I feel happy whenever a plane tries to land in an Arab capital, only to be welcomed by an army of satellite dishes on rooftops. The intrusion of Arab cable TV into our homes was a positive occurrence. We considered it to be an opportunity to interrupt the isolation of Arab citizens who remained for a long time hostages of the official news bulletin and newspaper headlines that were carefully simmered on the fire of commendation and applause. We considered it to be an opportunity to break the siege and allow women to learn more about their rights, and children to see that the world has a lot to teach. The introduction of Arab cable TV to our homes was an important event. We thought that it might be the only common denominator among these Arab peoples located from coast to coast, and that it could carry to viewers truths, facts, and scenes addressed to their mind, heart, and imagination – and would relieve them from the single and orphan story that is dropped on them through talk about achievements. We thought it could reinforce people's desire to participate in making their future – which is their undeniable right. We also thought it would remind them of their right in a school that lets go of the minds of their sons instead of holding on to them; their right to potable water; their right to job opportunities; their right to hold those who deprive them of these opportunities accountable. Moreover, we expected for the image of the world to infiltrate itself through these screens, and for Arabs to know that this world has scientific, technological, and cultural conquests that cannot be ignored for the simple fact that this world doesn't resemble us; some people in it take negative stances vis-à-vis our causes; or some of its countries aggress some of our countries. We expected that cable TV will link the inhabitants of the Arab district of the global village to what is taking place in other districts which enjoy established notions of the state, institutions, freedom, responsibility, and accountability, as well as scientific research centers and prestigious universities. Certainly, the infiltration of cable TV into our living rooms has achieved something. It asked questions that used to be taboo or absent. It posed a challenge that wasn't there before. What is the world? Where do we stand in it? What is our relation with it regarding politics, economics, and culture? What is our ability to intermingle with it? What about our identity? With what tools do we meet its new questions? Unbiased viewers are bound to acknowledge that there is a highly professional pool of cable TV channels that try to attract them while respecting their mind. These channels try to put facts before them, leaving them with the right to choose. However, anyone who frequently changes channels as I do sometimes, would feel scared. It can be said without exaggeration that many channels today slip in the veins of their viewers lethal types of poisons characterized by ignorance, backwardness, forgery, sectarian radicalism, and hatred of the other. It can be said that many channels damage our children's minds and prepare them for civil wars and a resounding clash with our era, and push them into the caves. They are channels that kill minds and have contempt for taste. I sometimes look at the unbalanced cable TV channels and see incredible contempt for the mind, and national and moral responsibility; a violent young man seeking a civil war to get to power through climbing atop corpses; a hungry leader dreaming of being the sole voice in an abandoned city; a blind analyst whose opinions do nothing more than spur the making of coffins. These channels only promise slaughtering and suicides, as if they were at the service of gravediggers. They pump darkness in the eyes, hearts, minds, and consciences of people, distribute daggers, and speed up the time of killing. I do not request the subjection of these channels to the control of the ministries of information or intelligence agencies. I believe the time has come to think of formulas that protect viewers from the many perpetrations committed by those who invade TV screens with lexicons of fanaticism. It is possible for instance to establish serious information bodies that establish high professional standards so that TV stations do not turn into factories of disasters.
