Alwaght- After broadcasting a documentary about Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah on Al-Arabiya, the general manager of the news channel Turki bin Abdullah Aldakhil was sacked by the owner Saudi broadcasting company.
The Middle East Broadcasting Center Group (MBC) announced the dismissal of Aldakhil on Monday against the backdrop of the documentary, dubbed “Hassan’s Tale” that stirred controversy in the Persian-Gulf.
While Al-Arabiya’s stance is clear as it has long played a part in the media war against Iran, Syria and the Hezbollah resistance movement, the broadcast documentary shocked its audience.
Pro-Saudi social media activists soon launched a war of words against Aldakhil who allowed the film to air. Angry bloggers showered Al-Arabiya’s pages on twitter and Facebook referring to Aldakhil as “traitor.”
Having maintained neutrality without attempting to distort the image of Sayyed Nasrallah as it just presented the main events in his life as well as accomplishments as a resistance leader, was deemed equivalent to supporting the Hezbollah leader.
Al-Arabiya’s portrayal of Nasrallah in the 20 minute documentary—comprised of compilations of videos, pictures, and speeches without commentary—presented facts as recorded in the history of the resistance movement such as the 2000 liberation of southern Lebanon and the July 2006 victory against the Israelis. This, however, did not appease supporters of Riyadh who have become so used to misrepresentations and half-truths that they cannot accept unbiased reports.
The Saudi kingdom has a long record of cracking down on media outlets and journalists. In December, Saudi satellite communications operator Arabsat blocked al-Manar television channel in a bid to muffle Hezbollah’s media voice.
A month later,the Beirut-based pan Arab news channel Al-Mayadeen was also halted after it hosted a guest who slammed Saudi Arabia over the deadly Mina incident during Hajj rituals in 2015.
However, both Al-Manar and Al-Mayadeen have vowed to keep echoing the truth in spite of increasing pressure, threats, and measures in the form of removing them from the satellite.
