Al Quds al Arabi comes of Age

27 April 2010
Today we celebrate the 21st birthday of our newspaper, Al-Quds al-Arabi, which comes of age youthful, vibrant, strong, diverse in content and occupying a prominent place on the media map.

Al-Quds al-Arabi has remained fiercely independent, with the Moslem nation always at the top of its list of priorities. Because of this, and the nature of Arab politics, there have been many attempts to derail this unique publication: distribution has been impeded and advertising revenues – the lifeblood of any newspaper - have been restricted. Despite these difficulties, Al Quds al Arabi continues to lead the way as one of the most important Middle Eastern newspapers.

It was a difficult march, the way full of brambles and ticking mines, and it led to a brutal war, launched against us by great powers, regional and international. This sometimes took the form of an outright ban, sometimes legal action was taken against us, on several occasions our reputation and standards were smeared. But we have remained steadfast, standing tall like the palm or olive trees of our country, our roots deep in the solid clay of our land, and our heads butting the clouds.

We have resisted all attempts to silence us and are proud to resolutely champion the things we hold dear: the democratic transformation of our countries; an end to systems rotten through with corruption and cronyism; an independent and just judiciary for every nation; equal rights and opportunities for all, regardless of the sectarian, tribal or regional prejudices that can and do hinder an individual's progress through life.

The Moslem nation cannot continue to live among the ruins of underdevelopment, but neither can we achieve our ambitions within an Arab Renaissance characterized by true progress unless we uphold these basic values.

Al-Quds al-Arabi has sometimes been accused of supporting dictators. We did not support dictators when we stood side by side in the trenches with the Moslem nation to oppose the Iraqi occupation, the war in Afghanistan, American hegemony and the Palestinian Authority. For many years we vigorously opposed the most insidious lies, deception and arrogance. And now the facts on the ground, and history, prove that ours was the correct view all along.

See now those Arabs who backed the violent onslaught on Iraq, chewing their nails with remorse to see that once proud country's Arab identity eroded, its stability evaporated, its territorial integrity undermined, one million of its women widowed (the highest per capita in the world) and five million of its children orphaned.

And the regime the Americans have backed in Iraq, the regime for which such a heavy price was paid in Iraqi blood and suffering, is the forth most corrupt in the world according to Transparency International (TPI).

As for Afghanistan, we long maintained that this war on 'terror' cannot be won because it is in fact a war against Islam and Muslims. Many dismissed our position, we were subject to the most virulent argument and criticism, but here, alas, are the days which prove it: ten years after the start of this war, the current U.S. administration is looking for safe passage out of Afghanistan, under a face-saving formula, having discovered that the resistance is as fierce as ever and their man, Karzai, is presiding over TPI's second most corrupt regime in the world.

And in Palestine, we opposed the Oslo Accords from their inception in the absolute certainty that Israel not only does not want peace, but treats the negotiating process itself simply as a pretext to prevaricate, pillage the land, and build more settlements. After seventeen years we discover that the situation is unchanged, the goal of negotiation remains mere folly and the motives of our opponents are as malignant as ever.

That we have come of age testifies to the sincerity and power of our anger and our commitment to our nation. Yes, We have made some mistakes... that is inevitable...but our passionate defence of the Moslem people is unabated. How could we see Baghdad bombed into molten lava and the soft bodies of Gaza's children ripped open by shrapnel or seared by white phosphorus, and remain silent.

Our independence has been well documented, and our stance has not changed since the very first edition of our newspaper.

There have been many allegations and insinuations regarding our finances despite the fact that we have struggled for survival in this respect and still occupy the same suite of shabby offices that have served us as home for the past twenty one years.

I recently received a curious visit from a leading Iraqi politician, the right hand man of Dr. Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress. He walked into my office, shook my hand vigorously, and said: 'I have come to apologize to al-Quds al-Arabi and to ask your forgiveness as its editor in chief'. He told me that the new regime had employed fourteen people to search through twenty five tons of documents from Saddam Hussein's time in order to prove we were on his payroll. They found not one shred of evidence of a financial (or political) relationship between Saddam's government and this paper .

Then Mr. Fakhri Karim, the leader of the Iraqi Communist Party, in a magazine interview about oil coupons, was invited to identify which names had been falsely connected with this form of corruption: 'of those that were fabricated or falsified the name of Abdel Bari Atwan is top of the list,' he said.

We enter our twenty-second year with a new record: The number of visitors to the newspaper's website has reached eight million per month according to statistics from the Google Foundation. They contacted us recently to confirm this good news and as a result several international companies have bought advertising space with us. Al-Quds al-Arabi is now read in 196 countries, many of our readers live in countries where our website is officially blocked - the young people of these states know how to reach us, despite unjustifiable embargos.

As for the pledge we made to our readers from the outset, it remains the same...we will remain loyal to them, and steadfast to our standards and ethics which are those of the entire Moslem nation. We will maintain our professional standards and our honour, never being dragged into personal animosity or prejudice.

We congratulate ourselves and our readers too on this day of celebration, and hope for many more years to come in the service of truth and justice.

*Note: in the Books section of this website, you can read extract 2 from Abdel Bari's memoir, 'A Country of Words, in which he describes the difficulties and challenges faced by the team who bring you Al-Quds al-Arabi. Follow the Books link at the top of this page.