Sometimes, when I want to amuse myself, I watch cooking programs, or perhaps the official news stations of some Arab regimes, and sometimes, even Iranian news channels!
I watched an Iranian channel reporting on the astonishing success of the recent parliamentary elections, but there was no mention of the total political boycott carried out by the political reformist currents (by Karroubi, Montazeri and their adherers).
The channel was full of commendations and congratulations, yet the opposition powers that boycotted the election had no voice, nor were they provided with a single opportunity to elaborate on the reasons behind their boycott.
Meanwhile, the official Syrian news channel spared no effort to “congratulate brother Vladimir Putin on his landslide victory in the elections”, and at the same time, fiercely attacked his opponents who sought to cast doubts over the integrity of the Russian election.
The Syrian news channel’s cameras then toured the streets of major Syrian cities and spoke with the people who all unanimously agreed that Putin’s victory was a victory for truth and justice, and a victory for the powers in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
Another official Syrian channel broadcast footage showing violence committed by the police in Europe and the US when dispersing recent demonstrations there. In the video recording, an exceedingly enthusiastic reporter wondered “Where is your conscience; you who launch slanderous accusations that free and heroic Syria is telling lies?”
Feigning deep affection once again, the reporter went on to say “This is how they deal with their own people with regards to brutal policing, and then they fabricate lies about al-Assad’s Syria.”
The reporter, however, failed to mention that the maximum violence that the police in Europe or the US would ever resort to, when dispersing a demonstration, is the use of batons or tear gas.
This Arab, Syrian reporter, this “defender of the truth”, also failed to mention that these countries have never used heavy artillery, rocket launchers, snipers or bloodthirsty death squads against their own people.
Moreover, the Iranian and the Syrian reporters failed to reveal that both Tehran and Damascus will now offer courses for the Europeans and Americans, to train them on the art of free elections and on how the police should deal with the people! This wisdom will be offered in a new training program entitled: “A bullet for every citizen and a mortar shell for every family.”