Robert Fisk, a British writer and journalist, has scathingly denounced the Western journalists and their work in the Middle East on Tuesday.
British writer and journalist Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent of The Independent, delivers a speech for his distinguished lecture series entitled "State of Denial: Western Jouralism in the Middle East", at the invitation of the Georgetown's Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), at Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, capital of Qatar, April 20, 2010. [Maneesh Bakshi/Xinhua] |
In his speech "State of Denial: Western Journalism in the Middle East" at the Georgetown's Center for International and Regional Studies, Fisk claimed that members of the Western media have "an osmotic and parasitic" relationship with the Western powers.
Using numerous historical arguments, Fisk said "journalists need not present both sides of the story when one side has been unjustly persecuted by the other."
Fisk, holding justice as one of his main points, argued it was justice, and not democracy or any other concept or idea, that the people of countries such as Iraq and Palestine really desired.
Although certain Western influences had a positive part to play in the Middle East, he said, the military involvement of their forces was "neither wanted nor justified."
Having had an illustrious career working for The Independent as a foreign correspondent in many of the most bloody and tragic conflicts, Fisk has often spoken out and defended victims who would otherwise have gone unmentioned.
Fisk is the only renowned Western journalist to have interviewed Osama bin Laden -- something he has done three times.
British writer and journalist Robert Fisk (L), Middle East correspondent of The Independent, delivers a speech for his distinguished lecture series entitled "State of Denial: Western Jouralism in the Middle East", at the invitation of the Georgetown's Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), at Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, capital of Qatar, April 20, 2010. [Maneesh Bakshi/Xinhua] |