Wadah Khanfar
Wadah Khanfar | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Palestinian |
Occupation | President of Al Sharq Forum |
Website | WadahKhanfar.com |
Wadah Khanfar (
Early years and education
Wadah was born in the Palestinian town of
Journalism
Africa
When Al Jazeera was established in 1996, Khanfar was a graduate student in International Politics and African Studies in South Africa, and a researcher and consultant in Middle Eastern economics and political affairs. He was asked by the channel to provide an analysis on African affairs, which led to him becoming a correspondent in South Africa until 2001.[8][12] At a conference in Pretoria on 27–29 August 2012, Khanfar said that he had learned about both political struggle and reconciliation during his years in South Africa.[13]
Afghanistan
In 2001 and 2002, Khanfar reported on Afghanistan from New Delhi. Al Jazeera was unable to get its own correspondent back into the northern territories controlled by the Northern Alliance on the eve of the war, so New Delhi was used, India having a strong Northern Alliance diplomatic presence. As the Taliban regime was collapsing, Al Jazeera's presence in Kabul was threatened by problems including US fire,[14][15] and concerns from journalists and diplomats that the then bureau chief and correspondent, Tayseer Allouni had become compromised as a partisan of the Taliban cause. Khanfar was brought in to replace Allouni as Kabul bureau chief and restored working relations with the new authorities.[14]
Iraq
During the
At this time the channel was widely perceived as playing to popular pro-Baathist and anti-Coalition Arab sentiment, despite being represented at the Coalition's Central Headquarters and having an Al Jazeera correspondent embedded within coalition forces.[12][14] The then US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and then Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz publicly criticized Al Jazeera, Rumsfeld calling the channel's reporting "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable...",[18] while Wolfowitz claimed the station was "inciting violence" and "endangering the lives of American troops" in Iraq.[19]
This public criticism came amid attacks on Al Jazeera from US forces, including the shelling of a hotel in
Al Jazeera executive
Khanfar became Managing Director of the Al Jazeera Channel in 2003 and Director General of the Al Jazeera Network in 2006. He spoke at the 2011 TED Conference on the ongoing Arab Spring.[23] On 20 September 2011, Khanfar announced on his official Twitter page that he was 'moving on' from Al Jazeera after leading the channel for 8 years.[citation needed]
WikiLeaks
In September 2011, the non-profit
Resignation
In September 2011, Khanfar announced to his staff and publicly on the micro-blogging platform Twitter that he would be resigning. In an emotional farewell to Al Jazeera staff he cites that the decision had been in his mind for sometime and that the target of establishing Al Jazeera as a global media leader has been met. This is also the theme of an interview broadcast on Al Jazeera where he addresses and refutes suggestions that Wikileaks and pressure from USA may have influenced his resignation.[25] He is succeeded by Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani.
Criticism
Wadah Khanfar was accused by some of a pro-
During the
Al Udeid Air Base served as a logistics hub for U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Membership and activities
Khanfar has the following memberships; member of International Crisis Group's Board of Trustees, member of the World Economic Forum's (DAVOS) Global Agenda Council on Geopolitical Risk 2012,[28] board member of the Global Editors Network:empower editors-in-chief and senior news executives from around the world looking for the preservation of editorial quality when working with publishers, media owners and news suppliers.[29]
Khanfar spoke at the 2011
First visit to the United States
In July 2009, Khanfar was invited to the United States by leading political and media think tanks including the
References
- ^ "The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers". Foreign Policy. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Most creative people 2011: Wadah Khanfar". Fast Company. 18 May 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "#54 Wadah Khanfar". Forbes. 11 November 2009.
- ^ "Forum announces Young Global Leaders for 2008". Geneva: World Economic Forum. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Al Jazeera director general steps down". Al Jazeera. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ Black, Ian (20 September 2011). "Al-Jazeera boss Wadah Khanfar steps down to be replaced by Qatari royal". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "The world's 50 most influential Arabs". The Free Library. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Al Jazeera Chief Wadah Khanfar on Obama's Expansion of the Afghan War, US Policy in the Middle East and the Role of Independent Voices in the Media". Democracy Now. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "At Jazeera~ we stand by the truth". The Peninsula Qatar. 1 November 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ a b Bhoyrul, Anil (12 October 2007). "Wadah Khanfar: Wadah's world". Arabian Business. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ a b "GCC's Most Admired Executives-Wadah Khanfar". Arabian Business. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Interview With Wadah Khanfar, Director General, Al Jazeera". PBS. 1 November 1996. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Conference on the MENA Uprisings". 27 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d "TBS 11: Arab Gulf, Arab Satellites". TBS Journal. Fall 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Transcript of "Al Jazeera Now"". On The Media. 26 March 2010. Archived from the original on 15 December 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Wadah Khanfar, Director General of Al Jazeera, to Deliver 2010 Symposium Keynote Address". Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) – Georgetown University. 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Wadah Khanfar named as the network's manager". Sign on San Diego. 29 October 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ Scahill, Jeremy (1 December 2005). "The War on Al Jazeera". The Nation. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
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(help) - ^ a b c d "Robert Fisk:Al-Jazeera Accuses US of Harassment in Row Over "Bias"". Information Clearing House. 30 July 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ Jason Deans (2 April 2003). "Al-Jazeera's Basra hotel bombed". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ Jonathan Steele in Amman (9 April 2003). "Tareq Ayyoub". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Independent Iraq news". Baghdad Bulletin. 31 August 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ TED.com (2011). Wadah Khanfar: A historic moment in the Arab world. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
- ^ After Disclosures by WikiLeaks, Al Jazeera Replaces Its Top News Director, The New York Times, 20 September 2011
- ^ "Al Jazeera's Khanfar on why he stepped down". Al Jazeera. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ a b c Ferjani, Riadh, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Volume 3, Number 1, 2010, pp. 82-100(19). p. 89
- ^ Culture wars: the Arabic music video controversy", American Univ in Cairo Press, 2005, (p. 126)
- ^ "Global Agenda Council on Geopolitical Risk 2012". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Board Members". Global Editors Network. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ Wadah Khanfar: A historic moment in the Arab world, TED, retrieved 7 December 2012