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Propaganda film targets my faith
Many years ago, an elderly rabbi (may he rest in peace) with whom I was having a panel discussion, shared with me his regret that some younger Jews are forgetting their history. "They are ignoring the fact that they have always found sanctuary with Muslims," he said, noting "our culture flourished under Muslim rule and our faith was respected and protected." He then leaned forward as if to whisper: "Don't be disheartened, be true to your faith. All of us have had to pay a price before being accepted in Canada and your community will also go through this trial."This was before 9/11. This wise man of God warned and yet empowered me at the same time. I write today neither to argue the merits and demerits of the propaganda film Obsession (I'd rather rely on the good sense of Winnipeggers to make their own informed judgment), nor as a response to John Gleeson's editorial (Film on radical Islam a wake-up call to the West, June 1). Rather I write as a Winnipegger reaching out to my fellow citizens to request: "enough already please." Why are we setting the Abrahamic faith communities against each other? The conflicts in the Middle East are not religious: they are about power and control of natural resources, the resulting geopolitical climate, disputes over occupation and how just, equal, coexistence can be achieved. More importantly these conflicts are not our conflicts. Why import these political agendas and interests to our city? We have enough to clean up in our own backyards. The pain of our First Nations people is falling on deaf ears. Why do they have to struggle for clean water while our armies are sent to "help" other nations rebuild? Why doesn't the Asper Foundation reach out to help the First Nation communities? Why are they wasting their money and energies on bringing foreign conflicts to our city? I do not know what purpose is served by parading "experts" like Ms. Darwish, who make no secret of their contempt for Islam (see http://www.noniedarwish.com/). How does sponsoring her (and others like her) promote mutual respect, understanding and build bridges between communities? If the objective is, as some claim, to expose the hatred, I am all for it. Yet why target my faith by relying on propaganda? Islam does not condone hatred of any people. In fact it is the greatest ally for anyone fighting injustice, hatred and violence. Why focus on the few extremist views we can find in any community? Why not promote the positive and the good: the majority of Muslims who hold dear to their faith values of justice, peace and mercy? Will this not defeat the extremist hate mongers at both ends of the spectrum? The most insidious citation taken from the film is that 10% to 15% of Muslims support radical Islam. Where is this figure coming from? Where is the evidence? This is blatant fear mongering. By not applying any ethical test to such speculations we have set the stage for lies and innuendo as the standard for public discourse. The editorial also states that the saturation of hate propaganda against the West is much more pervasive than we realize. The same can be said by the Muslim world about saturation of hate propaganda in the West against Islam and Muslims. Can anyone dispute that Western media is biased in its portrayal of Islam and that misinformation and outright lies are passed on as facts? The practice of rendition, secret trials, hateful attacks on the prophet of Islam, torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi and Afghani prisoners by Western troops, desecration of the Muslim holy book, war based on lies, massacres of civilians, sanctions that lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslim children: are these not acts of hate? And in response, what is the message of the film? That "these people" deserve all the death, mayhem, and destruction heaped on them because, according to the "experts" in this propaganda film, their faith is Nazism reborn? Since some of them live among us, and because we cannot tell a "radical" from a "moderate," to prevent another Holocaust we must "wake up" and destroy them? The editorial profoundly concludes: "lose the blinders." My response: "No kidding." Posted by: ryuge 2006-06-03 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=154812 |