Nationality Syrian, British Name Faisal al-Qassem Role Television personality | Years active 1994–present Siblings Majd El Qassem | |
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Sheikh Faisal Al Qassemi at World Travel Awards
Faisal Al-Qassim (born January 1, 1961), also written as Faisal Al-Kassim (Arabic:فيصل القاسم ) is a British-Syrian veteran and television personality based in Qatar, who is known for hosting the controversial live debate show The Opposite Direction (Arabic:الاتجاه المعاكس ) on Al Jazeera, where two guests with extremely opposed view points debate on current affairs. Fights break out on some occasions.
Contents
- Sheikh Faisal Al Qassemi at World Travel Awards
- Early life
- Work in Media
- The Opposite Direction
- Publications
- Views criticisms
- References
Al-Qassim is known for his provocative on-screen style and is frequently credited with playing a large part in Al Jazeera's reputation in the Arab world as willing to break taboos and potentially offend individuals and states. He was listed by Arabian Business Magazine as one of the top most influential Arab personalities for the year 2007, ranked as 64th.
Al-Qassim is married to a Syrian woman who comes from the same village, and has 3 children, a girl, Siba, and two boys, Asil and Adam. Outside his work in media, Al-Qassim enjoys a range of interests and pastimes including internet surfing, shopping, and listening to music.
In 2001 Al-Qassim was asked about his faith and he answered that he is druze.
Early life
Faisal Al-Qassim was born in 1961 in the village of Thaala, Al-Suwayda Governorate, Syria. He is from the Druze religious minority in Syria. He graduated in 1983 from the University of Damascus with a degree in English Literature, and later received his PhD from the University of Hull in 1990. At Hull, he Initially studied drama, later moving on to television.
As a child born into a poor family, Al-Qassim had to work various jobs including metalwork, harvesting, street cleaning, electrical work, and more tedious tasks. Since then, he dreamt of leaving that world to work in something that would allow him to have a public presence and voice. He had a very strong interest in radio and television, and used to go to the city to watch television through windows of various houses. He once got caught doing so by a homeowner who accused him of being a thief. After hearing his story, however, he allowed him to enter the house and watch television with the family. Al Qassim's family were able to buy a black and white television set of their own after electricity was introduced to his village. Al-Qassim originally aspired to become a weather report presenter on television.
Work in Media
Before joining Al Jazeera, Al-Qassem worked for the BBC Arabic Radio and TV for over eight years as producer and anchor of political and cultural programs.
The Opposite Direction
"The Opposite Direction" is regarded as probably the most controversial talk show in the history of Arab television. It is also one of the most popular, and has drawn official protest and complaints from officials. It is similar to CNN's Crossfire, and is a political debate show that features guests who hold opposing opinions and debate a controversial topic. Hugh Miles writes in his book on Al-Jazeera "the show has been the source of numerous international disputes and instigated the severance of diplomatic relations with several neighboring countries." Dr. Faisal Al-Qassem prepares the show himself, researching, writing, and presenting it single-handedly. Through it, he has become one of the most famous faces in the Arab World. Al-Qassem's program has led to diplomatic crises between the state of Qatar, where Al Jazeera is based, and several Arab countries, five of which withdrew their ambassadors from Doha in protest over the program. Faisal Al-Qassem has stated that his mission is to liberate the Arab World from dictatorship, despots, and traditions. He believes that Al-Jazeera and his show have been successful in doing that.
Publications
Al-Qassem has published the following book titles in Arabic:
Views & criticisms
Al-Qassem has been viewed in many cases as a big supporter of the 2011 Arab revolutions, by fueling them and spreading awareness through his show "The Opposite Direction". His colleague and friend, Yahya Abo-Zakariya, describes the introductory scenes of the show presented by Al-Qassem as more like revolution statements, backed up with dramatic music effects that made them sound very powerful. The show became a fuel to the revolutions, and has allowed the accumulation of awareness on revolt and public awakening which in turn played a part in creating a situation of Arab revolt against the current situation.
Nonetheless, Al-Qassem has been widely criticized by various people for different reasons. He has been criticized for his selection of guests, such as for the episode on the alleged terrorist armed gangs of Syria, where he hosted a military personality to debate with a Lebanese author, where the military personality was viewed as incompetent and unappropriate for such a debate. In addition, a Syrian blogger has criticized and attacked him, describing him as sectarian due to his selection of pro-government guests only from the Christian sect to debate with opposition figures mainly from the Muslim-Sunni sect, accusing him of trying to give the revolution a sectarian appearance.
Also, Al-Qassem's statements that described the Yemeni people as drunks due to their high percentage of qat drug addiction raised a huge amount of criticism on him and his show among Yemenis. Some have even demanded a public apology from him for insulting the Yemeni people.