중동언론 “미국·이스라엘·사우디의 IS 지원, 부메랑돼 돌아온다”

* ‘아시아엔’ 연수 외국기자가 작성한 기사의 한글요약본과 원문을 함께 게재합니다.

[아시아엔=라드와 아시라프 기자·번역 최정아 기자]?수니파 이슬람 무장단체 이슬람국가(IS)가 시리아, 이라크를 넘어 세계 곳곳에 테러를 벌이며 국제사회를 공포에 몰아넣고?있다. 터키 앙카라, 레바논 베이루트, 러시아 여객기, 파리 테러까지 지난 한 달여간 IS가 벌인 것으로 추정되는 테러만 최소 4건이다. 이 중 서방 언론들이 가장 주목하는 테러는 바로 ‘파리’인 듯하다. 이전 사건들과는 달리, 서방에선 파리 참사 관련 IS의 기사가 연일 쏟아지고 있다.

파리 테러참사 발생 하루 전날인 12일(현지시간), 레바논 수도 베이루트에선 연쇄폭탄 테러가 발생했다. 서방 언론들은 IS가 불과 하루 간격으로 연이은 테러를 계획했다는 사실을 중점적으로 보도했다. 하지만 중동 언론들의 보도는 달랐다. 중동 매체 사이에선 “누군가가 IS에 재정·군사적 지원을 하고 있다”며 “이는 IS가 테러를 계속 감행할 수 있는 주 원인이다”라고 강조했다.

베이루트 테러 다음날, 파리에서 테러참사가 일어났다. 서방, 중동 등 모든 세계 언론들이 일제히 파리 테러를 보도했다. 특히 서방 언론들은 IS가 처음 테러를 벌였다는 듯이, 유독 파리 테러의 희생자들을 위로했다. 레바논 베이루트의 희생자들은 이미 잊혀진 듯 했다. 온라인에선 과거 테러 참사때는 볼 수 없었던 장면들이 보이기 시작했다. SNS 상에서 파리 희생자들을 향한 전세계적인 추모 행렬이 이어졌으며, 트위터, 페이스북, 인스타그램 등을 타고 ‘Pray for Paris’(파리를 위해 기도하자)란 문구가 유행처럼 번졌다.

한편 다수의 중동 국가들은 IS 배후에 미국·이스라엘·사우디아라비아가 있다고 주장하고 있다. 이 3개국이 중동 정세를 불안하게 만들기 위해 IS를 재정·군사적으로 지원하고 있다는 것이다. 또한 일각에선 IS의 지도자 알 바흐다디가 이스라엘 비밀정보기관 모사드(Mossad)의 요원이라는 주장도 펼치고 있다. ‘IS와 이스라엘 모사드의 관계’는 에드워드 스노든이 폭로한 NSA 문서에도 명시돼 있다.

특히 튀니지, 이집트, 팔레스타인, 요르단, 레바논 언론들은 IS와 미국과의 밀월관계를 주요 이슈로 다뤄왔다. 이집트 유력언론 <알 아흐람>도 “미국과 터키의 지원 덕분에 IS가 무기를 밀수하고 있다”는 내용의 보도를 한 바있다. 중동 언론에 따르면 서방국가들이 IS가 밀수한 군수물자를 이용해 중동의 정세를 어지럽히는 것을 묵인해 왔다고 한다. 또한 <알 아흐람>의 이브라힘 알 바히 기자는 “서방은 중동을 불안정하게 만들기 위해 IS를 지원하고 있다”며 “하지만 서방국들은 다음 타깃이 자신일 것이라고 생각하지 못했다. 서방을 향한 IS의 테러는 더욱 잦아질 것이다”라고 밝혔다.

ISIS between conspiracy and media coverage

Now, in 2015 ISIS have managed to spread outside their territory of Iraq and Syria and the Middle East, terrorizing and attacking other countries in other continents, and between conspiracy theories and the difference in reporting their activities in Western and Middle Eastern news outlets, the image of ISIS differs from one recipient to another.

Some news commentators?and?international newspaper columnists have advocated a strong but measured response to ISIS’s recent provocative acts. Writing for The Guardian, Pankaj Mishra rejects that the group is a resurgence of medieval Islam and rather expresses that, “In actuality, ISIS?is the canniest of all traders in the flourishing international economy of disaffection: the most resourceful among all those who offer the security of collective identity to isolated and fearful individuals. It promises, along with others who retail racial, national and religious supremacy, to release the anxiety and frustrations of the private life into the violence of the global.”

The western media tend to focus its spotlight on ISIS attacks related to Europe or the US, as they seem to see any ISIS attack taking place in the Middle East as something taken for granted. We can see the difference in coverage in the recent Paris and Beirut attacks, which happened back to back, both at the hands of ISIS.

On Thursday 12th November a double bombing rocked Beirut leaving behind over 200 injured and dozens killed, the news coverage whether in Middle Eastern or Western media outlets was fleeting, lasting only a day in focus, despite the fact that ISIS came forward with their responsibility for the attack. Before that bombings in Iraq and Syria were perceived?as everyday news ?especially in Western websites and their international outlets. While in Middle Eastern news websites, the situation didn’t change much as they tend to focus on conspiracy theories related to ISIS more than the actual events.

The next day, Friday 13th came the Paris attacks which left behind over 200 injured and over a 100 killed, and the news coverage was tremendous, whether in Eastern or Middle Eastern news outlets. The world sympathized like they never did before with any ISIS attack, and western media outlets are still reporting on it’s consequences even four?days after, the world’s population is sympathizing, and Lebanon grievers already feel forgotten. As the social media starts promoting “Pray for Paris” hashtags, countries like Syria, Lebanon and Iraq feel the prejudice against them.

But the attacks outcome isn’t the only aspect of ISIS that’s heavily reported.?Conspiracy theorists in the Arab world have advanced rumors that the U.S. is secretly behind the existence and emboldening of ISIS, as part of an attempt to further destabilize the Middle East. After such rumors became widespread, the U.S. issued an official statement denying the allegations, calling them a complete fabrication. The rumors claim that ISIS?leader al-Baghdadi is an Israeli Mossad agent and actor called Simon Elliot and that NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveal this connection. Snowden’s lawyer has called the story “a hoax.”

According to The New York Times, many in the Middle East believe that an alliance of the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia is directly responsible for the creation of ISIS. Egyptian, Tunisian, Palestinian, Jordanian and Lebanese news organisations have reported on the conspiracy theory heavily over the year. But this theory haven’t found its place in Western media outlets as it seems that only Middle Eastern ones are focused on relating ISIS to the US.

An?example from the Middle East are the heavy reports in Egyptian newspapers such as Al-Ahram, Egypt’s official newspaper.?Where there has been a couple of extensive reports on the funding of ISIS. Al-Ahram focused on how ISIS managed to get it’s weaponry thanks to the US and Turkey. That’s a theory that a lot of local newspapers in Egypt and that region like to advocate.??

One of the writers for Al-Ahram newspaper, Ibrahim Al-Bahy, published a report speculating the relations between ISIS and Wstern countries, he says, “Western countries have tolerated with ISIS attacks on the Middle East and participating until they came to reap what they sow. The Western countries had a pivotal role in sponsoring ISIS never thinking that it would attack them next, maybe that’s why their attacks on ISIS bases became to be more frequent now that they turned on them.” Another Egyptian newspaper is Al-Watan, and it was among the first media outlets to put forward the claim that ISIS had a role in the Russian plane bombing, even before Western media made public claims.