| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| The first casualty |
| 2015-10-05 |
| [DAWN] SHORTLY after the horrific Mina stampede, a news item appeared on the Iranian English language TV channel Press TV's website. This article alleged that the stampede was caused when a massive security convoy escorting Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud arrived at Mina with 200 army and 150 police personnel. It was his arrival, the report alleged, that "prompted a change in the direction of the movement of the pilgrims and a stampede". This news item was then picked up by various outlets and was also widely shared on social media. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... this was not independently reported by any other news agency, prompting an examination of the source of this news. The report cites an Arabic-language Lebanese daily named Al Diyar as its source. This newspaper is generally considered to be pro-Baathist and leans towards the Syrian government of Bashir al-Assad. That's important because, as we all know, the Syrian government is supported by Iran and opposed by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , making the latter a target of choice for the paper in question. The Saudis have been less agile in their damage control. It was Al Diyar that first ran the story regarding an alleged Saudi offer to build 400 mosques in Germany for Syrian refugees. The Saudi government has since denied that it made any such offer, but that denial got a lot less play than the story itself. A news report claiming that the Makkah governor Prince Khalid Al Faisal blamed the stampede on African pilgrims was also later denied, but it is unclear if that statement was in fact retracted or if it was not made in the first place. Press TV later also ran a televised report based on this same story, running footage that shows a large security convoy arriving at Mina. The footage is indeed authentic, but dates back several years and is in no way related to the current stampede. The Saudis, for their part, have been less agile in their spin and damage control. Belatedly, they released an infographic from a semi-official source that claimed the stampede was caused by a group of Iranian pilgrims going the wrong way. Just like the Al Diyar report was picked up and reproduced by pro-Iran outlets, groups and individuals, the Saudi version of 'news' was duly picked up by pro-Saudi and pro-GCC media outlets, such as the Saudi Gazette, the Khaleej Times and many others. One particularly creative report even had a quote from an (unnamed) Iranian Haj official who "admitted" that Iranian pilgrims caused the stampede. This particular report even made it to the pages of none other than our very own Daily Ummat, where it was gleefully reproduced. Needless to say, the unnamed official has not been identified, probably because he does not exist. |
| Posted by:Fred |