The United Arab Emirates Journalists Association has issued a statement condemning what it says was a police attack on reporters and photographers who rushed to cover the crash of an Iranian airliner in the UAE earlier this month. The association criticized police for preventing local journalists from doing their job while allowing foreign ones to cover the incident without harassment or hindrance of any kind. According to the statement, a number of local reporters were beaten and their cameras smashed in a clear violation of the country’s publication and printing laws, which guarantee freedom of the press. The association considers the police behavior discriminatory, an assault on the country’s free press and a violation of human rights.
No doubt preventing journalists from doing their job amounts to a crime. Assaulting them either verbally or physically is even worse. It is here that the “foreigner complex” seems to have taken hold of every aspect of Arab life and, in particular, the media. The policy of treating journalists based on whether they are local or foreigner is most often seen in the behavior of the very people in high positions who are usually sought by the media.
The conduct of many ministers, Cabinet members and other senior officials toward reporters is the best example. How these officials view the foreign media and the kind of treatment foreign journalists receive from them is a very long way from how they treat journalists from their own country. The foreigners are met with a broad smile and an open heart, given the interviews they seek, while all that local journalists receive is frowning faces and expressions of displeasure.
While appreciating the interest and admiration shown by our senior civil servants and police officers toward Western civilization and the Western media, one cannot understand why these officials keep saying they hope to see the Arab media match that in the West. It must be stated here that the first step toward achieving those hopes does not lie in assaulting and abusing local reporters and photographers while pampering foreign ones. When speaking to the foreign media, most officials appear ready for any kind of questions and behave as if they feel no hesitation about any subject brought up. At the same time, the same officials think local journalists should be satisfied with official press releases from the PR department or with whatever the government-controlled news agencies report. Under these circumstances, how can they possibly expect our local media to attain the same standards they profess to admire in the West?
