Thursday, November 10

Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!

I'm coming late to this topic (I've been overworked and unable to post for awhile now), but I couldn't let this one slip by. Thousands of protestors took to the streets in Jordan, denouncing Al Qaeda, and specifically the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This fits in nicely with my last post about Moroccan protests against Al Qaeda. The difference? Western media covered this one. (AP, CNN, USA Today)

Interestingly, of that list none mentioned that Zarqawi was born in Jordan. Also, while some mentioned the protests occurred across the country, none mentioned the specific cities of Zarqa (Zarqawi's birthplace), Aqaba (the site of the last terrorist attack in Jordan), and Maan (considered the most fundamentalist of Jordanian cities). Al Jazeera did cover that, and more. They were also the only major press outlet to post pictures of the protests.

Bloggers have been covering this very well, as you can see in this partial list:


Why the increased coverage of this protest, and none at all of the Moroccan protests? Perhaps it's because Jordan has historically allied itself with the US. Jordan was a bigger supporter of the US invasion of Iraq than, say, France... and the western news consistently fails to even mention the rioters in France are Muslim. It appears as if the media is content to draw false images of the world as they want to perceive it.

Reading the news, one could draw the following conclusions:
  1. The French poor are rioting because France's socialistic system has failed to take care of them. Reality: Muslims in France are attempting to establish autonomous ghettos where they will be able to self-rule under Sharia law, thus allowing Wahhabist sanctuaries in Europe.
  2. Iraqi's have attacked Jordan because Jordan supported the invasion of Iraq. Reality: Very few suicide bombers are Iraqi. The hotel bombings were orchestrated and prepared in Iraq, by a Jordanian, and conducted by non-Iraqi citizens.
  3. The majority of Sunni Muslims support Al Qaeda. Reality: Nearly one hundred percent of Jordanians are Sunnis. Across the Middle East, there is no country in which the majority of Muslims, much less Sunnis, support Al Qaeda.
I'd go on, but I'm running low on time and energy. I can only continue to ask that readers continue to look beyond the MSM for news and perspective on world events.

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