Post-war middle eastern image
Usually movies or anything about the middle east annoy the hell out of me. And I know I've gone over this before but it really bugs me. I mean there's no way you would ever get them to perceive middle-easterners in a favorable light.
Ok why am I annoyed, well first they're-using a minority to generalize a majority and second well just being from the area would group you with them and please like you're average joe/harry/avocado would know the difference between arab/berber/persians or kurds, hell the indo-pakistanis are just happy that they've finally managed to be separated from this group.
Seriously no matter how advanced the ME ever gets the only image we're ever going to get in the media is a women in a burqa surfing the net
I lived in the middle-east, I've never seen a women in a burqa (abaya yes burqa NO)where do they find these people anyway? In fact the first time I ever saw a burqa was in europe
I mean for example there are loads of stories out there from those war-torn middle-eastern countries who've done extremely well for themselves whether iraqi, lebanese or palestinian but u never hear anything about them
No all that attention is saved for the easily generated dingy man who hasn't been introduced to a shower in his life surrounded by shrieking women who look exactly like him covered in cloth
Anyway up and until Sep 11 and subsequently the iraq war I thought ok they are just searching for degenerates to put on the news or movie
But then tables turned and the middle-east was providing ammo to enhance these stereotypes. Every single thing you could possible want to defame a cocktail of nations available at your fingertip: leader worship, sheep mentality, beheaders on command, tribe, liars, thieves, crooks, murderers, will spread for money leader types, uneducated delinquents by the shedloads
But at the same time I noticed all these people running to the street marching and squealing for the "poor people of iraq".
Putting aside the fact that they didn't give a damn about the "poor people of iraq" when saddam was in power
and totally overlooking the fact to what a bastard like saddam did to iraq and surrounding countries. Oh yes and then having the nerve to call his victims american puppets.
Yes so putting aside all that, maybe we should look at what they can benefit them people of the middle east.
Ooh maybe they could encourage dialogue with middle-easterners and show them in a favorable light.
WRONG
If we were to separate the extremes into their two most used (and probably loved) names right-wing nut and leftist loony. The right-wing nut would think all middle-easterners are terrorist while the leftist loony would be pissed at middle-easterners for not being so.
That's pretty much the gist of all these many,many,many messageboards,forums, op-eds and chats I've visited the past 2 years, oh yes and a note on that the reason why murders happen on paltalk is cos they are filled with PSYCOPATHS
Sometimes I feel like I need to take a bath after visiting some of these chats (and subsequently being kicked out, nothing to actually do with the topic mainly font color change)
Point is none of these people (who hopefully are just a vocal minority) actually do care if things get better, they're just as blood-thirsty as each other.
Ok so lets look at countries that opposed the war, so yes they sit around cutting deals with tyrants, lecturing us about human rights for dictators, protecting the rights of mullahs that pledge death even to the countries own citizens, you would think it was cos' they've suddenly cared about them.
Unfortunately not true either, at the same time anti-semitic acts are on the rise so are anti-muslims ones (and unfortunate sikhs and anyone who happens to appear foreign). Yeah the leaders who encourage it are protected but more times than none its the ordinary are caught in the cross-fire
And yeah I've heard most of the arguments around that, but the most I hear (say from family of friends) can't blame them if they hate muslims, they check the news and we're there shouting death to them, they check our tv, books, newspapers and even communities living in their country ...the same thing.
I mean not everyone is going to check if what they say is true especially when there are those out there glorifying it.
The odd thing is that in the same family you would get members that are total opposites to each other, how can you possible paint a whole region with the same brush
And if they are obsessed with thinking everyone is a male arab muslim, then why not just at least ignore the extremist voices.
Instead of giving hours of airtime to some fatwa-for-dollars imam like qardawi why not Interview someone like bassam tibi , a syrian born muslim scholar who's documented political islam for years
or Tim Winters a muslim cambridge scholar , if you want muslim organizations why not concentrate on people like free coalition against
free muslims against terrorism or to some extent islamicanews (had to plug that in somehow)
To be honest the middle east is doing little to clear its name, the rate we're going there's enough material to defame generations to come.
Ok why am I annoyed, well first they're-using a minority to generalize a majority and second well just being from the area would group you with them and please like you're average joe/harry/avocado would know the difference between arab/berber/persians or kurds, hell the indo-pakistanis are just happy that they've finally managed to be separated from this group.
Seriously no matter how advanced the ME ever gets the only image we're ever going to get in the media is a women in a burqa surfing the net
I lived in the middle-east, I've never seen a women in a burqa (abaya yes burqa NO)where do they find these people anyway? In fact the first time I ever saw a burqa was in europe
I mean for example there are loads of stories out there from those war-torn middle-eastern countries who've done extremely well for themselves whether iraqi, lebanese or palestinian but u never hear anything about them
No all that attention is saved for the easily generated dingy man who hasn't been introduced to a shower in his life surrounded by shrieking women who look exactly like him covered in cloth
Anyway up and until Sep 11 and subsequently the iraq war I thought ok they are just searching for degenerates to put on the news or movie
But then tables turned and the middle-east was providing ammo to enhance these stereotypes. Every single thing you could possible want to defame a cocktail of nations available at your fingertip: leader worship, sheep mentality, beheaders on command, tribe, liars, thieves, crooks, murderers, will spread for money leader types, uneducated delinquents by the shedloads
But at the same time I noticed all these people running to the street marching and squealing for the "poor people of iraq".
Putting aside the fact that they didn't give a damn about the "poor people of iraq" when saddam was in power
and totally overlooking the fact to what a bastard like saddam did to iraq and surrounding countries. Oh yes and then having the nerve to call his victims american puppets.
Yes so putting aside all that, maybe we should look at what they can benefit them people of the middle east.
Ooh maybe they could encourage dialogue with middle-easterners and show them in a favorable light.
WRONG
If we were to separate the extremes into their two most used (and probably loved) names right-wing nut and leftist loony. The right-wing nut would think all middle-easterners are terrorist while the leftist loony would be pissed at middle-easterners for not being so.
That's pretty much the gist of all these many,many,many messageboards,forums, op-eds and chats I've visited the past 2 years, oh yes and a note on that the reason why murders happen on paltalk is cos they are filled with PSYCOPATHS
Sometimes I feel like I need to take a bath after visiting some of these chats (and subsequently being kicked out, nothing to actually do with the topic mainly font color change)
Point is none of these people (who hopefully are just a vocal minority) actually do care if things get better, they're just as blood-thirsty as each other.
Ok so lets look at countries that opposed the war, so yes they sit around cutting deals with tyrants, lecturing us about human rights for dictators, protecting the rights of mullahs that pledge death even to the countries own citizens, you would think it was cos' they've suddenly cared about them.
Unfortunately not true either, at the same time anti-semitic acts are on the rise so are anti-muslims ones (and unfortunate sikhs and anyone who happens to appear foreign). Yeah the leaders who encourage it are protected but more times than none its the ordinary are caught in the cross-fire
And yeah I've heard most of the arguments around that, but the most I hear (say from family of friends) can't blame them if they hate muslims, they check the news and we're there shouting death to them, they check our tv, books, newspapers and even communities living in their country ...the same thing.
I mean not everyone is going to check if what they say is true especially when there are those out there glorifying it.
The odd thing is that in the same family you would get members that are total opposites to each other, how can you possible paint a whole region with the same brush
And if they are obsessed with thinking everyone is a male arab muslim, then why not just at least ignore the extremist voices.
Instead of giving hours of airtime to some fatwa-for-dollars imam like qardawi why not Interview someone like bassam tibi , a syrian born muslim scholar who's documented political islam for years
or Tim Winters a muslim cambridge scholar , if you want muslim organizations why not concentrate on people like free coalition against
free muslims against terrorism or to some extent islamicanews (had to plug that in somehow)
To be honest the middle east is doing little to clear its name, the rate we're going there's enough material to defame generations to come.
posted by Dilnareen @ | Permalink 
