On Monday, July 26, a suicide bomber drove a white minibus filled with explosives past several security checkpoints to the front of Al Arabiya’s office, an Arabic-language news channel based in Baghdad. The vehicle was ignited, killing six and wounding sixteen.
The bombing came less than 24 hours after the staff of Al Arabiya had returned to their offices. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia had been threatening the news channel for weeks, and took responsibility on a website it often uses to communicate, suggesting the attack was a response to a broadcast about the group’s influence. The dead included security guards and a cafeteria worker, and among the wounded was a former Iraqi deputy prime minister. That same evening, two other explosions terrorized Iraqis, killing close to twenty and wounding over 50, according to officials in Baghdad and Karbala. Those attacks were aimed at Shiite pilgrims marching from Najaf to Karbala to honor the birthday of Imam Mahdi, a revered Shiite saint.
The bombing at Al Arabiya’s office serves as a reminder that practicing journalism is still a grave danger in Iraq. Free journalistic practices have been permitted in Iraq for seven years, though those years were the deadliest in history for journalists. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, over 140 have been killed in Iraq since the war’s inception. Many newsrooms in Baghad even memorialize late colleagues with portraits or displayed photographs.
Monday’s attack has reopened dialogue for a new law to protect journalists. Some suggest providing government protection for targeted journalists and offering compensation to the families of victims. Many want to revise regulations aimed at protecting newsgathering processes.
“The potential new law might also elevate a crime against a journalist to a higher level, a parallel to hate crime laws in the United States,” according to The New York Times. Though a draft law was sent to Parliament last year, no changes have been made thus far. Officials recently discussed new proposals following Monday’s bombings.
Not all journalists in Baghdad, however, are in favor of reform. Last year, many protested against a media law--even one for the purpose of protection--fearing it would prohibit their freedom. After all, during the Saddam Hussein era, the death penalty could be imposed for criticizing the government.
Plus, many doubt Iraqi politics are sophisticated enough to handle a media reform. Iraq’s Constitution protects freedom of opinion and speech—Western groups are urging the government to give the concept of “media” some deeper legal thought. According to The New York Times, a group of press advocacy groups working with Unesco recently published an open letter in support of the passage of a “freedom of information law.”
And though the Iraqi government is toying with new judicial concepts to address the media issue, such as a special press course to adjudicate libel offenses and press freedom issues, Western advocates are skeptical, claiming they don’t have enough information about the court’s procedures to determine its effectiveness. The New York Times quoted a recent statement by Mohamed Abdel Dayem, Middle East director for the Committee to Protect Journalists: “A specialized press court is hardly the solution to the problems Iraqi journalists face on a daily basis…Historically, press courts have been used for restriction rather than protection.”
Still, the Al Arabiya bombing opened doors for new discourse regarding the protection of journalists, emphasizing that freedom of the press is valued and that attacks on the media industry will not be tolerated. The fact that dialogue surrounding a potential law came out of the attack at all suggests some sort progress in Iraqi politics and outrage at extremist groups like Al Qaeda.
In October, the Justice Ministry in Baghdad was bombed, and Iraqi filmmakers chose the devastated building as a backdrop for Baghdad’s first outdoor moving screening. It was “an attempt by filmmakers to show that no matter how much blood the militants may spill they cannot kill the artistic imagination,” according to The New York Times. Here, filmmakers reacted to violence with peace and dialogue, and wanted to put out the message that there is still vibrant, artistic life within Baghdad.
If the recently discussed proposals could become law--if the discussions themselves could influence journalistic practices—then the six who died in Monday’s attack would not die in vain.
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