An Al-Jazeera Editorial Attacking Moslem Extremists

Al-Jazeera ^ | May 10, 2006 | By Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti

[mcvey]

. . . Nowadays, the more "religious" some Muslims regard themselves to be, the less tolerant they are. The cause is a troubling intellectual decline of the Islamic civilisation.

[mcvey]

This is an Al-Jazeera editorial worth reading in full. It has been on the Al-Jazeera editorial site for almost a month and, given the way Al-Jazeera works, that means it has had a good many "hits."

[b4its2late]

The writer is hopefully in seclusion. No doubt some nutbag mullah will want him dealt with.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

one must remember that the english language version of Al-Jizzera and the arabic language versions are two entirely different things.

[The_Reader_David]

Yes, if there is a parallel Arabic version, of which the English is a faithful translation, and it has also been on al-Jazeera for a similar length of time, I'll be impressed.

[mcvey]

Yes, I know it is, I wish we had more Arabic-capable FReepers besides jveritas to check this things. I have been watching this editorial and checked out the author with some of my colleagues and I, at this stage, have come to the conclusion that it was not originally meant as a propaganda piece.

If I am wrong, FReepers, my apologies. But if I am right,
then we should support El-Shinqiti (the link to his e-mail is at the bottom of the page.) This, by the way, is not his first set of comments such as this.

McVey

[AmericaUnite]

Maybe StillProud2BeFree can help out. She can and does translate. I'm not trusting AJ.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I suspect this is for Western consuption.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Its a islamic trojan horse version.

[sheik yerbouty]

More TROP taqqiya..

[mcvey]

You know, I really don't think that it is. The Al-Jazeera editorial page is not a major part of their website. Moreover, a large number of Moslems--particularly the better educated ones--want to disassociate themselves from the crazies. Not all of them (the 9/11 hijackers were mostly middle class), but most I would be willing to bet.

The attempt by different middle and upper-level groups to break away from Islam's tribal and imperial past has been going on since the early 1800's--at least. The ease with which Napoleon simply occupied Egypt was quite a shock to many in that section of the world. That later on, things did not go so well for Nappy, did not really detract from the shock. That was followed by both British and French and even the fledgling US being able to successfully intervene in the Ottoman Empire. Many Moslems turned in on themselves and asked what they were doing wrong and many came to the idea that they had to embrace Enlightenment ideals. That point of view is still very strong in the Middle East--at least once is above the Moslem in the Street.

McVey

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I heard the same thing from a guy who was stationed in Turkey.

[jackieaxe]

Actions speak louder than words. We are playing Russian Roulette allowing Muslims to live in our free society. It's only a matter of time before another major terrorist act is successfully committed.

[mcvey]

No argument there. The problem is that we are dealing with a profoundly unliterate society. There are fewer Internet hookups in the Middle East (excepting Israel) than there are in SUBSAHARAN AFRICA.

The thin shell of educated Moslems is terrified that the average Moslem will revolt. If so, the upper-crust go to the gibbets.

But enough of the middle class and a few of the upper class really really believe in what the crazies say. And that is a problem. The biggest problem is almost certainly Saudi Arabia where a band of thugs captured Mecca and Medina and then got rich through oil. The Saudi royal family is looked down upon by most of the literate classes, but they are unable to stop the Saudis and their religious associates--those folk simply have too much money and they have control of Mecca and Medina.

So, we will get hit again, but the literate classes, by and large, want the madness to stop (this really does not apply to Shi'ites--which are a whole other ball of wax.) Most of the literate classes, believe it or not, even want to get along with Israel--Turkey has for decades been a quiet ally of Israel, despite some recent tensions. McVey