Stop al Jazeera English
The purpose of this section of the website is to alert the people of Burlington of our efforts to give them a voice on the question of Burlington Telecom's carriage of Al Jazeera English.
The Mayor indicated that the people should be heard from. We have come to realize that the hearing process utilized by BTAC was faulty and that the people have not been heard from. Therefore, we have launched a citizens initiative to petition for a referendum on the ballot in the next general election, asking the voters of Burlington:
'Should Burlington Telecom enter into a contract with Al Jazeera English?'
With over 600 cable TV networks in the United States, why is Burlington, Vermont the only one where the MAYOR makes the content decisions?
Instead, we believe that in the case of Al Jazeera - English, where there is no clear cable TV channel selection carriage policy, the people should decide.
Why the BTAC/CAC Recommendation on
Al Jazeera-English is Invalid
We believe the "Recommendation Resolution re: Al Jazeera English on Burlington Telecom - Adopted by BTAC/BCAC at their joint June 24, 2008 meeting" to carry Al Jazeera-English (AJE), is invalid and should be overturned by the voters of Burlington.
BTAC/CAC (BTAC) Recommendation is Contrary to BT Policy & Procedure Burlington Telecom (BT) has a cable TV channel selection carriage policy in place.
Guided by this policy, the previous General Manager (GM) added AJE to the channel lineup. Guided by this same policy, the current GM moved to discontinue AJE from the lineup. BTAC reported no issue of non-compliance with this policy by BT nor it's GM. In fact, by their recommendation, BTAC, itself, discarded the current carriage policy. The Mayor also discarded the carriage policy and asked instead to hear from the public.
BTAC Recommendation is Illogical
BTAC went beyond discarding the current carriage policy: they recommend writing a new one.
Simultaneously with their release of their recommendation, above, to air AJE, BTAC found the
current carriage policy faulty and suggested revising it ("Recommendation Resolution re:
Burlington Telecom Cable Channel Carriage Policy Adopted by BTAC/BCAC at their
joint June 24, 2008 meeting"). The decision on whether or not to add AJE to the lineup should
not precede the establishment of the criteria upon which such a decision must be based.
It is premature to enter into a contract with AJE without being able to determine if its inclusion
is consistent with the revised carriage policy.
BTAC Hearings Conducted Improperly
The first BTAC hearing on May 27, 2008, was not properly warned. The public did not know until the day of the meeting that they could speak, and not until the instant of the meeting that they would be limited to only one minute. This is an unreasonably short time, preparation was impossible and many people were cut off prematurely. Additional issues pertain and will be discussed subsequently.
Members of BTAC Did Not Conduct Themselves as an Impartial Decision Making Body
Three members of the committees, including the chairman, made clear their pro AJE stance prior to hearing from the public. In her paper "Adding Al Jazeera: How the Qatar-Based News Channel Made Its Way onto the Airwaves of Burlington, Vermont." Shakuntala Rao, expressed her strong support and that of member Jan Schultz. Chairman Greg EplerWood made his pro AJE position clear on CCTV-17 during the panel discussion with Sandy Baird and Paul Decelles. It is of interest that Shakuntala Rao is the wife of the Mayor's assistant, Joe Reinert.
Citizens Petitioning for Al Jazeera Referendum
Questions: Contact Jamie Zeppernick at 802.343-2162
Petition for Al Jazeera Referendum
PROPOSED: In order for the will of the people of Burlington, VT to be the determinant of whether or not Burlington Telecom carries Al Jazeera-English in its cable TV lineup, striving to be fair, and for the people to give their opinion in a manner free of intimidation or repercussion, we the undersigned Burlington, VT registered voters hereby affix our signatures and propose that the following question be added to the ballot in Burlington, VT in the next general election on November 4, 2008 and be decided by majority vote.
Should AI Jazeera-English be offered as part of Burlington Telecom's channel line-up?
BACKGROUND
A heated and emotional controversy surrounds the question of whether Burlington Telecom (BT) should enter into a contract with Al lazeera-English (AlE). Issues of freedom of speech, accusations of fear, ignorance or undue influence, allegations of hate speech, anti-Americanism, anti-semitism, and aid to terrorists have been cited as concerns by folks both pro and con.
BT has a Cable TV Channel Selection Carriage Policy. In accordance with this carriage policy the previous General Manager added AlE to the lineup. In accordance with the same carriage policy the current General Manager decided to discontinue carriage of AlE. Despite BT's current management decision, the Mayor has
intervened asking for public input to help in the decision making process.
Only a very small number of Burlington Tax Payers have been heard from on the issue (about 1 in 200), a number not statistically significant and, therefore, not representative of the will of the people.
Many people who would like to express their opinion on this issue have indicated they are reluctant to do so publicly, but would in the privacy of the voting booth.
BT is municipally owned by the City of Burlington. All Burlington Tax Payers, whether BT subscribers or not, are affected financially by BT, which was envisioned to lend support to Burlington's troubled economy.
BT is four years behind its expected date ofprofitability (2012). Default on the $33 million dollars in loans taken to date by BT would adversely affect the Bond Rating of the City of Burlington.
AlE is a subsidiary of the parent company, Al lazeera; both owned and funded by the sheik / government of Qatar.
Instructions on how to print petition
To prepare petitions just
PRINT the Petition page then turn that page upside down and also turn it North to South then put it back into the paper tray
PRINT the Petition BACK PAGE
Printable Petition Form Front Page
Printable Petition Form Back Page
al Jazeera English and Burlington Telecom
Six Questions
The issue before Burlington Telecom is whether programming should continue to include al-Jazeera TV. Although the specifics of this matter involve al-Jazeera-English, there has been ample concern raised by various news outlets and observers that should be shared with the management of Burlington Telecom to assist in that decision recognizing of course the supposed separation between al-Jazeera-Arab and al-Jazeera-English. Specific questions should be addressed during these discussions to include:
1. A study undertaken by the University of Leeds in the UK states that al-Jazeera, along
with other Arab channels, has had a dramatic impact on the "thinking and behavior of Arab
Muslims living in Britain." Translation: one of the root causes of UK terrorism includes al-
Jazeera program content that is directed exclusively to the local Arab and Muslim
communities and contributes to their non-assimilation into Western countries.
Question: What actions are being implemented by al-Jazeera to end what has been
portrayed as 'incendiary' reporting? A prime example involves al Jazeera
correspondents referring to suicide bombers as 'martyrs' and biased coverage of
the US and Israel.
2. Accuracy in Media (AIM) reports that the first managing director of al-Jazeera was
accused of being an agent of the Saddam Hussein regime; the Afghanistan bureau chief,
Tayseer al Alouni, was sentenced to prison in Spain as an agent of al Qaeda and reporters
with the channel were arrested on the suspicion of aiding Hezbollah.
Question: What controls have al-Jazeera instituted to preclude access to terrorists
and enemy sympathizers in this War on Terror?
3. Some believe al-Jazeera message to the Arab and Muslim communities is creating terrorists
and has been dubbed by one reporter as "Jihad TV" or Osama bin Laden's favorite TV
channel. Ralph Peters of the New York Post has deemed al-Jazeera to be "consumed with
terror".
Question: Should Al-Jazeera-English publicly disavow inflammatory news
reporting or op-ed content that contributes or extends the jihadists connection
perception? Further, can management secure copies of AJ guidelines on the socalled
"strict editorial processes" that they have adopted?
4. The publication Foreign Policy has studied claims that "al-Jazeera supports terrorism”, al-
Jazeera is spreading political freedom" and "al-Jazeera is biased" among other relevant issues.
On the first point, Foreign Policy did not conclude support for terrorism, "though the
network makes little attempt to disassociate itself from those who do." Foreign Policy
concludes that al-Jazeera is no more biased that CNN or Fox News; however, their tone was
"notably sympathetic to the Iraqis and hostile towards the Americans." In Afghanistan, the
Taliban "was often presented as the noble underdog and America as the vengeful, colonial
aggressor."
Question: How can Burlington Telecom assure its subscribers that al-Jazeera-
English has forsaken terror and bias found in their system organization?
5. A key Islamic figure, Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi has labeled himself as the spiritual and
senior religious leader advisor to al-Jazeera, He is on record as saying, "I support the
resistance and the Jihad! I support Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah! O God,
destroy the Zionist, the American, and the British aggressors! O God, shake the ground
under them! Human Events also reports that Accuracy in Media has a video of al-Jazeera's
managing director, Mohammad Jassem Al-ali meeting with Uday Hussein (the mass
murderer and rapist) declaring that "My mission at al-Jazeera is to serve (Saddam's) Iraq, the
country that has had so much to do with the success of the station."
Question: Does BT management believe that this example and others outlined
above form the basis of trust that al-Jazeera will present a non-biased version of
the news that is devoid of the hared and divisiveness that it has heretofore
displayed. How can Burlington Telecom be assured that the message portrayed on
Burlington television isn't countered by any opposite and incendiary message on
its Arab channel as documented by MEMRI, the Middle East ombudsman for
media content.
6. Finally, most news outlets report that al-Jazeera-Arab and al-Jazeera-English are both
owned by the Qatar royal family. Further, the same controlling board reportedly oversees
both networks.
Question: Given the disparity between news and message on the al-Jazeera
channels, what conditions are Burlington Telecom willing to impose should al-
Jazeera-English fail to produce "fair and balanced" programming?
al Jazeera English Important Links
Al Jazeera in Burlington: John Stuart describes the reasons why Al Jazeera must be removed from Burlington Telecom's programming line up.
Brigitte Gabriel's organization is dedicated to fighting radical Islam and to give Americans the education needed to combat this threat.
An Accuracy in Media produced film portraying the real al Jazeera
Al Jazeera and Cultural Jihad by Robert Maynard
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