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| The Mass Media Persecution |
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| Wednesday, 03 May 2006 | |
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I was quite pleased to come across this story. At a time when every media item about Muslims seems to be negative. It is a story about a Jewish Rabbi who was surprised that Muslims were just as hospitable and generous as any person. He was brought up without any contact with Muslims so it isn’t surprising that he had some preconceived ideas about Muslims. Whilst this story is a breath of fresh air the fact of the matter is ignorance is rife across a whole spectrum of people who have had been brought up without much real contact with Muslims and only get their knowledge about Muslims from the media. Surprisingly I also found another article by a Jewish rabbi talking about similar matters. The impact of the media whether in the form of television or the printed press is huge when it comes to opinion forming and the propagandists will use it to condition the thinking of those exposed to it in a way that suits their agenda. Stigmatisation of Muslims can be compared to the persecution of Jews by the Nazis in many ways. The Jews were demonised in the media just as Muslims are today and this extended to racist cartoons and propaganda. Hatred was built to nurture an air of superiority for the persecutors and the persecuted were looked down on as worthless, inferior, evil beings that deserved to be treated with disrespects and hostility. Such blatant discrimination is happening everywhere especially in Europe and in America. The reason and agenda behind this negative portrayal nothing more than a politically motivated drive to undermine the opposition to the illegal and bloody wars waged against Muslim nations. When you demonise a group of people and make them look evil you seed a kind of justification for violence and illegal persecution against them in the minds of the general public. This gives rise to ill informed opinion and in turn creates an atmosphere of hostility and dangerous friction. This article explaining the phenomenon goes into more detail. At MPACUK we urge Muslims to counter the negative image portrayed by the media by participating in the system to educate people on what Muslims are really like. You will find, like both the rabbis above mentioned, many people will be pleasantly surprised when they realise the real situation and when they get a chance to interact and socialise with Muslims. As well as active participation and interaction with the media we need to show by example to non-Muslims that we are just like anyone else and are not “out to get them”. To this end we need to be more open and forthcoming in our attitude to give people a chance to learn from experience rather than from the biased and sensationalist media. Readers have left 5 comments.
S. Benari:
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What is especially sad about this article is the unmentioned element that many people claiming to be Muslims espouse views shared by the Nazis and using the MPACUK site and others to propogate those views. Even more sad is the lack of challenge from MPACUK to those fascists.
We can never find peace with ourselves or our neighbours until we eradicate this fascist racist sectarian paranoid hatered within ourselves.
(1)
2006-05-11 11:40:46
Look into your own society:
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I find it amazing that S.Benari has the decency to spour her hatred, have you not seen the hatred within your own Jewish Community.
Eradicate islamophobia within your own community and then ask others!!
(2)
2006-05-11 14:03:09
SirB:
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Muslims showed hospitality to the Jews and saved them from the Inquasitions and allowed them into the Ottoman Khalifah.
Unfortunately Muslims were too hospitable and the 'guests' ended up destroying the state from within thanks to the likes of Jewish Atajerk and his Domneh friends. Maybe the next Khalifah may not be so hospitable when the Europeans eventually drive out the Jews from Europe once again for corrupting their sons and daughters, and destroying their economies. Think about that Rabbi.
(3)
2006-05-11 14:36:45
Amin:
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Well maybe Benari might want to complain about the Zionofacists who also comment on this site? Or is it just those who support Palestine who deserve this title.
(4)
2006-05-11 14:47:59
S. Benari:
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Amin,
I condemn all fascists and oppressors, and I stand for a society in which all peoples are equally protected. I am honest enough to acknowledge that some people who call them Muslims and some people who call themselves Zionists are fascists. I also am honest enough to know that there are people, the majority, on both sides who are not. I am however deeply worried about the extent to which extremist fascist ideologies have infected the Muslim communities, and that there has been little or no significant challenge to this. I have seen publications available at Mosques and Islamic bookshops which are little more than direct translations of Nazi publications. Some of these are given out to impressionable children. If MPACUK seeks to defeat Zionism it will not be through fantasy and self-deception. Neither will it be through hypocrisy. There are many bad things about Israel and Zionism, but they are not universally bad. Do not forget that from 1967 until the 1990's the Palestinians enjoyed access to a judiciary which had a structured appellant system. Palestinian HR lawyers used the Israel courts to good effect. Under the PNA no such system exists, and extra-judicial murders are common place. The West Bank universities were all built during the Zionist occupation, as were sewerage and water supply systems. From 1967 the Israelis let the inhabitants of the West Bank, Gaza and Sinai have access to their hospitals and national health system. Do not forget that the Jordanians and Egyptians let the Palestinians live in absolute squalor between 1948 and 1967. A Palestinian or any Arab can safely walk the streets of Israel without fear of assault. You can talk in Arabic in cafes and no one notices or cares. This cannot be said for Jews in the West Bank or Gaza. The ordinary Palestinian people lost in a civil war largely not of their choosing. The decision was made by the feudal elites. Even though after Oslo 70% of Israelis voted for peace and open borders, it was Arafat who breached the agreement by issuing arms and letting the fighters run free. From that moment onward it has been downhill with the Israelis offering less & less. We have squandered opportunities for peace time after time. We have shown no imagination at any point, and instead have constantly stayed fixed on the negative. We could have solved the settler problem at a stroke had we simply said "Let them stay and help build the Palestinian state - Let them have the opportunity to become Palestinian citizens - Let them have the right to vote - Let them pay tax - Even if they choose not to have Palestinian citizenship, let them be permanent residents." But we didn't, we just wanted all Jews out without any discussion, we wanted the West Bank and Gaza to be free of Jews, all and any Jews. So they left Gaza and took with them the places where Palestinian worked, and they will do the same in the West Bank. And if you ask the expatriate Palestinians who are very wealthy, "why don't you invest in Palestine, like the Jews invest in Israel?". They smile and shake their heads, and keep their cash in Citibank and invest in the USA where they live. If we want a successful and proposerous Palestine we need Israeli help and know-how. And it may surprise many here that if you ask the average Israeli they agree, just they want the fighting to stop. If the fighting stops the Israelis will re-employ the Palestinians and start shopping again in the West Bank and Gaza, which will create wealth and security. I believe that positive and creative thinking can bring this conflict to an end, but before we can start we need to be honest with ourselves about ourselves.
(5)
2006-05-11 19:15:17
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