Second: Knowledge and Shaping The overall framework of this equation is defined by the transi- tion of Al Jazeera’s relationship with its audience from the shock and provoke phase to that of self-awareness and objective understanding of regional and political conditions. This phase extended from 2001 until 2011 and took a full decade for this type of awareness to take shape and materialise. The Al Jazeera-CNN contest and the resulting manifesta- tions of the U.S. policies in the region, along with other showdowns with Arab governments, posed a real test for the Network. What the U.S. administration and most Arab leaders had in common was throw- ing unfounded accusations at Al Jazeera. Such claims included support- ing terrorism and giving platform to political Islam groups in the Arab Word. The Network was also accused of fomenting inter-Arab differ- ences and fanning social feuds by allowing minorities and opposition figures to address the public. Based on these false accusations Arab governments and various U.S. administrations found it easy to exert pressures on Al Jazeera to change its editorial policy and news agenda. The culmination of these pressures was the bombing of its offices and calls for the network’s closure. In this decade, Al Jazeera’s coverage focused primarily on domestic issues like Arab democratisation, human rights, and corruption-related issues, as another necessary step forward in reshaping the awareness of Arab audiences. However, the events of the Palestinian cause, and other political developments in a number of Arab countries crystalised the knowledge-shaping approach. Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Palestinian cause, which is the most prominent issue for Arabs, and delving deeply into the inter-relationship of Palestinians and their ties to other Arabs in the region, allowed the audience to receive unbiased information on a thorny topic. These efforts proved highly effective in shaping a critical, unappeasable awareness. This can be explained by two particular cases of Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Palestinian cause. In his recollection of Al Jazeera’s reporting on the Arab-Israeli war in 2006, Walid Al-Om- ary, Al Jazeera’s Palestine bureau Chief, said the network’s coverage of Hezbollah’s rocket attacks shocked the official Israeli institutions and damaged the image of the so-called “invincible army”. With live frontline coverage of rockets as they hit Haifa, Acre, and Nahariya, Is-
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