albawaba.com middle east news information::Cartoon awakening: Toward a positive media strategy — This publication, Al Bawaba, is not as well know to Americans as Al Jazeera, but it’s a good source of Middle East thinking. Headquartered in Jordan and the UAE, this group provides some thoughtful op-eds, such as this one. This one argues for a “media-strategy” by the moderate Muslim majority and Muslim secularists which nobody is paying any attention to.
But what is effectively lacking in the Arab and Muslim debate is the most fundamental issue of all: how can they respond as a collective to growing anti-Muslim sentiment, touted through the media and further inflamed through belligerent right-wing political forces in the West, and, dare I say, belligerent and self-defeating Arab and Muslim voices whose obnoxious and inconsistent response is playing well into the hands of their adversaries?
Unfortunately, Arabs and Muslims have proven incapable of departing from their decade-long posture of simply recognizing Western media bias and, at best, offering their version of counter bias, which is equally distasteful and counter productive. For example, since Jesus is considered one of Islam’s greatest prophets, an Iranian newspaper chose to offset the Western media demonizing of prophet Mohammad, by announcing a Holocaust drawing contest, aimed at mocking and doubting the catastrophe. Not only repugnant, but strategically flawed as well.
An article worth reading all the way through. He doesn’t see a load of solutions at hand — nor do I. My experience has been with the militant [and military] version of resistance to Western exploitation of the 3rd World and the end of the Cold War hasn’t resulted in any new big power allies for Middle Eastern mujahadeen.
For a while, it looked like the EU might crank up some of the experience they gained backing out of their imperial ways — even though they dropped it all on an all-too-willing Uncle Sugar; but, a lame duck like Chirac and a lapdog like Blair don’t inspire any confidence this side of the Atlantic — I have a pretty good idea of what it inspires down the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
The top-down leadership of most Arab nations considers an oligarchy the only alternative to regency; so, the struggle for bread-and-butter democracy is still in the toughest early stages. Zero assistance from the “nation-building” wing of the White House wouldn’t inspire a hoe handle.
But, thanks for another new source, John.
“the struggle for bread-and-butter democracy is still in the toughest early stages.”
I’m not so sure how many people in the Muslim world want democracy. Sure we see a few english speaking ones on the news but they are obviously unrepresentative. Orthodox Islam has little to no room for democracy and tribalism trumps community in many places “over there”.
I’m not so sure how many people in the Muslim world want democracy.
To add to Milo’s thought, I don’t know how many from the Mid-East know what democracy is. If for all their lives, and their fathers and grandfather’s too, have been under some form of autocratic rule then how do they respond when democracy is offered. Because they don’t have any alternative political thought, the secular thought will take over when there is a forced regime change.
I think that maybe the tribalism aspect is diminishing with wide spread use of TV. It might have been very prevalent 50 years ago, but not today. TV and jet travel is making all of much more homogenized.
Very good, thought provoking article though.
Cartoons don’t kill people. Muslims do.
All other discussion on the subject is meaningless.