by Dave Nalle on January 3, 2015
WASHINGTON DC, January 3 – Some attention has been drawn recently to Muslim protests against extremism, but it has been drowned out by the flood of coverage of ISIS and general outrage against terrorism in the US media.
Coverage like the reporting on moderate Muslims turning out in large numbers to protest a beheading are the rare exception to a generally anti-Muslim flood, lead by Fox News, but permeating the American press in general to a lesser extent.
A recent editorial in the Washington Post pointed out this problem but skirted analysis of the reasons for it.
Here in America we don’t see protests about Muslim extremism because for the most part the acts of violence inspired by extremists take place far away and in places where they don’t speak English and from which we don’t get much news of any sort. America is a big country and generates a lot of its own news and Americans are typically pretty parochial.
There is only so much time in the news day, and sensational stories tend to get that space because they keep the eyes on the screens and sell advertising. There is some coverage in print media, which is more generous with space, but it is declining in market share. People mostly get their news from television and it tends to be polarized and very focused on the most dramatic stories.
Because protests against extremism are largely in foreign countries and because they do not fit the anti-Muslim slant of the American news media, there has been very little coverage in America.
The overall assumption by news consumers in the US is that there is no outrage and that this amounts to at least passive support for terrorism among moderate Muslims.
Yet protests do go on in Europe and elsewhere even if we aren’t hearing them in America. Large marches by moderates against radical Islam take place in Germany, England, France and other countries on a regular basis. There were multi-country protests coordinated on September 24th and thousands turned out recently in seven German cities for a coordinated march, but there was no coverage of this in the US.
At one of these rallies Mohammad Tahirul Qadri, a leader of the moderate Muslim community in England, said “I want to address those who are lost, who have a total misconception of jihad. I want to send them a message — come back to normal life. Whatever you’re doing is totally against Islam.”
There is also organized protest on the web. Groups like the English Muslim group Islam Against Extremism and Free Muslims document protests against extremism. Filmmaker Masood Khan has made a series of documentaries reporting on the activities of anti-extremists.
Some protesting also goes on in America, like a march this Summer against Saudi support of terrorism, but it received little coverage because the media generally classes Saudis as allies and “good” Muslims. The leaders of this protest issued a statement which said “We will reaffirm the Islamic principles of condemnation of terrorism, protection of life and religious freedom…In confronting violent extremism in the United States, communities and leaders have responded with multiple initiatives to counter this toxic narrative including, fatwas, counter-narrative and online radicalization prevention programs and community intervention programs.”
The reason so much of this takes place in Europe is simple. That is where moderate Muslims have taken refuge. In the most troubled Middle Eastern nations protest is impossible, because moderates are by nature peaceful and at the mercy of the small minority willing to resort to violence and intimidation. Their solution is to get out. As millions expatriate that leaves extremists in an even stronger position to intimidate those who stay behind.
Sometimes the action goes beyond protest, to informing about terrorist threats, helping Christians to escape persecution, or organizing to fight for religious tolerance. But it is always those who are willing to initiate violence who have the momentum, and one suicide bomber makes a louder noise than 1000 peaceful protesters.
Here in America we focus on the one bad Muslim and take the thousand good ones for granted. This allows pundits who profit personally from stirring up hate, like Pamela Geller, to present their one-sided narrative virtually unchallenged. In the post-9/11 environment Americans are predisposed to believe them and most never look any farther.
This causes us to tolerate acts that would be unconscionable under normal circumstances: from violations of our civil liberties, to making war without congressional approval to the extreme of accepting as routine US drone strikes that target American citizens.
It has made us accomplices to extremism of our own, by accepting without question the biased world-view promoted by “experts” with an agenda who choose to ignore facts which don’t fit their anti-Muslim narrative.
- See more at: http://www.americanbroadside.com/loud-v ... pr7oU.dpuf
WASHINGTON DC, January 3 – Some attention has been drawn recently to Muslim protests against extremism, but it has been drowned out by the flood of coverage of ISIS and general outrage against terrorism in the US media.
Coverage like the reporting on moderate Muslims turning out in large numbers to protest a beheading are the rare exception to a generally anti-Muslim flood, lead by Fox News, but permeating the American press in general to a lesser extent.
A recent editorial in the Washington Post pointed out this problem but skirted analysis of the reasons for it.
Here in America we don’t see protests about Muslim extremism because for the most part the acts of violence inspired by extremists take place far away and in places where they don’t speak English and from which we don’t get much news of any sort. America is a big country and generates a lot of its own news and Americans are typically pretty parochial.
There is only so much time in the news day, and sensational stories tend to get that space because they keep the eyes on the screens and sell advertising. There is some coverage in print media, which is more generous with space, but it is declining in market share. People mostly get their news from television and it tends to be polarized and very focused on the most dramatic stories.
Because protests against extremism are largely in foreign countries and because they do not fit the anti-Muslim slant of the American news media, there has been very little coverage in America.
The overall assumption by news consumers in the US is that there is no outrage and that this amounts to at least passive support for terrorism among moderate Muslims.
Yet protests do go on in Europe and elsewhere even if we aren’t hearing them in America. Large marches by moderates against radical Islam take place in Germany, England, France and other countries on a regular basis. There were multi-country protests coordinated on September 24th and thousands turned out recently in seven German cities for a coordinated march, but there was no coverage of this in the US.
At one of these rallies Mohammad Tahirul Qadri, a leader of the moderate Muslim community in England, said “I want to address those who are lost, who have a total misconception of jihad. I want to send them a message — come back to normal life. Whatever you’re doing is totally against Islam.”
There is also organized protest on the web. Groups like the English Muslim group Islam Against Extremism and Free Muslims document protests against extremism. Filmmaker Masood Khan has made a series of documentaries reporting on the activities of anti-extremists.
Some protesting also goes on in America, like a march this Summer against Saudi support of terrorism, but it received little coverage because the media generally classes Saudis as allies and “good” Muslims. The leaders of this protest issued a statement which said “We will reaffirm the Islamic principles of condemnation of terrorism, protection of life and religious freedom…In confronting violent extremism in the United States, communities and leaders have responded with multiple initiatives to counter this toxic narrative including, fatwas, counter-narrative and online radicalization prevention programs and community intervention programs.”
The reason so much of this takes place in Europe is simple. That is where moderate Muslims have taken refuge. In the most troubled Middle Eastern nations protest is impossible, because moderates are by nature peaceful and at the mercy of the small minority willing to resort to violence and intimidation. Their solution is to get out. As millions expatriate that leaves extremists in an even stronger position to intimidate those who stay behind.
Sometimes the action goes beyond protest, to informing about terrorist threats, helping Christians to escape persecution, or organizing to fight for religious tolerance. But it is always those who are willing to initiate violence who have the momentum, and one suicide bomber makes a louder noise than 1000 peaceful protesters.
Here in America we focus on the one bad Muslim and take the thousand good ones for granted. This allows pundits who profit personally from stirring up hate, like Pamela Geller, to present their one-sided narrative virtually unchallenged. In the post-9/11 environment Americans are predisposed to believe them and most never look any farther.
This causes us to tolerate acts that would be unconscionable under normal circumstances: from violations of our civil liberties, to making war without congressional approval to the extreme of accepting as routine US drone strikes that target American citizens.
It has made us accomplices to extremism of our own, by accepting without question the biased world-view promoted by “experts” with an agenda who choose to ignore facts which don’t fit their anti-Muslim narrative.
- See more at: http://www.americanbroadside.com/loud-v ... pr7oU.dpuf
BREAD IS GREAT!
PRAISE CHALLAH!!!!
PRAISE CHALLAH!!!!
