AL JAZEERA: WE'LL SHOW ANOTHER 9/11 FILM FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000687

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2018
TAGS: PREL KPAO QA
SUBJECT: AL JAZEERA: WE'LL SHOW ANOTHER 9/11 FILM FOR
BALANCE

REF: DOHA 647

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH E. LEBARON, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D
).

Note: This cable includes an action request. Please see
"Next Steps and Action Request" below. End Note.

--------------
(C) KEY POINTS
--------------

-- Al Jazeera aired on its main channel the Italian-produced
documentary "Zero 9/11" in two parts on September 3 and 10,
with an Arabic voice-over produced by Al Jazeera.

-- Contrary to the assurances of Al Jazeera Director General
Wadah Khanfar (reftel),the voice-over did not discredit or
offset in any way the conspiracy theories presented in the
film. The voice-over simply translated into Arabic the
English-language narration.

-- Contacted by PAO about this, Khanfar said, "I actually
agree with you. That is why I have decided to broadcast
another documentary to balance it." Apparently, Khanfar did
not actually see the film before it was broadcast, despite
Embassy's protests about Al Jazeera's plans to broadcast the
"documentary."

-- Khanfar indicated that he had directed his staff to
identify another 9/11 documentary to "balance" the first,
since the first presented conspiracy theories as fact.
Khanfar said he welcomed U.S. government help in identifying
an appropriate documentary.

-- However, Al Jazeera's chief of acquisitions separately
told us he had received no such directive from Khanfar. And
he indicated that he thought another 9/11 documentary showing
was unnecessary. Al Jazeera, he said, had a long history of
presenting the official views on 9/11. That was "enough
balance."

--------------
(C) NEXT STEPS AND ACTION REQUEST
--------------

-- Embassy intends to hold Khanfar to his word.

-- Action Request: Post requests Department's help in
expeditiously identifying appropriate documentaries that
accurately depict the events of 9/11.

-- In his introductory meeting with Al Jazeera Chairman Hamed
bin Thamer al-Thani, Ambassador will also raise the airing of
this documentary as an example of Al Jazeera's unacceptable
practice of presenting two points of view completely separate
from one another in context and time, and claiming this as
journalistic balance.

-- Embassy will follow up and report.

End Key Points and Next Steps.

--------------
ZERO 9/11: ZERO CREDIBILITY
--------------


1. (SBU) The USG's Open Source Centers in Amman and Doha
provided the following summary of the "Zero 9/11"
documentary, an Italian-produced film that aired on Al
Jazeera Arabic in two parts on September 3 and 10 in prime
evening time slots:

-- The film casts doubt on the official U.S. Government
version of the 9/11 events.

-- It hosts people who are considered knowledgeable in their
fields, such as former pilots, physicists, metal experts and
others, who all question the official version of events.

-- They first dispute the official version about the collapse
of the twin towers, saying the reasons
provided could not have been responsible for the collapse.
Several of them speak about the possibility of an implosion
or "controlled demolition."

-- The documentary then disputes the commonly accepted
version of the attack on the Pentagon, saying there was no
evidence a plane hit the Pentagon, as no wreckage was found
and footage from "86 cameras" showed no plane.


DOHA 00000687 002 OF 002


-- Throughout the program, screen captions, often
unattributed, cast doubt on certain aspects of the official
9/11 story. The documentary refers occasionally to official
statements or commonly held versions of events, but provides
them largely for purposes of immediate refutation.

-- Arabic voice-over translation is provided throughout,
which appears to match what the speakers are saying in the
original language. (NOTE: Al Jazeera does not usually
editorialize when providing translations of documentaries
that it did not produce. END NOTE)

-- The press release for the film states: "ZERO: An
investigation into 9/11, has one central thesis that the
official version of the events surrounding the attacks on
9/11 cannot be true." As advertized, the film offers a
constant attack on the results of both government and private
investigations into the 9/11 attacks.


2. (C) Armed with this expert analysis, PAO contacted Al
Jazeera Director General Wadah Khanfar on September 22 and
noted that the Arabic voice-over of the documentary did not
measure up to Khanfar's earlier assurances (reftel) that the
narration, which was produced by Al Jazeera, would discredit
the conspiracy theories put forth in the film. Khanfar
replied, "I have now seen it and I actually agree with you.
That is why I have decided to broadcast another documentary
to balance it."


3. (C) Khanfar continued, "I have asked my acquisitions
people to look around for a documentary that we will air to
balance the views in this one." Asked if Khanfar would be
willing to consider films suggested by the Embassy, he
replied that such assistance would be "most welcome."


4. (C) Separately, PAO contacted Zeidoun al-Badri, Al Jazeera
Documentary channel's chief of acquisitions, and asked if he
had any plans to purchase and air a 9/11 documentary that
accurately portrays the attacks, contrary to what was
represented in "Zero 9/11." Al-Badri replied that he was
aware of no such plans and that, in his view, Al Jazeera had
already presented a "balanced view" on 9/11 in keeping with
the company's motto, "The Opinion and the other Opinion."


5. (C) Every year since 2001, Al-Badri claimed, Al Jazeera
has run documentaries that capture the official version of
events, including from victims' families, eyewitnesses and
government officials. "Zero 9/11" was the first documentary
that Al Jazeera has run presenting only conspiracy theories,
he asserted. Al-Badri noted that his office had "excellent
relationships with American film distributors" and that if
"something new comes out, we would be willing to consider
it." In that vein, like Khanfar, he welcomed Embassy's
suggestions of other 9/11-centered films.
LeBaron