ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER 7 December 2013 3 Safar 1435 - Volume 18 Number 5906 Price: QR2 ON SATURDAY Time readers pick Sisi as person of the year LONDON: Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah El Sisi has pulled ahead of pop star Miley Cyrus to claim the top spot in Time magazine’s annual reader poll for person of the year, in a vote that saw accusations of hacking for the second year in a row. Time announced the results yesterday, reveal- ing that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came in second with 20.8 percent of the votes. He came in just above Cyrus, who had 16.3 percent of the vote. The vote comes ahead of the magazine editors’ per- son of the year announcement next week. To reach the top spot, Sisi collected 26.2 percent of the votes. He was elected deputy prime minister after helping oust Mohammed Mursi, one of four runners-up in the editors’ competition last year. More than 1.9 million people voted using a Twitter hashtag and using an online poll. THE GUARDIAN Europe winter storm claims nine lives BERLIN: Icy winter storms with hurri- cane-force winds yesterday lashed north- ern Europe, where the death toll rose to nine while hundreds of thousands were left without power or stranded by trans- port chaos. Emergency services across the region battled to evacuate flooded harbour areas, sandbag sodden dykes and repair damage from toppled trees that crashed onto houses, roads, train tracks and power lines. See also page 9 Jordan elected to UN Council UNITED NATIONS: Jordan was yes- terday elected to a two-year term on the UN Security Council, taking the seat that Saudi Arabia won and then rejected in a protest over Syria’s civil war. Jordan, which will take up the seat on January 1, won 178 votes from among the 193 mem- NELSON MANDELA bers of the UN General Assembly and was the only candidate put forward for the 1918-2013 vacant post. India endorses draft WTO deal NUSA DUA: India yesterday approved the draft of a multilateral trade reforms package, clearing the way for the first global trade deal in almost two decades. “We are more than happy. It is a great Adieu, Madiba day. It is a historic day,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said after four days of marathon and intensive negotiations among ministers here. “It is Real leaders must be ready a victory for the WTO and for the global community to have arrived at a mature decision,” he said. The draft agreement is to sacrifice all for the a significant victory for India whose pro- gramme of stocking subsidised food grain to ensure cheaper food for its people was freedom of their people. considered to have blocked the progress of negotiations. See also page 14 AGENCIES www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 DECEMBER 7, 2013 ON SATURDAY 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Home Icon’s death lost in region’s strife Arab media fails to pay due tribute to anti-apartheid hero DOHA: Mainstream Arab news chan- On Al Arabiya, the other prominent nels downplayed Nelson Mandela’s Emir sends condolences channel of the Arab world, not much death as their counterparts elsewhere on Mandela’s death attention was paid to Mandela’s death. in the world devoted considerable time In its news bulletins the TV station slot- A supporter of the to its coverage and flashed it as the top DOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh ted the news of the great leader’s death news of the day. Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent a almost at the end. Popular Arab TV stations, on the con- cable of condolences to South African The channel kept airing video clippings trary, continued to focus on bombings in President Jacob Zuma on the demise sent out by readers showing funerals of Palestinian cause Yemen, sectarian violence in parts of the of African leader and former South Shia fighters and anti-Sunni sloganeer- Arab world, and the political situation in African president Nelson Mandela. ing at these processions in a provocative Egypt. The Prime Minister and Interior way. DOHA: Nelson Mandela, an ardent supporter of the Al Jazeera Arabic almost downplayed Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Contacted for comment, journalist and Palestinian cause, had strong ties with Arab leaders. the great leader’s demise in its news slots, Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani also writer Dr Ahmed Abdul Malik said he During his term in jail under South Africa’s apartheid regime, giving it routine coverage much after sent a cable of condolences to Zuma. was surprised. “Sadly, the current gen- the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Yasser Arafat, main news items on Yemen and Egypt. QNA eration of Arabs knows nothing about hailed him as a fighter of the liberation movement. Its English-language version, however, Mandela because the Arab media do not Mandela was an admirer of the political reforms of the late was quick to air a special programme as pay much attention to such international Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, whom he met after the part of Al Jazeera Magazine devoted to a long-winding debate featuring experts stories.” February 1962 Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central the departed leader. and analysts. The Arab media instead continued to and Southern Africa meeting. The programme was titled ‘Nelson Attempts to contact Al Jazeera devote time to their regular entertain- Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi provided political and material sup- Mandela (1918-2013), a special issue’. Network’s spokesman for comment on ment shows, he said. “Mandela was such port to Mandela and the African National Congress. Al Jazeera Arabic devoted much time the issue failed as he didn’t respond to a lofty historical figure and his sacrifices Mandela, hailed as a champion of the Middle East peace proc- to the bombings in Yemen and carried calls from this newspaper. and principles are of great value to the ess, in turn, spoke strongly against the Israeli occupation of entire world.” Palestinian territories after the 1967 Six Day War. Prominent newspaper columnist Faisal But analysts believe that many in the current generation of Al Marzouqi also said the Arab media’s Arabs are not aware of Mandela’s efforts. Outpouring of grief on social media treatment of the great leader’s death was “I understand completely well why Israel occupies these lands. a surprise to him. There was a war. But if there is going to be peace, there must be DOHA: While the Arab media disappointed its audiences with poor coverage of “He wasn’t an iconic figure in South complete withdrawal from all these areas,” Mandela said during Nelson Mandela’s death, people in the Arab world poured out their hearts and Africa alone. He was an international fig- his presidency. showered immense praise on the departed soul. ure with hardly any parallel in contempo- Mandela’s message of peace crossed ethnic as well as religious The new and emerging social media in the Arab world proved once again that it rary history,” said Al Marzouqi. boundaries. During an address at the Oxford Centre for Islamic is mightier than its traditional counterpart. He said it was an irony that the Studies, Mandela said: “Islam has enriched and become part of A pan-Arab campaign on Twitter titled ‘#Mandela’ was launched yesterday to pay Western media, owned and run by those Africa. In turn, Islam was transformed and Africa became a part tribute to the departed leader. The participants came from countries across the Arab who were the staunchest supporters of of it. African centres of learning served not only as a path for the world, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Libya and Iraq, among others. apartheid, had devoted so much time to absorption of the doctrine of Islam, but also contributed to the A highlight was participation by Waddah Khanfar, the former boss of Al Jazeera. the death of a man who fought the racist development of broader Islamic learning.” He recalled that when an Israeli religious leader called on Mandela once and com- policy tooth and nail and ended it. It comes as no surprise, then, that Palestinian leader Mahmoud plained why he had invited Yasser Arafat, Mandela replied: “We are not going to “I really don’t know why they down- Abbas was the first Arab leader to issue a statement on Mandela’s allow the enemies of yesterday to do what to do with yesterday’s friends”. played the sad event,” he said. “The death yesterday. Paying tribute to Mandela in her own way, a woman participant, Fida Fehaid, said Western media are still supporting the “Mr Mandela was a symbol of liberation from colonialism and cowards die many times in their lives but brave people like Mandela die only once. Israeli version of apartheid.” occupation,” Abbas said in a tribute to Mandela’s commitment Someone from Benghazi, Libya, said in the Twitter campaign: “The values good An analyst who didn’t want his name in to the people of Palestine. people stand for are appreciated after they are no more”. print said that coincidentally, the South He added: “The Palestinian people will never forget his his- Ahmed Masood recalled Mandela’s famous quote: “We know that our freedom is African regime adopted the discrimina- toric statement that the South African revolution will not have not complete unless the Palestinians are free”. tory policy of apartheid in 1948, the year achieved its goals as long as the Palestinians are not free.” Celebrated intellectual Anas Al Tikriti, a British citizen of Iraqi origin, said about Israel came into being.