Aljazeera.com

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Aljazeera.com is an English language website for AlJazeera Magazine. It is unrelated to the Arabic satellite TV channel Al Jazeera, which operates websites in both Arabic (www.aljazeera.net) and English (english.aljazeera.net) or Al Jazeera Newspaper of Saudi Arabia. According to Alexa, there are fewer visitors to Aljazeera.com in comparison to aljazeera.net.^[1] The website is operated by Aljazeera Publishing, described as an "independent media organisation".

1 Domain name dispute
2 Website contents
3 Controversy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Domain name dispute

In 2005, the Al Jazeera TV channel failed in an attempt to obtain the aljazeera.com domain name.^[2]

In the Administrative Panel Decision, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center found the TV Channel to have brought the proceedings in bad faith and found it had abused the administrative proceedings.

As of 2006, Aljazeera.com wrote on their About page:

"Important note: Aljazeera Publishing and Aljazeera.com are not associated with any of the below organisations:

1. Al Jazeera Newspaper, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia whose website is al-jazirah.com

2. Al Jazeera Satellite Channel whose website is aljazeera.net.

3. Al Jazeera Information Centre who website is aljazeerah.info

Aljazeera Publishing disassociates itself from the views, opinions and broadcasts of these titles."^[3]

[edit] Website contents

The content on Aljazeera.com is organized by section. The following sections exist:

[edit] Middle East News

'Middle East News' contains the latest breaking Middle Eastern news. A number of their stories are accused of reported bias against Israel, Europe and the United States. News articles often contain indirect quotes from familiar news outlets such as Associated Press and the BBC.

[edit] Review articles

'Review Articles' contains longer pieces about recent events. The editorial stance is one of rigorous opposition to the Iraq war, and the articles are usually reported to contain strong condemnations of American involvement in the Middle East and are accused of often reflecting anti-Zionism in describing the state of Israel. One article (entitled "Latest of US lies: Iraqis killing Iraqis" claims that the sectarian violence occurring in Iraq is supported by CIA and Mossad agents, "It was the U.S.’s “debaathification” of Iraq that eventually let [sic] to the current death squads, supported by the U.S. and the Mossad agents." ^[^{citation needed]}

[edit] 'Let's Talk'

'Let's Talk' is a section hosted by Dr. Kareem Bin Jabbar and Sheikha Sajida. Readers send in questions or topics for discussion, which are published at the discretion of the site. Sajida's theories (such as the notion that the kidnapping of Westerners in Iraq is carried out by agents of the US) ^[4] frequently stir up heated debate.

[edit] 'Conspiracy Theories'

Aljazeera.com contains a highly controversial Conspiracy Theories section: ^[5] where controversial and politically-sensitive material is posted and is reported to be neither edited nor retracted.

Examples of Conspiracy theories posted by the site include the notion that the September 11th attacks were carried out by Mossad [1], that recent taped statements from Osama Bin Laden are fake ^[6], and that US dollar bills contain hidden images of the September 11th attacks ^[7]. User comments on these conspiracy theories are not permitted, but users are encouraged to vote on a poll with the options: 'I believe it', 'These are lies' and 'I don't know'.

[edit] 'Reader Comments'

Readers can leave comments in all areas except for the Conspiracy Theories section. These comments can be rated from 'Excellent' to 'Very Bad' at the discretion of readers.

[edit] Controversy

Due of its numerous non-journalistic practices (such as publishing unverified conspiracies and not later retracting stories and the anti-Western bias in their choice of topics and how articles are written and researched) aljazeera.com is not considered to be a reputable news source. There is also concern that the similarity of the name to the much more respected aljazeera.net serves to elevate aljazeera.com to a level of readership and seriousness that it does not warrant.

One such article on aljazeera.com displaying the perceived anti-US and anti-Israel bias is from March 23, 2007 entitled "The latest of U.S. lies: “Iraqis killing Iraqis”. It clearly states, without evidence, that the sectarian violence occurring in Iraq is supported by CIA and Mossad agents, "It was the U.S.’s “debaathification” of Iraq that eventually let [sic] to the current death squads, supported by the U.S. and the Mossad agents."