It is not everyday that you get to meet your childhood hero. To me, Riz Khan has always been a role-model and continues to do the kind of work that I would love to do, though in a different format. Even though I am a bit star-struck by him, I managed an interview about an issue that I have followed closely for a few years now, and am researching for a project at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
In this interview, he talks about the role of media in framing issues pertaining to the Israel-Palestine conflict. He also discusses the way in which USA’s domestic politics impacts the process.
Q: What are your impressions of the failed Middle East peace talks – 2010 ? What do you make of it ?
Riz Khan: To be honest, I don’t know all the specifics. But I do know one thing – that the USA has been pre-occupied and the Obama administration has had a lot to deal with in the last few months. The economy, coming close up to the re-election campaign, the president himself has been pre-occupied. And also I don’t know how strongly they felt about the legitimacy of the players involved. Mahmoud Abbas has been considered the main person to talk to, but his power base has been fragmented by the Hamas; so people wonder if he truly represents the Palestinians.
The other thing as well is that the Palestinian papers have compromised what we know. According to them, the Palestinians were willing to give more than what we are told and the Israelis were unwilling to compromise. Netanyahu also had a terse relationship with Obama and the power of the lobby – AIPAC forced the president if he would continue the support, and to do this; he would have to be a bit soft on him.
So, it seems that president Obama has had to back down so many times. I have been to conferences where people have even described him as a “coward”, for not being strong enough in his convictions. He came in with these strong convictions, with the Cairo speech and vision; but failed to deliver. He has been bowing to power, and the horrible thing about political life is compromise and I remember Hillary Clinton going to the Palestinian territories and being shocked with the conditions. But she had to run for senate, following her visit, she had to keep mum about these issues. She again had to flip-flop on her position as well. Like her, President Obama also has not been in a strong position. He has been pre-occupied with one issue after another and allowed himself to be pressured.
There is also limited value and prestige when it comes to leadership when it actually comes to achieving things.
Q: In terms of media process, how has the framing taken place ?
Riz Khan : You must remember that there is media at various levels. At the US national level, international level.
Essentially, international news, like most other news is reactive. The local news in the USA is not going to give you anything of any value when it comes to coverage of the Middle East. So, people here don’t have any clue of what’s going on. The national media here is also limited except for a few media such as the NPR, which had a few interesting discussions around the peace talks, and PBS too.
The American public is blind as to what is going on about the mid-east process. The international media is guilty of knee-jerk reaction. They are obsessed with the question : What’s the story of the day ? For example, visit of Netanyahu or Secretary of state Clinton to the region becomes the biggest news that there is.
We at Al-Jazeera ( AJ) are a bit different in that we have been able to provide more context, breadth and background; and that is largely due to the heritage of our channel – being Arab and Middle Eastern.
In general, the trouble is that we do have a knee-jerk reaction in most international coverage of events and the over-all picture is lost in the sound-bites. AJ has tried to shift this paradigm and that is our strength.
There is also a merging of issues and a growing consciousness in the Arab world about common grievances. I was on a panel today with the former ambassador of Jordan to USA, and he actually said the trouble is that people expect us to keep issues separate . What is happening in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Mixing the Palestinian –Israeli issue and looking at the impact of the Arab spring on this issues is just confusing for people. But he is right in saying that if unless we solve the issue of Palestine, there is a lot that is going to come back and bite the leaders of US back.
The leadership here ( in USA) is talking about safety of civilians, security; while the Israeli government is bombing civilians in the Middle East. Consider the case when Israel struck Lebanon in summer of 2006. Gaza also witnessed the same thing; so we are seeing the same double-standards, which is what upsets people. Of course, the US is in a tricky position; and is considered to have an uneven hand. But the good thing is that even many American politicians are coming to understand and appreciate this.
We have seen this in the fracture that has appeared , in the emergence of J-street and other groups who are challenging this one-sided narrative.
That is another critical factor, but overall the media has failed to truly educate the public because they don’t have the motivation, or any interest. The American public has very little interest in news in general, so it’s a difficult game for them to play.
Q: What do you make of J-street and other alternate voices that are emerging in the political advocacy spectrum ? How influential have they been ?
Riz Khan: They have tried a bit. There are a number of groups, One voice and others, who have come together. They are trying to be pro-active and engaged. Unfortunately, when there is good news, the media is not going to be interested. Bad news makes for news.
The media is not going to write much about stories that say Palestinians and Israelis are sitting side by side and doing good things. Only there are bullets hitting people, is there news. That’s very sad, and the issue we face here is that, to get the counter-movements to have any real space is hard.
I don’t think people in this country realize, how strong the movement in Israeli public to counter what is happening. There are big divisions in Israeli society about what is the right thing to do.
Some realize that the occupation cannot go on. There are Israeli groups protesting at the check-points and helping Palestinians get through. I was there for the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel – Nakba – as the Palestinians call it, and witnessed the various voices in the spectrum of Israeli society. It’s easy to understand this new generation, who don’t know their history well. They don’t understand why the Palestinians live such a miserable life. Many of them are brought up to believe that the Palestinian lands were empty when the Jews arrived.
I think some of them have been indoctrinated into thinking that this is their land and the Palestinians have no claim . In theory they coulld be sharing this piece of land.
Now the question of a two state solution is very much in question, because the land in the Palestinian side is fragmented heavily. The wall, the settlements are creating g huge bridge.
Q: When we speak of inclusiveness of Hamas, Is there a trend in the media not to give it legitimacy even though the group won the 2006 elections ?
Riz Khan: We at AJ have discussed this a lot. In the West, there is a failure to understand that Hamas does not have just the military arm, but there is also a social service arm to it; and it fills the gap, which people need. The same is with Hizbollah, so unfortunately on the ground, the reality is different from what is shown on TV and picture. These organisations have provided them what the Palestinian Authority has failed to.
The rhetoric about Hamas and other groups tends to be one-sided and echoes what the politicians want you to see and hear. AJ was framed as a terrorist network, sponsored by Osama bin Laden by Donald Rumsfeld, the former Defense secretary. His statements were inaccurate, that we had shown beheadings etc. There was a lack of understanding, and also mis-information.
Now, people watch AJ and most recently, Hillary Clinton was recently quoted as saying that we cover these issues properly and how others don’t. I think it is the height of ignorance to criticize something without having any knowledge of the issue.
So, I have no time for such people who criticize us with no basis and background of the work we do. It goes back to my school days, when I knew a guy who did not apparently like Pizza, and I finally established that he had never tasted Pizza. So, it’s the same principle.
You know, it’s a shame, but it is how it is.
Q: Will the Arab spring directly impact the Middle East peace process?
Riz Khan : Not yet. I think it’s going to take some time. No one has really covered how the Palestinians have reacted to this movement in the Arab world.
I think everyone is waiting to see if the change in the Middle East will change the paradigm in the peace process, but so far; there is no indication of that.
We thought of Saudi aligning with the US to fight Iran, and the sectarian ( Sunni-Shia) split which was highlighted with Bahrain, raised fears about the Middle East being an ethnic battle field more than anything else.
This is intriguing and may come up more and more.
I have heard many commentators say that Iran is just sitting and watching all of this, while the other guys are just beating themselves up.
Q: How can one make sense of US ambivalence towards the issue. How can one understand this, in the context of it being the sole super-power and the only one with the ability to influence the decision substantially ?
Riz khan : It depends on who you mean by the US ? If you mean the US politicians, yes, they are totally pre-occupied with domestic issues – deficits, collective bargaining issues etc. What bothers me most is that the previous administrations over-emphasis on American security. This whole sense of creating a sense of fear was detrimental to the quality of life in this country.
When I see Colin Powell and actually seeing him being searched and wanded electronically a the Airport by security guards. It shows you that things are really going to be crazy. Even top officials are going to bear the brunt of it.
Ironically, Al-Qaeda has succeeded in doing far more than just killing people and destroying two buildings. They have disrupted American lifestyle to a degree where I don’t see it recovering quickly.
Media continues to exaggerate these issues.
The peace talks have to be addressed. Hillary Clinton is a smart woman and she knows that this is something that needs to be dealt with. Sadly, when people play politics, people do know that the real issues get sidelined. When people are looking to get re-elected, or looking for support or funds; the issues that affect people’s day to day issues are lost. The Israelis and Palestinians are caught up in the shadows of an election cycle. It’s more vigorous than ever.
