The hashtag (the hashtag) “Cut Al-Duha” witnessed a huge Arab interaction, after activists on social media launched a campaign calling for a boycott of the Egyptian content maker Ahmed Al-Ghandour after his return to YouTube under the account of an Emirati company.
The eighth bulletin, your publication (6/14) (2021), continued the interaction with the Al-Duhayh district label because of his work with the Emirati “New Media Academy” company, which is accused of normalization. On the other hand, others believed that the content of the Al-Duhayh program was scientific and had nothing to do with politics.
The campaign participants indicated that the Emirati New Media Academy funds the Nass Daily program, which is also accused of normalization, which aims to train 80 Arab content creators through the Nass Academy, which includes Israelis among the supervisory and training staff.
For its part, the New Media Academy platform published a statement on its Facebook page in which it said that it had terminated the contract with the Nass Daily Foundation, which has been accused of normalization since last year, adding that there is no relationship between it and the Nass Daily Foundation and that it regrets the campaign launched by some tweeters and some Arab media outlets. To politicize the content in conjunction with the launch of the Al-Duhaih program on its platforms, the company described the campaign as targeting its noble scientific work and to make it part of the political and media polarization processes in the Arab region. According to her.
As for the presenter of the program, Ahmed Al-Ghandour, for his part, he said – in a statement posted on the program’s Facebook page – that his position on the Palestinian issue is clear and announced, and criminality against the Palestinian people has exceeded all imagination, and Al-Ghandour stressed that the New Media platform producing his program is basically an educational platform, and has nothing to do with it. Banas Daily accused of normalization. They had a partnership to teach a summer course, and the relationship ended completely last year.
Al-Ghandour stressed that the content of the Al-Duhayh program will not change, and will not change with time to anything else. And it will not be a media mouthpiece for any party, as he put it.
And between supporters and opponents of the campaign calling for a boycott of the Al-Duha program, the pioneers of Arab communication platforms were divided, as the tweeter Hassan Obeidat said, “Assuming that the New Media Academy with whom Al Duhaih worked is not supported by Nas Daily, it is not easy for the content maker to be supported by the Emirati.”
On the other hand, activist Karim Atef said, “It is Ghandour’s habit that he does not directly respond to the accusations. I remember when people accused him of atheism. He took down his picture in the Great Mosque of Mecca and silenced all the tongues that insulted him. He broke this rule and responded directly to the accusation. Complete, my dear Al-Dahih.
And the tweeter Muhammad said, “The only advantage of the campaign that came out on the ground is that it is the first experience of youth awareness after the events in Gaza and Sheikh Jarrah – which is still going on until now – and the results were good, other than that, the campaign of his Zionists from yesterday, this is a mistake. It has nothing to do with them, but it has not reached this point.”
As for Muhammad Metwally, he tweeted, “We returned to me, this is scientific content that does not call for politics.” Well, sir, if you were offered funding from a Zionist channel *, that you present the Al-Daheeh program with the same content, would you accept and say then that my position is clear and the content is fixed? The same thing is said here on New Media, that it is suspicious, so don’t lose your audience and see another platform.”