 2008 uncertainty has arrived - Hasan has willingly given over his weapons to the central government under the pledge of peace, but a weak local police force and broken promises have led to a state of anxiety - and problems the Taliban is trying to fix.

The situation when Bourgaux returns in 2010 is one of further decline, and as she tells the Frontline audience, is more complex than good versus evil:

"Hasan might have democratic concepts in him but of course he is running a feudal system, having all the money from taxes and distributing it to things he thinks are important. He is applying the power as a good man. Maybe the choice is not Taliban or democracy as we know it. But when the Taliban have the power it is a dictatorship."

Bourgaux admits the story she tells in just one hour has taken her 10 years to understand, but the Frontline audience were eager to share their views, and apportion blame for the struggle underway in Dasht-e Qaleh.

One viewer, part of Bourgaux's film crew, poured anger over Afghan president Hamid Karzai:

"The Americans came in and backed Karzai with money. Karzai and his brother are the most corrupt ever. The Americans didn't care - they had a puppet."

A fellow audience member, from King's College London, pointed the finger at the wider international community:

"Karzai was just appointed and gained control of a process with no political base. His base is the western aid money and the western military power - we are propping up a corrupt and abusive government and the Taliban is playing Robin Hood."

Bourgaux agreed, saying that everyone is responsible for watching what their government is doing in Afghanistan and being aware of its impact on a bastion of resistance:

"I think it's amazing that in this stronghold against the Taliban, they've changed that much. How is it possible? How? This should be the last village resisting."

While Tears of an Afghan Warlord finishes on a precipice, Bourgaux is sadly sure of the story's end:

"I asked Hasan, 'What will happen if the Taliban comes?' He said, 'They're going to kill me, and kill my wives and my family.' This is the message - he knows this is the end - he needs to say it because otherwise his life is worthless."

Wadah Khanfar: 'No one will be spared by the Arab Spring'

2012-01-19T12:15:14Z

The Arab Spring “is not going to spare anyone” not even Saudi Arabia, warned the former head of the Al Jazeera, Wadah Khanfar, last night.

“We are going to see people resisting change but it will be a major mistake that will cause a lot of problems if countries see the Arab Spring as a conspiracy,” said Khanfar, who for eight years held managed the TV network that has been credited with having contributed to the ferment that led to the uprisings that swept the region. “Any country that does not accept proper reform and serious constitutional reform will face difficulty.”

With the current perception that the Americans are withdrawing from the region, there are concerns about who will be responsible for protecting the status quo in the region. In this changing landscape, what happens in Syria remains very important, the Palestinian-born journalist told Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow:

“Syria is not like any other country, it is the cornerstone of a bloc in the region and therefore a lot of countries are worried about what is going to happen in the region when Bashar is out of power. This is why, in my opinion, the Arab world is reluctant about Syria.”

Syria is of particular concern to Iran, because if the revolution succeeds it will no longer be part of the alliance Iran is forming with Iraq and Beirut, said Khanfar, who is now president of the Sharq Forum, a think tank focusing on political development, social justice and economic prosperity in the Middle East.

“If Syria is out of it, you are talking about the decline of Iranian influence in the region and that means they may not become as “dangerous” in the Gulf as they are right now and this will give more confidence and a more relaxed environment for serious changes to take place in the region.”

Al Jazeera, which was launched in 1996, differed from other Arab channels because although heavily funded by Quatar's royal family, it had not followed the same policy of focusing on the leaders but instead had set out to spread democracy and human rights and to feel the pulse of the region, he said:

“The whole phenomena of Al Jazeera is against the whole custom and tradition of journalism in the Arab world by that time, because it started with a different perspective about news, which before used to be something that was owned by the state and the state tailored what exactly should appear and everyone understood that TV was what the state wants us to know.

In 1996 everyone would watch TV in order to know what the state was talking about.” Asked if he was aware of the significance of what the channel’s stance as people were “flocking” to the screens to watch Al Jazeera, Khanfar said he was aware it was “a matter of life and death”:

“By that time I had seen our office in Baghdad bombed, an office in Kabul bombed, by that time we had a colleague of ours in Guantanamo, another one in court in Spain. Definitely we knew how dangerous the situation was.”

The Al Jazeera audience is “highly politicised” and would notice any change in editorial policy following his departure last year, said Khanfar, who insisted the decision to leave was his own:

“I thought for a long while that eight years was how long I could survive always being proactive and creative, and that’s enough. Also, the Arab world is living a new mood and I feel I could do something as well which Al Jazeera cannot allow me to do, which is becoming part of the transformation of this dynamic region. I would like to speak my opinion and play a more political role.”

Apply for an Internship at the Frontline Club

2012-01-19T11:45:00Z

We are always looking for friendly, enthusiastic, hard working and ambitious individuals to help us improve and grow at the Frontline Club. If you are interested in current affairs and like working in a small team we have two internship openings starting in February.

Membership Internship

We are looking for a part time intern for the membership department. This is an exciting opportunity for the right person to enhance their CV and get to know the Frontline Club and its members. You will be working closely with the membership coordinator in the club office two days a week. The right candidate would be organised, approachable, friendly, reliable and able to work both independently and as part of a team.

Please e-mail a CV and covering letter to: silje.rise@frontlineclub.com before 27th January.

Documentary Internship

We are also looking for a part time intern to work in the events team with the documentary programmer three days a week. You should have a very good understanding of London, having lived here for at least three years and have an interest in documentaries and current affairs. Tasks will include marketing, film and funding research, and event assistance.

Please email a CV and covering letter to sophia.loukaides@frontlineclub.com before the 24th of January.