George Banna, Osman Ly:

     On the occasion of November 2nd, which the United Nations has designated as World Press Freedom Day.

A journalist cannot write without being free, There is no need to assess the integrity and independence of local journalism by asking Reporters Without Borders about the state of Arab journalism and its global ranking,If we were to ask!, the answer would be, for example, that Egypt ranks 159th out of 179 countries, As for the rest of the region, the less said the better, Is it surprising that Syria, for instance, occupies a position even lower than 200th out of 200 countries in the world? Is occupying such extreme positions of journalistic barbarity due to the journalists themselves? A truly free journalist has no interest in the decline or absence of press freedom in many so-called Arab countries,The interest has always been, and remains, with the rulers who steal, humiliate, and kill, and with the class of sycophantic so-called journalists who work as court poets in the palaces of tyrants, These are nothing but mercenaries!

The sultans of the court and their mercenaries are not alone in corrupting the press, Here, terrorist and sectarian groups, then organized crime gangs, influential people, and the agencies serving the sultans, such as intelligence services, share in accomplishing that task,Then there is the censor’s scissors, which prevent the publication of any critical journalistic investigation with fabricated pretexts, The censor’s scissors are not only concerned with cutting what it considers a journalistic conspiracy against the oppressive authorities, but the censor’s scissors also include the necks of journalists, How many journalists were killed because of publishing a critical article? All the partners of the dictatorship were also partners in the massacre and distortion of the press, that is, in committing massacres of the press and journalists, And because physical liquidation is impossible in some cases, the tyrants and their henchmen resorted to strategies more cruel than physical liquidation, such as “moral assassination,” that is, isolating the journalist writer and preventing him from communicating with his readers, or defaming him, and so on, Thus, they turned his pen from a weapon to defend freedom and truth into a witness to a will that was broken without bowing.

The press cannot reform without freedom that is strictly guaranteed by law, In democratic countries, let’s take America as an example, the constitution was amended in a way that prevents even Congress from issuing any law that restricts press freedom, This means complete independence of press freedom, and it also means placing the power of press freedom on par with the power of Congress, if not stronger than the power of Congress, This means that press freedom is not a clause or legal text that can be changed, That is, press freedom is as self-evident as breathing, Freedom of expression in the press is an inherent and natural human right, unlike the situation in the Arab world where breathing and uttering the word are prohibited, unless it includes the fabrication necessary for the tyrant’s survival.

Any system that restricts press freedom is inherently dictatorial, and any system that respects press freedom is inherently democratic, The standard of press freedom distinguishes between dictatorship and democracy, It must be noted here that from the womb of absolute freedom, distorted forms may emerge, such as the birth of massive media institutions that control opinion, direction, and expression, Despite this drawback, there should be no compromise on freedom of personal opinion, as the gains of freedom of opinion are more important and greater than the limitations associated with exercising this freedom, If this were not the case, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 would not have included Articles 18 and 19, Article 18 states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Article 19 states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to…” “To embrace opinions without harassment, and to seek, receive and transmit information and ideas to others, by any means and without regard to boundaries ” That is, there are no limits to criticism, nor are there any fortresses for the sacred, for example, in the face of the pandemic of criticism, Surrounding the sacred with a wall of defense, that is, preventing its criticism because it is sacred, turns it into sacred ignorance, that is, into the most important profane things, which must be criticized and dismantled. That is, texts that incite murder, aggression and violence must be dismantled regardless of whether they are considered sacred or profane.

The inevitable question is whether a free press helps establish a democratic system, or whether a democratic system paves the way for the emergence of a free press movement, We do not believe in the existence of a free press without democracy at the state level, nor do we believe in the existence of democracy without a free press. However, dictatorship is confined within the borders of the dictatorial state, while the products of a free press are not bound by the limits of the dictatorial state  The free press can penetrate the strongholds of the dictatorial state without permission through social media, which transcends borders and is immune to the dictatorship’s control, In other words, this era offers a press that cannot be suppressed, For example, al-Julani was unable to suppress Reuters news agency, which published a report on the massacres on the Syrian coast  The report reduced al-Julani’s chances of survival to almost nothing; it was the report that broke the camel’s back!