Most moral nation in the world, where everyone is welcome and treated with dignity. Unless you are anti-Zionist, Black African, Palestinian Arabs/Christians, or in many cases (especially involving fundamentalist Rabbis) non-jew can be subjected to hate-fuelled slurs, possibly physical altercations. This is a disturbing element of IsraelI society, but it must be said that they do not represent all Israelis. Nevertheless it poses some intriguing insight on current double-standards within mainstream perception, particularly in the west. Islamophobes continually put this question to me via on comment threads or personal messages (following the expected barrage of insults): why dont the peace-loving muslims speak out against the terrorists. The fact is they do. For instance, over 40 islamic organisations in Australia condemned the hostage situation in Sydney; the recent attacks in Paris was condemned by Muslim Muftis (an Islamic scholar qualified to give a Fatwa, i.e a ruling on a point of islamic law), including countries with a majority muslim demographic such as Iran and Lebanon. I have still to hear so-called peace loving Israelis speak out against this cretinous part of Israeli society (a growing number do and we would have heard about them awhile ago had media institutions not pushed them out of the public domain). But of course, they are not the medias favourite pantomime villain so these rules do not apply. As an aside, the recent events in France have been used to fit specific political agendas, whether it is Netanyahus call for French Jews to take up residence in Israel (i.e justification for more zionist land-grabbing of Palestinian land and expansion of territory), or the pro-Western view that it was solely an attack on freedom of expression and speech. The reality is far more complex: islamophobia has grown overwhelmingly over the past decade or so thanks to distortions in the mainstream media. Prejudices towards muslims have been allowed to develop unchallenged, whilst the opposite has happened with other forms of discrimination such as antisemitism. Both are examples of vile bigotry; nevertheless one is deemed more important to address than the other. Individuals from all walks of life have turned to violence as they perceive themselves being targeted unjustly for what they stand for. This breeds extremist views. Im not condoning it whatsoever before anybody accuses me of being an apologist. On the other hand, take religious Extremists in the Middle East: they believe the west attacks their countries, families and children because they practise Islam, hence their call for Jihad - a misinterpreted word often translated to mean holy war, when it actually means struggle or striving and to protect the faith when attacked. The west, however, has only one interest - to maintain control over energy resources and by, all means necessary, including military action, prevent social changes and developments from occurring throughout the region. Religion is a tact used to deflect, and what better way to covert what your doing than use a minority who are being discriminated against. Is it a coincidence that the majority of those living in the Middle East practice Islam and yet this belief is currently the most prejudiced in society? Its worth thinking about. Husseins regime in Iraq had been considered an ally of the United States since they helped him to power through CIA-orchestrated coups of 1963 and 1968, the latter known as the 17th July revolution, until the gulf war of 1990-1991. The reason they declared war on Hussein after supporting him for just under 3 decades was in response to his invasion of Kuwait, which threatened Americas grasp of the region. The media spun a propaganda campaign against Iraq, the pretext for war coming from a story that Iraqi forces had removed babies from incubators in order to steal the equipment. This was proven to be false, the supposed witness revealed to have been coached to evoke emotion. Contrast this with Boko Harams recent massacres on villagers in Nigeria, there is little to no reaction from the west at all. Religion is a small factor in the violence being seen in these parts of the world; and has everything to do with conquest over natural resources for profit, and the resulting retaliation through violence. Im not excusing acts of violence, theyre abhorrent and do nothing for any cause, nor do I condone the senseless killings of innocent people - Im merely attempting to explain why they occur in the first place. Putting the blame solely on religion may be an attempt to simplify a complex issue, but in reality it is a cop-out to avoid admitting to something that was caused through conquest and exploitation by the elite. Its clear where the bias lies. One example is CNN anchor Don Lemon who recently put the question to his viewers, is Islam more violent than any other religion. In an earlier interview with Arsalan Iftikhar, a Pakistani human rights lawyer, he asked Iftikhar if he supported ISIS - for no obvious reason other than the fact he was muslim. This implies that even accomplished muslims have something to seemingly apologise for when a few individuals who happen to practise the same belief commit acts of violence. It is irrational generalisations based on no logic. These rules are somehow not applied to christians, where in places like Uganda the Lords Resistance Army have committed similar atrocities to what militant group Boko Haram have been doing (kidnaping school children and using them for whatever purpose they wish), since the 1980s under Josef Konys leadership; the Anti-Balaka movement in the Central African Republic likewise. Prominent Jews are not placed under the same level of scrutiny when its comes to Israels audacious acts of terrorism spanning over six decades on a densely-populated area, against unarmed and malnourished civilians. Lets keep it real here - this has absolutely nothing to do with Jews, Judaism, christians or christianity in general. Culpability lies at the feet of inadequate media outlets who fail considerably at their duty to scrutinise claims made by the ruling class. Neo-liberal capitalism requires a bogeyman to deflect attention from the exploitive activities the political and financial bureaucrats within this system are conducting in, whether it is foreign or domestic: from Black people to Jewish people, and now immigrants to muslims. It is relatively straightforward to stop terrorism: stop participating in it. Dont buy into the hype!! #JeSuisHypocrites #DitchTheMediaBollocks
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 10:20:53 +0000
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