media tolerance of terrorism
Reader comment on item: Television in Time of War

Submitted by barry kumar (Canada), Aug 5, 2005 at 02:51

I am still not able to understand why the western news media has been so tolerant of Muslim acts of terrorism throughout the world. The British BBC and the Canadian CBC in particular have been sympathetic towards Muslim extremists operating in the Middle East, Kashmir, and Chechnya. "Sympathetic" might not be the most appropriate word, but it does convey the fact that the media has never criticized the logic (or lack thereof) of terrorist attacks and never demonstrated any indignation at the terrorists either. The recent attacks in London are slowing changing this attitude and hopefully will bring some sensibility into the media.

To a certain extent, I think that anti-semitism and anti-Hindu sentiments play a role in the media sympathy for the terrorists. In addition, in countries such as Canada and the UK, there are strong anti-US sentiments, due to the feeling that the US is too culturally dominant and economically overwhelming. Following the 9/11 attacks, the media neatly obfuscated matters by focusing heavily on American Muslims' fears of reprisals.

There has never been any acknowledgement by the media that the culture of Islam needs to be reformed to ensure that women and non-Muslims are treated with equality and dignity by Muslim men. The media has also ignored the threat posed by Muslim extremists operating in the West and using countries such as Canada and the UK to finance and organize terrorist attacks throughout the world.

The media, which should have the ethical and moral sense to seriously discuss Islam, with a view to helping Muslims and non-Muslims with critical, but objective discourse, has failed to do so.

Barry

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