Al-Jazeera shifts positions on ongoing war in Yemen

Cooperation between Qatar and the Iran-backed Houthi militia deepened the crisis between Doha, on one hand, and Saudi Arabia; the United Arab Emirates; Egypt, and Bahrain, on the other.

The four states took the decision to cut off diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar almost two years ago.

Qatar has been a strong backer of extremist and outlawed movements in almost all Arab countries.

The news channel, al-Jazeera, has been at the heart of this political conflict.

Nonetheless, it is noticeable that the way the channel covered the crisis in Yemen before June 5, 2017, the day when Arab states severed their relations with Qatar, is totally different from the way the channel covered the same crisis after that day.

Before June 5, 2017, the channel supported the view of Saudi Arabia-led alliance in Yemen, of which Qatar was a member since day 1. The channel used to say that intervention by the alliance in Yemen aimed first and foremost to protect constitutional legitimacy.

A large number of the reports of the channel propagated this point of view, including a report that was aired on January 20, 2015. Another report that was broadcast on May 8, 2015, described the Houthis as an "Iran-backed group".

The channel also focused on the desire of the Houthi militia to turn the Houthi tomb into a site for visits by ordinary Yemenis. The tombstone was given an Iranian design.

In a third report that was broadcast on September 21, 2016, al-Jazeera described the entry of the Houti militia into Yemeni capital Sana'a as a "domestic invasion".  It said the Yemeni militia wanted to copy the experience of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah in Yemen. It said the actions of the Houthi militia in Yemen amounted to a "military coup".

Al-Jazeera also belied Houthi propaganda about economic conditions in Yemen. It said Houthi complaints that the price of fuel in Yemen had risen were used to justify the actions of the militia and its control of power in Yemen.

The channel also showed scenes of the destruction the Houthis wrought on Yemeni cities. It especially focused on the too many arms used by Houthi fighters in order to drive the point home about Houthi violence and brutality.

Malicious goals  

By doing this, al-Jazeera wanted to win public support for the operations of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. It threw special on the brutality of the Houthi militia, the conspiratorial nature of the Ali Abdullah Saleh troops which were allied to the militia and also Iranian interference in Yemeni affairs.

This changed, however, dramatically after the member states in what came to be known as the "Anti-Terrorism Quartet" severed their ties with Qatar. Soon after this boycott, Qatar turned into an enemy of the member states of the quartet and an ally of Iran and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Al-Jazeera is strongly present in this shift too. The Qatari government used the channel to settle its scores with the countries that boycotted it. Yemen is also present in this new change of positions.

The channel changed its editorial policy in order to suit the change of heart in Doha. This caused a totally different coverage of the crisis in Yemen.

Al-Jazeera then started covering the crisis in Yemen in a totally new light, one in which Qatar shows its opposition to the Saudi-led alliance. The channel blames the alliance for all the problems that happen in Yemen, the crises that befall the Yemeni people.

Al-Jazeera tends to adopt the point of view of the Houthi militia, working tooth and nail to show that the militia emerges victorious in all battles against the Saudi-led coalition.

It ran a huge number of reports to accentuate this point of view. It broadcast one of these reports on March 26, 2018, in which it said the operations of the alliance had proved a total failure and that the Houthi militia is still very strong in Yemen.