As a colonizer, the Dutch were well aware of the meaning of mass media power. In 1712, a newspaper was planned to be published in the Dutch East Indies. Its contents only concern domestic news, ship news, and the like. Worried about the impact of the newspaper on the smooth running of the VOC's business, the Dutch government - which at that time was represented by the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) - banned the plan to publish the newspaper.
In 1744, the weekly Bataviase Nouvelles received permission to publish from the "liberal" government of Governor General Gustaaf Willem Baron von Imhoff. However only two years old. The VOC directors in the Netherlands saw the publication of the weekly as dangerous, and immediately asked the Governor-General to close it down. The VOC was very sensitive to the dangers of the press to its power. The press was seen more as a threat to the colonial seat of power. Not surprisingly, in 1671, the Governor of Virginia Sir William Berkeley expressed his gratitude to God, because his territory was free from printing activities. (Smith, 1986: 1)
Silencing of the press was also an important factor in preserving the power of the New Order. The press is controlled by the government, so it is not wild and endangers government power. All parties agree that the press is a powerful power capable of shaking a regime.
Theodore Herzl, a political Zionist figure, is one of those who really understands the potential of the press to support the Zionist mission: establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. Understandably, before becoming a Zionist, Herzl was a journalist in Vienna. The success story of Herzl in formulating the Zionism movement, according to Shlomo Avineri in his book The Making of Modern Zionism (1981), is his ability to master the most important weapons of the 20th century, namely the mass media, lobbying and public relations.
The power of opinion is also used by the Zionists to preserve their power in Palestine and in the US, until now. Studies in 1992 ranked Israel as one of the 10 countries with the largest foreign press crew in the world. There are 270 news organizations that have permanent representation in Israel.
Israel is one of the countries with the highest readership of newspapers and books in the world. A survey conducted in 1994, showed that the number of Israelis who read newspapers (daily) exceeded 100 percent - because there are a number of Israeli citizens who read more than one newspaper. The largest daily in Yediot Aharonot, for example, is read daily by 52.2 percent of Israelis. The second largest daily, Maariv, is read daily by 21.1 percent of Israel's population.
The US, as a superpower, is also very aware of the meaning of the power of the press. Before invading Afghanistan, October 7, 2001, the US had formed a propaganda radio called Free Afghan. The US also got confused in facing the little Al-Jazeera, when dealing with the Taliban. In fact, the US has the giant TV network CNN, Fox, and so on. To stem the influence of Al Jazeera, Bush agreed to spend 500 million USD to build TV stations in the Middle East. Since the US image remains bad in the eyes of the majority of the Muslim population, recently, the Pentagon also established a special propaganda unit, known as the "OSI" (Office of Strategic Influence). Its job is to carry out disinformation.
Through the power of the mass media - national and international - the Western colonialists maintained their power hegemony over the colonies. They not only master information technology and networks, but also prepare figures who fill the mass media. The brainwashing process is carried out through various fields of education, formal, or informal. Now, it is difficult to find large universities in the West that do not have a Department of Islamic Studies. It was these graduates of Islamic Studies in the West who became the resource persons for religious thought in "colonial countries".
The impact was tremendous. Now, it is not easy to find leaders of Islamic organizations who persistently defend the idea that Islam is a kaffah, "organic religiopolitical" system, which combines aqidah and sharia. The reduction of Islamic teachings took place enormously through the terms "fundamentalist", "terrorist", "radical", "militant", "hardline" and so on. Physical occupation may pass. However, information colonization continues. Second by second. Minute by minute. Hour after hour. Year after year.
Long before Alfin Toffler stated that "information" is "the highest quality of power", the Koran (S. 49: 6) warned Muslims not to mess with information. Be careful with receiving information. Do not be easy to believe, if those who bring the news are the wicked, that is, people whose news is very doubtful.
This is war! Information war. War in the true sense. This war goes on all the time. Are we aware? Hopefully! It is through the information that is now rushing into the corners of our homes that we are being colonized! Then there is no other choice: fight! •
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