WE understand a double-edged expression as something that can be either for or against. This applies to tools and weapons as well as to arguments. A knife may be as useful as any other household item but that very knife can also be a deadly or life-threatening weapon. Electricity powers the economy making our lives much easier but it may also be the cause of fatal accidents. Weapons, too, may be a means of deterrence or of destruction.
Perhaps the most powerful of all weapons is the media. And of all the kinds of media at our disposal, television stands out as the most dangerous. It is capable of entering peoples’ homes anytime, anywhere with far-reaching consequences on a family. It is a fact that because of the proliferation of satellite channels, television has helped to spread bad practices and habits. Bad health habits, crime, juvenile delinquency and other vices can be attributed to television. Businessmen are scrambling to invest in satellite television in order to attract as many viewers as possible. Unfortunately, very few of these channels are actually of real benefit while the majority produce and broadcast anything but beneficial programs. It is indeed regrettable that many of these programs intended to alienate and marginalize Arabs and Muslims and keep them in the darkness are being produced with Saudi money. These include unsavory advertising and programs showing semi-nude women. The best examples that I can give are the Future TV and LBC satellite channels.
The latest in this flood of offensiveness is a recently launched satellite channel financed by one of the Gulf states. Joining in the presentation of its shameful shows is a woman from the same Gulf country. The station chose her because of her dark complexion and a hairstyle similar to that of many black African women. The objective is clear: to further estrange Arab and Muslim youth and exclude them from their society. The channel was given the Arabic name “Zain” which means “the beautiful.” The difference between the words “Arab” and “Gharb” — which means “West” — is only a small dot. Put that small round mark on the first letter of the word “Arab” and you get the word meaning “West.”
This comes at a time when the Arab and Muslim nation is struggling to liberate its occupied lands in Palestine where the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, is situated and where much of the glorious history of Islam unfolded. It comes at a time when the number of young Palestinian martyrs and child martyrs is mounting as the intifada intensifies.
This station which claims to be on the pulse of Arab youth is spreading its venom through programs that feature frivolity and near nudity meant to lure and attract the young. The empty-headed youth who are unable to defend themselves cannot defend the nation against this kind of cultural invasion. This is exactly what the others want — become unable to plan for tomorrow or catch up with development by following a one-way road leading to dancing halls, amusement centers and all that arouses sexual desire.
The example this channel presents to Arab youth for adoption is that of Western singers and dancers. The personal life of Madonna is repeated over and over with viewers constantly reminded of how the singer dropped out of high school to devote herself to her music. The same goes for the Beatles and other foreign singers.
To that girl who claims to be one of us, I say, “What you present on the screen is similar to, if not more dangerous than, Jewish bullets being fired at Palestinian youth. Your attempts to trap Arab youth inside your circle of vice are more devastating than the sanctions against Iraq. Your obscene cries on the screen overshadow the cries for freedom in Algeria. Your blind acceptance of everything Western or foreign is a stumbling block for the liberation of Lebanon and changing your Arabic skin for a Western one runs contrary to the change for the better that Syria longs for and hopes to undergo. You are the weapon that kills the dreams and aspirations of the Gulf. It is sad and unfortunate that the children of the Gulf have helped you do this. It is sad and unfortunate that the streets of Jeddah, and perhaps other cities too, are full of ads promoting this channel. I pray to Almighty Allah to spare the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah these insults.