I salute Al Jazeera

By Elias Kifle

Many seem to give credit to the social media (Facebook, Twitter and blogs) for helping the Egyptian and Tunisian youths who brought down the entrenched dictatorships in their country, but there is not enough mention about the contributions made by Al Jazeera, except by the dictators themselves.

I used to dislike Al Jazeera for some of the anti-American vitriol that it some times broadcasts. It’s fine to criticize the U.S. for its often misguided foreign policy by some of its corrupt State Department officials who are propping up dictators such us Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi. However, the U.S. is a force for good in this world and doesn’t deserve to be demonized.

Having said that, Al Jazeera is becoming a respected and powerful news organization that is transforming the Middle East for the better. For the past few weeks I have been streaming its live video broadcast on the front page of EthiopianReview.com. I myself was glued to one my my computer screens that streams Al Jazeera Live 24/7. Its coverage of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt is by far the best and the most thorough. I also think that one of the reasons the revolutions in these countries were not as bloody as they could have been is that the live TV coverage of every incident may have made the military leaders aware that they will be held personally responsible for any bloodshed. The international community would be too sickened by televised massacre of civilians and would bring those responsible for the atrocities to the International Criminal Court, like the Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, Sudan’s Al Bashir, and Bosnia’s Radovan Karadzic.

A few years ago, Ethiopia’s vampire tyrant has kicked out Al Jazeera from Ethiopia, but it is still being watched by hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians.

We need to strengthen our own satellite TV, ESAT, if we want to minimize the bloodshed the Woyanne ruling junta is preparing to cause in the next Ethiopian revolution. ESAT, along with all the Ethiopian radio programs, web sites, and social media will play a critical role in not only facilitating and helping coordinate the struggle, but they also could help prevent massive atrocities in Ethiopia.

On behalf of Ethiopian Review, I extend my congratulations and well wishes to the people of Egypt.