Thanks Bader ben Hirsi, but [Archives:2003/672/Viewpoint]

The
Editor
In a pleasant and friendly atmosphere, the Yemeni-British Friendship Association hosted a film screened at their place last week. The film was entitled 'Yemen and the war on terror'.
I wasn't told much about the film's contents or who did it. But I was told that I would 'like it'.
I was so excited about the film and curious about its contents and did not want to waste this opportunity.
When the film rolled, I noticed how professional it was. I felt that the director of the film, Bader ben Hirsi, needed to be appreciated and encouraged for his job. This is not his first production, and certainly will not be the last. When I entered the neatly decorated headquarters of the friendship association, I realized that so many invitees attended. Most of them were diplomats, foreigners and Yemeni intellects known to have good relations with the diplomatic community in Yemen.
The film, which lasted for more than half an hour, was shot in Yemen. It was shot in a number of regions of the country including regions as far as Tareem in Hadhramout.
In the discussion session that followed the film, a number of comments were given. Most of the comments had praised the film for the professional and high quality of its production.
However, out of my love and care for the country and in order to ensure that such hard work would be reflecting the truth and accurate facts as it is considered an important documentary about a very sensitive issue (terror), I raised my hand to give a comment.
Even though I felt that the film was quite professional and high quality in production, it lacked something vital for credibility, and that is balance and impartiality.
In journalistic terms, if you are carrying out a documentary report about a certain issue, you need to investigate the issue in all angles and interview the representatives of major blocs in the country. I believe that the film unfortunately focused on the pro-government opinion on the war on terror, and many of those who viewed it agreed with me. It gave an incomplete picture of the situation lived in Yemen. It did not disclose the opposition's opinion. It did not interview intellects, opinion-makers, and independent figures working honestly and faithfully to have their country's issues tackled and resolved.
The film, which interviewed Yemen's foreign Minister Dr. Abubakr Al-Qirbi, Presidential advisor and former Prime Minister Dr. Abdulkareem Al-Iryani, failed to bring a counter- opinion which would create some sort of balance.
I believe that such efforts are indeed very helpful in presenting the facts about the war on terror. But isn't the fact that the war on terror in Yemen has caused so many human rights violations -look at last week's front page story? Isn't it a fact that many politicians, intellects and millions of Yemenis oppose the way this war has gone in terms of massive arrests of innocent people, the imprisonment of citizens without trial, and the extrajudicial killings that took place in the country? All those were not handled independently. The version presented is not, and I repeat not a balanced image.
I am not going to the extent of saying that it was false. But the film may be misleading, making the world believe that Yemenis are in full support of the war on terror in the way it is handled today in the country.
That is why it is important to have a second film to follow-up the case of the 'war on terror' and complete the missing parts of the whole picture.
We see that such products are done with the support of countries such as the UK, and the USA, etc. However, why cannot those countries assist also in bringing more credibility to such documentaries in bringing the factor of democracy, which is widely popular in those countries so that they could resemble the truth as it is regardless if they would please the government or not?
Mr. Ben Hirsi has done an excellent job, but he needs to realize that such professional work needs to reflect the truth in all its negative and positive aspects.
That is why I said at the end of my comment, that censorship -self censorship in terms of government officials- in such productions need to be eliminated so we can be truthful to ourselves and to the world.
——
[archive-e:672-v:13-y:2003-d:2003-09-29-p:view]