So when am I going to be able to watch Al Jazeera’s hard-hitting investigation into Israel’s powerful lobby in the United States? Remember Al Jazeera? The tough, no-holds-barred Middle East satellite channel that transformed Qatar into a media empire whose reports frightened dictators and infuriated potentates and presidents alike? Why, George W Bush once wanted to bomb its headquarters in Doha – so it must have been doing something right. It even has an office in Jerusalem.
But something seems to be amiss. Not Al Jazeera’s disastrous American venture, which was supposed to break free of the dross on CNN and Fox News and ended up looking just like CNN or Fox. Nor the tragicomedy of its journalists’ imprisonment in Sissi’s Egypt, banged up by Cairo’s farcical laws and the stupidity of Al Jazeera’s own management in Qatar.
No, I’m talking about a documentary called The Lobby, directed by one of Al Jazeera’s top journalists, Clayton Swisher, the man whose exclusive (and book) on the “Palestine Papers” blew open the secret and scandalous American-led negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinian authority between 2000 and 2010. But after months of postponement, The Lobby , which secretly filmed pro-Israeli US activists and Israeli government officials and was completed last autumn, is still no nearer to being shown – and Swisher himself has taken a paid leave of absence. He even chose to explain his frustration in an article for the progressive American Jewish magazine Forward , which has always maintained a liberal and often very critical view of Israel.
“Don’t mistake me – I love Al Jazeera,” Swisher told me this week. “I love working for Al Jazeera. They’ve done fantastic things. And they look after their staff very well. But our new documentary doesn’t seem to be getting on air.”
In his published explanation, Swisher described how his award-winning investigative unit – which he says operates “without [Qatari] government interference” – sent an undercover reporter to look into “how Israel wields influence in America through the pro-Israeli American community. But when some right-wing American supporters of Israel found out about the documentary, there was a massive backlash. It was even labelled as antisemitic in a spate of articles.”
Nothing surprising there, you might think. Any reporters who have dared to criticise Israel grow used to the vile smear of antisemitism thrown over them – but there was an even more disturbing background to Swisher’s attempts to get his documentary on the air.
Al Jazeera investigation reveals corruption links to Maldives president
The programme’s completion, he writes, “came at a time when, due to an arbitrary blockade on Qatar imposed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Qatar had been pursuing an end to its siege by appealing to the US. According to reports, Qatar sought to offer its own side of the narrative in this conflict by hosting thought leaders, including from the American Jewish community. From reports in the Israeli press, I learned that [Harvard Professor Alan] Dershowitz had been brought to meet with the Qatari emir [Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani], and that the American Jews had brought up what they saw as Al Jazeera’s antisemitism in those meetings. Of course, our documentary is not antisemitic. It is an exploration of how Israel, a foreign government, influences US foreign policy.”
Ironically, one of the Saudi-UAE demands for a return to normal relations with Qatar was to shut down Al Jazeera.
Most of Swisher’s staff within Al Jazeera are American or British, and he recruited a young Oxford postgraduate, James Anthony Kleinfeld, to meet and mix with members of pro-Israeli groups in Washington. When this was discovered – partly because Swisher, for legal reasons, contacted those appearing in the programme to say that his team had used secret filming during their investigations – there was uproar.
Kleinfeld, who apparently used the name “Tony Kleinfeld”, was accused of being “pro-Palestinian” but of “embedding himself with the Washington pro-Israel crowd” while spending “months of his life under a new and meticulously fabricated persona to infiltrate pro-Israeli groups”.
The concern of Israeli lobbyists was not without reason. Recipients of legal letters from the documentary group – referring to the secretly recorded Israeli activists – included AIPAC, the Israeli-American Council, the Sheldon Adelson-created Maccabee Task Force, the Israel Project, the Zionist Organisation of America and other groups. Although Swisher’s reporters had exposed genocide in Myanmar, presidential corruption in the Maldives and paedophilia in British youth football, another documentary under Swisher’s direction concentrated on Israel’s influence over Britain and included a secretly filmed sequence in which Israeli official Shai Masot discussed how to “take down” British MPs regarded as pro-Palestinian, including Sir Alan Duncan. Masot was forced to resign and the Israeli ambassador to London, Mark Regev, issued a formal apology.
According to Swisher, if his documentary on the American lobby doesn’t air soon, “it might prove to be ammunition sought by a group of zealous US politicians who wish to declare Al Jazeera a foreign entity, and label us journalists as ‘spies’”. In response to antisemitism claims after the London documentary, the broadcasting regulator Ofcom ruled that the programme was “a serious investigative documentary”. It was the same question, Swisher says, that he and his team sought to answer in the American edition of The Lobby : “whether the Israeli government was funding or involved in lobbying efforts in the US under the guise of a domestic lobbying group”.
Swisher says that several “leaders of Jewish American organisations” met with Qatar’s registered agent and lobbyist, Nick Muzin – a former aide to US Senator Ted Cruz, who supported American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – “to see if he could use his ties with the Qataris to stop the airing”. Since October, Swisher says, “we’ve faced a series of unexplained delays on broadcasting our project, the likes of which I’ve never experienced. I was repeatedly told by everyone to ‘wait’, and was assured our documentary would eventually see the light of day. Then, as now, I took my senior management at its word. To my own specially trained ears, ‘wait’ did not constitute ‘stop’. In fact, it must not constitute ‘stop’.”
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World news in pictures
1/50 25 September
US golfer Tiger Woods tees off during a practice session ahead of the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National Course at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, south-west of Paris
AFP/Getty
2/50 24 September
President Donald Trump and US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, talk with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres during the General Assembly at UN Headquarters
AP
3/50 23 September
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed that his country is "ready to confront America", following an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in which 25 people were killed. The attack has been blamed by Iranian government and military officials on gulf states that are allied with the US
AP
4/50 22 September
Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to become a partner in the Beijing funded Belt and Road scheme that will improve and expand Pakistan's infrastructure. The invite comes at the end of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's two day trip to the Middle Eastern country, where he met with Saudi King Salman
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5/50 21 September 2018
A boat has capsized killing at 136 people in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Rescue operations are ongoing
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6/50 20 September 2018
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates after the ruling liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on September 20, 2018. - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election as leader of his ruling party on September 20, setting him on course to become Japan's longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution.
AFP/Getty
7/50 19 September 2018
Los Angeles has moved to ban the sale of fur within its city limits. Speaking at a news conference today, councillor Bob Blumenfield said “this is something that is not just a good legislative win, it’s a moral win”. LA will be the biggest city in the US to ban the sale of fur, as it follows San Francisco, Berkley and others
AP
8/50 18 September 2018
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea,
Reuters
9/50 17 September 2018
Australia has launched a nationwide investigation into needles being hidden in strawberries. Sewing needles have reportedly been found in strawberries in all 6 Australian states and the market is suffering from the resultant fear
EPA
10/50 16 September 2018
Typhoon Mangkhut has made landfall in China, bringing winds of 100mph to coastal areas and storm surges of 10 feet in Hong Kong. Pictured here are the smashed windows of an office tower in Hong Kong.
Reuters
11/50 15 September 2018
German Police have begun evicting activists from the Hambacher Forest where a protest to protect the remaining section of the ancient forest has been ongoing for the past 6 years. Dozens of activists have been living in treehouses, but are now being forced out after tensions rose between them and energy company RWE, which plans to expand its coal mine further into the remaining woodland
AFP/Getty
12/50 14 September 2018
Speaking in Malmo today, the Dalai Lama stated "I think Europe belongs to Europeans" and suggested that refugees should focus on returning home and developing their home countries
Reuters
13/50 13 September 2018
Preparations for Hurricane Florence, expected to make land on Friday, continue in North and South Carolina and Viriginia. Over 1 million people have been evacuated leading up to the arrival of the category 4 storm
Getty
14/50 12 September 2018
Um Majid, left, tries an improvised gas mask on family members in her home in Binnish in Syria's rebel-held northern Idlib province as part of preparations for any upcoming raids. Fearing government forces and their allies military advance to retake Idlib province, the mother of three learnt from YouTube videos how to make gas masks from charcoal, wood, paper cups, cotton, nylon plastic bags and tapes. According to her, she could manufacture more masks but the material she needs are not always available. She also dug a cave under her home
AFP/Getty
15/50 11 September 2018
People waving pro-independence Catalan flags 'Esteladas' while holding letters reading "independence" during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia, the "Diada". Catalan separatists put on a show of strength and unity at celebrations of the region's national day, nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Catalonia's national day, the 'Diada' commemorates the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region's subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms
AFP/Getty
16/50 10 September 2018
An Indian man makes his way through floodwaters from the overflowing Panchanai River in Siliguri. Continuous rainfall has caused flooding and landslides in parts of Siliguri and surrounding areas, affecting road travel and daily life
AFP/Getty
17/50 9 September 2018
Participants wave flowers as they march past a balcony from where North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un was watching, during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. The military parade was held to mark the nations 70th birthday, but refrained from showing off the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have seen it hit with multiple international sanctions
AFP/Getty
18/50 8 September 2018
350.Org march for Climate Justice at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, Philippines. Rise for Climate protests took places across the world to demand action
Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
19/50 7 September 2018
Displaced Syrians take part in a protest against the regime and its ally Russia at a camp for displaced people in Kafr Lusin near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in Syria's northern Idlib province
AFP/Getty
20/50 6 September 2018
An aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma town, Hokkaido prefecture, after an earthquake hit the northern Japanese island. Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors after the powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing down onto homes, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens of people missing
AFP/Getty
21/50 5 September 2018
US Capitol Police arrest a protestor as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the second day of his US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion
AFP/Getty
22/50 4 September 2018
Damaged traffic boards and telecommunication relay poles after they were brought down by strong winds caused by typhoon Jebi in Osaka. The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall on September 4, the country's weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings
AFP/Getty
23/50 3 September 2018
Myanmar journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is escorted by police after being sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon. Two Reuters journalists were jailed for seven years for breaching Myanmar's official secrets act during their reporting of the Rohingya crisis, a judge said, a case that has drawn outrage as an attack on media freedom
AFP/Getty
24/50 2 September 2018
A Somali soldier walks near the wreckage of vehicles at the scene of a blast outside the compound of a district headquarters in the capital Mogadishu. A Somali police officer says a number of people were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a checkpoint outside the headquarters after being stopped by security forces
AP
25/50 1 September 2018
A Utair-operated Boeing 737-800 which skidded off the runway and caught fire during landing, at Sochi international airport, in the Russian Black Sea resort. Russia's transportation minister says a supervisor at the airport died during the emergency response after a landing airliner careered off the end of the runway, into a riverbed and caught fire. There were no deaths reported among the 164 passengers and six crew members aboard the Utair Boeing 737, but the Russian health ministry said 18 people were injured. The fire was extinguished within eight minutes
AP
26/50 31 August 2018
Mourners attend Aretha Franklin's funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit
AFP/Getty
27/50 30 August 2018
Firefighters watch on as flames leap from a giant factory fire in the inner Melbourne suburb of West Footscray - More than 120 firefighters are fighting the fire, with 30 trucks and cherry picker aerial appliances on the scene which is sending large plumes of smoke across the city.
AFP/Getty
28/50 29 August 2018
People are evacuated after flooding in Swar township, Myanmar
Reuters
29/50 28 August 2018
President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran. It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, with MPs demanding answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April
AFP/Getty
30/50 27 August 2018
A police officer walks by the front of a Chicago Pizza and GLHF Game Bar at the scene of fatal shooting at The Jacksonville Landing. A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament killing multiple people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others
AP
31/50 26 August 2018
Migrants disembark from the Italian Coast Guard ship 'Diciotti' in the port of Catania, Italy. The vessel arrived with 177 migrants on board, but the Italian Interior Ministry denied them to disembark, calling EU member states to find a solution on how to distribute them. On 22 August, 27 unaccompanied minors were let off from the ship, assisted by Red Cross, UNHCR and Save the Children
EPA
32/50 25 August 2018
Rohingya refugees during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia
AFP/Getty
33/50 24 August 2018
US President Donald Trump sits with children during a tour of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio
AFP/Getty
34/50 23 August 2018
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
EPA
35/50 22 August 2018
High waves hit Jeju Island, South Korea, as powerful Typhoon Soulik gradually approaches the Korean Peninsula
EPA
36/50 21 August 2018
A Palestinian man throws his child in the air following morning prayers marking the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem's Old City. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy
Reuters
37/50 20 August 2018
South Korean Lee Keum-seom, 92, meets with her North Korean son Ri Sung Chol, 71, during a separated family reunion meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's southeastern coast. Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans met their Northern relatives for the first time since the peninsula and their families were divided by war nearly seven decades ago
AFP/Getty
38/50 19 August 2018
The flag of the United Nations flying at half-mast to mark the death of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, at the European headquarters in Geneva. Kofi Annan died on 18 August, aged 80
EPA
39/50 18 August 2018
Newly appointed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inspects the guard of honor on his arrival in the Prime Minister House during a ceremony in Islamabad. Imran Khan was sworn in at a ceremony in Islamabad, ushering in a new political era as the World Cup cricket hero officially took the reins of power in the nuclear-armed country
PID/AFP/Getty
40/50 17 August 2018
Muslim pilgrims walk out after the Friday prayer at the Grand mosque ahead of annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Reuters
41/50 16 August 2018
A man wades through flooded water in Kochi, Kerala state, India. According to reports, the region is on a high alert with schools and offices been closed due to the rising water levels of Periyar river after the gates of the Idukki reservoir were opened. The area has been hit by heavy rains that caused floods and reportedly killed at least 65 people
EPA
42/50 15 August 2018
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets schoolchildren after his speech as part of India's 72nd Independence Day celebrations which marks the 71st anniversary of the end of British colonial rule, at the Red Fort in New Delhi
AFP/Getty
43/50 14 August 2018
A large section of the Morandi viaduct upon which the A10 motorway runs collapsed in Genoa, Italy. Both sides of the highway fell. Around 10 vehicles are involved in the collapse, rescue sources said. The viaduct gave way amid torrential rain. It runs over shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera river
EPA
44/50 13 August 2018
Turkish President Erdogan addresses the 10th annual Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara. Global markets have reacted fearfully to Turkey's financial crash, which Turkish President Erdogan blames on a "political, underhand plot" by Donald Trump's USA. Last week the US doubled steel and aluminium tariffs against Turkey amidst diplomatic tensions over the latter's detaining of an American pastor
Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty
45/50 12 August 2018
NASA, The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 12, 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first-ever mission into a part of the Suns atmosphere called the corona. The probe will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth.
NASA via Getty
46/50 11 August 2018
An activist confronts Virginia State Troopers in riot gear during a rally on the campus of The University of Virginia one-year after the violent white nationalist rally that left one person dead and dozens injured in Charlottesville, Virginia
AFP/Getty
47/50 10 August 2018
A man holds his son before Friday prayers at an evacuation centre in Sambik Bangkol village, in northern Lombok on West Nusa Tenggara province
AFP/Getty
48/50 9 August 2018
A rescuers stands next to a damaged tent in a flooded camping as storms and heavy rains sweep across France on August 9, 2018 in Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, southern France. - The bad weather caused large power cuts and a man who was working in a summer camp went missing according to the gendarmerie
AFP/Getty
49/50 8 August 2018
A Palestinian girl smiles as she waits to receive aids at a United Nations food distribution centre in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza
AFP/Getty
50/50 7 August 2018
An Israeli soldier rides an armoured vehicle during an army drill after the visit of Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israel
Reuters
1/50 25 September
US golfer Tiger Woods tees off during a practice session ahead of the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National Course at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, south-west of Paris
AFP/Getty
2/50 24 September
President Donald Trump and US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, talk with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres during the General Assembly at UN Headquarters
AP
3/50 23 September
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed that his country is "ready to confront America", following an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in which 25 people were killed. The attack has been blamed by Iranian government and military officials on gulf states that are allied with the US
AP
4/50 22 September
Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to become a partner in the Beijing funded Belt and Road scheme that will improve and expand Pakistan's infrastructure. The invite comes at the end of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's two day trip to the Middle Eastern country, where he met with Saudi King Salman
EPA
5/50 21 September 2018
A boat has capsized killing at 136 people in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Rescue operations are ongoing
AFP/Getty
6/50 20 September 2018
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates after the ruling liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on September 20, 2018. - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election as leader of his ruling party on September 20, setting him on course to become Japan's longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution.
AFP/Getty
7/50 19 September 2018
Los Angeles has moved to ban the sale of fur within its city limits. Speaking at a news conference today, councillor Bob Blumenfield said “this is something that is not just a good legislative win, it’s a moral win”. LA will be the biggest city in the US to ban the sale of fur, as it follows San Francisco, Berkley and others
AP
8/50 18 September 2018
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea,
Reuters
9/50 17 September 2018
Australia has launched a nationwide investigation into needles being hidden in strawberries. Sewing needles have reportedly been found in strawberries in all 6 Australian states and the market is suffering from the resultant fear
EPA
10/50 16 September 2018
Typhoon Mangkhut has made landfall in China, bringing winds of 100mph to coastal areas and storm surges of 10 feet in Hong Kong. Pictured here are the smashed windows of an office tower in Hong Kong.
Reuters
11/50 15 September 2018
German Police have begun evicting activists from the Hambacher Forest where a protest to protect the remaining section of the ancient forest has been ongoing for the past 6 years. Dozens of activists have been living in treehouses, but are now being forced out after tensions rose between them and energy company RWE, which plans to expand its coal mine further into the remaining woodland
AFP/Getty
12/50 14 September 2018
Speaking in Malmo today, the Dalai Lama stated "I think Europe belongs to Europeans" and suggested that refugees should focus on returning home and developing their home countries
Reuters
13/50 13 September 2018
Preparations for Hurricane Florence, expected to make land on Friday, continue in North and South Carolina and Viriginia. Over 1 million people have been evacuated leading up to the arrival of the category 4 storm
Getty
14/50 12 September 2018
Um Majid, left, tries an improvised gas mask on family members in her home in Binnish in Syria's rebel-held northern Idlib province as part of preparations for any upcoming raids. Fearing government forces and their allies military advance to retake Idlib province, the mother of three learnt from YouTube videos how to make gas masks from charcoal, wood, paper cups, cotton, nylon plastic bags and tapes. According to her, she could manufacture more masks but the material she needs are not always available. She also dug a cave under her home
AFP/Getty
15/50 11 September 2018
People waving pro-independence Catalan flags 'Esteladas' while holding letters reading "independence" during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia, the "Diada". Catalan separatists put on a show of strength and unity at celebrations of the region's national day, nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Catalonia's national day, the 'Diada' commemorates the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region's subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms
AFP/Getty
16/50 10 September 2018
An Indian man makes his way through floodwaters from the overflowing Panchanai River in Siliguri. Continuous rainfall has caused flooding and landslides in parts of Siliguri and surrounding areas, affecting road travel and daily life
AFP/Getty
17/50 9 September 2018
Participants wave flowers as they march past a balcony from where North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un was watching, during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. The military parade was held to mark the nations 70th birthday, but refrained from showing off the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have seen it hit with multiple international sanctions
AFP/Getty
18/50 8 September 2018
350.Org march for Climate Justice at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, Philippines. Rise for Climate protests took places across the world to demand action
Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
19/50 7 September 2018
Displaced Syrians take part in a protest against the regime and its ally Russia at a camp for displaced people in Kafr Lusin near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in Syria's northern Idlib province
AFP/Getty
20/50 6 September 2018
An aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma town, Hokkaido prefecture, after an earthquake hit the northern Japanese island. Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors after the powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing down onto homes, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens of people missing
AFP/Getty
21/50 5 September 2018
US Capitol Police arrest a protestor as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the second day of his US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion
AFP/Getty
22/50 4 September 2018
Damaged traffic boards and telecommunication relay poles after they were brought down by strong winds caused by typhoon Jebi in Osaka. The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall on September 4, the country's weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings
AFP/Getty
23/50 3 September 2018
Myanmar journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is escorted by police after being sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon. Two Reuters journalists were jailed for seven years for breaching Myanmar's official secrets act during their reporting of the Rohingya crisis, a judge said, a case that has drawn outrage as an attack on media freedom
AFP/Getty
24/50 2 September 2018
A Somali soldier walks near the wreckage of vehicles at the scene of a blast outside the compound of a district headquarters in the capital Mogadishu. A Somali police officer says a number of people were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a checkpoint outside the headquarters after being stopped by security forces
AP
25/50 1 September 2018
A Utair-operated Boeing 737-800 which skidded off the runway and caught fire during landing, at Sochi international airport, in the Russian Black Sea resort. Russia's transportation minister says a supervisor at the airport died during the emergency response after a landing airliner careered off the end of the runway, into a riverbed and caught fire. There were no deaths reported among the 164 passengers and six crew members aboard the Utair Boeing 737, but the Russian health ministry said 18 people were injured. The fire was extinguished within eight minutes
AP
26/50 31 August 2018
Mourners attend Aretha Franklin's funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit
AFP/Getty
27/50 30 August 2018
Firefighters watch on as flames leap from a giant factory fire in the inner Melbourne suburb of West Footscray - More than 120 firefighters are fighting the fire, with 30 trucks and cherry picker aerial appliances on the scene which is sending large plumes of smoke across the city.
AFP/Getty
28/50 29 August 2018
People are evacuated after flooding in Swar township, Myanmar
Reuters
29/50 28 August 2018
President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran. It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, with MPs demanding answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April
AFP/Getty
30/50 27 August 2018
A police officer walks by the front of a Chicago Pizza and GLHF Game Bar at the scene of fatal shooting at The Jacksonville Landing. A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament killing multiple people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others
AP
31/50 26 August 2018
Migrants disembark from the Italian Coast Guard ship 'Diciotti' in the port of Catania, Italy. The vessel arrived with 177 migrants on board, but the Italian Interior Ministry denied them to disembark, calling EU member states to find a solution on how to distribute them. On 22 August, 27 unaccompanied minors were let off from the ship, assisted by Red Cross, UNHCR and Save the Children
EPA
32/50 25 August 2018
Rohingya refugees during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia
AFP/Getty
33/50 24 August 2018
US President Donald Trump sits with children during a tour of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio
AFP/Getty
34/50 23 August 2018
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
EPA
35/50 22 August 2018
High waves hit Jeju Island, South Korea, as powerful Typhoon Soulik gradually approaches the Korean Peninsula
EPA
36/50 21 August 2018
A Palestinian man throws his child in the air following morning prayers marking the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem's Old City. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy
Reuters
37/50 20 August 2018
South Korean Lee Keum-seom, 92, meets with her North Korean son Ri Sung Chol, 71, during a separated family reunion meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's southeastern coast. Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans met their Northern relatives for the first time since the peninsula and their families were divided by war nearly seven decades ago
AFP/Getty
38/50 19 August 2018
The flag of the United Nations flying at half-mast to mark the death of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, at the European headquarters in Geneva. Kofi Annan died on 18 August, aged 80
EPA
39/50 18 August 2018
Newly appointed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inspects the guard of honor on his arrival in the Prime Minister House during a ceremony in Islamabad. Imran Khan was sworn in at a ceremony in Islamabad, ushering in a new political era as the World Cup cricket hero officially took the reins of power in the nuclear-armed country
PID/AFP/Getty
40/50 17 August 2018
Muslim pilgrims walk out after the Friday prayer at the Grand mosque ahead of annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Reuters
41/50 16 August 2018
A man wades through flooded water in Kochi, Kerala state, India. According to reports, the region is on a high alert with schools and offices been closed due to the rising water levels of Periyar river after the gates of the Idukki reservoir were opened. The area has been hit by heavy rains that caused floods and reportedly killed at least 65 people
EPA
42/50 15 August 2018
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets schoolchildren after his speech as part of India's 72nd Independence Day celebrations which marks the 71st anniversary of the end of British colonial rule, at the Red Fort in New Delhi
AFP/Getty
43/50 14 August 2018
A large section of the Morandi viaduct upon which the A10 motorway runs collapsed in Genoa, Italy. Both sides of the highway fell. Around 10 vehicles are involved in the collapse, rescue sources said. The viaduct gave way amid torrential rain. It runs over shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera river
EPA
44/50 13 August 2018
Turkish President Erdogan addresses the 10th annual Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara. Global markets have reacted fearfully to Turkey's financial crash, which Turkish President Erdogan blames on a "political, underhand plot" by Donald Trump's USA. Last week the US doubled steel and aluminium tariffs against Turkey amidst diplomatic tensions over the latter's detaining of an American pastor
Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty
45/50 12 August 2018
NASA, The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 12, 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first-ever mission into a part of the Suns atmosphere called the corona. The probe will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth.
NASA via Getty
46/50 11 August 2018
An activist confronts Virginia State Troopers in riot gear during a rally on the campus of The University of Virginia one-year after the violent white nationalist rally that left one person dead and dozens injured in Charlottesville, Virginia
AFP/Getty
47/50 10 August 2018
A man holds his son before Friday prayers at an evacuation centre in Sambik Bangkol village, in northern Lombok on West Nusa Tenggara province
AFP/Getty
48/50 9 August 2018
A rescuers stands next to a damaged tent in a flooded camping as storms and heavy rains sweep across France on August 9, 2018 in Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, southern France. - The bad weather caused large power cuts and a man who was working in a summer camp went missing according to the gendarmerie
AFP/Getty
49/50 8 August 2018
A Palestinian girl smiles as she waits to receive aids at a United Nations food distribution centre in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza
AFP/Getty
50/50 7 August 2018
An Israeli soldier rides an armoured vehicle during an army drill after the visit of Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israel
Reuters
Almost every journalist I’ve met in the Middle East has encountered similar problems. When I worked for the The Times , I alerted the then editor, Charles Douglas-Home, to evidence that Israeli officers had secretly buried at least seven Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners – done to death in an interrogation centre – at night in a Sidon graveyard in 1983. He wanted me to spend as many weeks as necessary to find out if the story was true. Then, months later, when witnesses emerged with evidence of the burial, including the gravedigger – the bodies still had their hands tied behind their back with nylon rope when they were brought to him – I called my editor. My witnesses were being “visited” by armed members of the Israeli Shin Beth intelligence agency, I told him, and I was being trailed around Sidon by Israeli-registered vehicles. It was time to run the story.
To my shock, Douglas-Home – an editor who otherwise loyally stood by me in every Middle East dispute over my work – replied that he wasn’t sure “how we’re justified in running a story like this so long after the event”. In other words, we had to be sure of our facts on such an important story – but by taking the time to do just that, the story was now out of date.
After much argument – during which I suggested to the Israelis that they might like to institute a military inquiry into the deaths if they wanted to avoid a scandal (they said, mysteriously, that it was already under way, although I doubted this) – the story ran. A deputy editor, I was told, had tried to cut the report by two-thirds. He was overruled. Then the story ran. In full.
So, old story, new story. I’ve appeared many times on Al Jazeera. And never been told to mince my words. Nor would I. But a lot of us are waiting to see Swisher’s new documentary. If we don’t, we’ll know what to think of Al Jazeera.
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