Anti-terror TV Show Angers Arabs

NewsMax ^ | 10/10/2005 | Associated Press

[RonF]

A new television series being broadcast around the Middle East tells the story of Arabs living in residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and the militant Islamists who want to blow them up so they can collect their rewards in heaven - 72 beautiful virgins.

The show's message: terrorism is giving Islam a bad name, and Muslims are suffering because of the actions of a few.

The programs, which began last Tuesday on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, have come under a blistering attack on the Internet in Arabic language chat rooms.

The critics are demanding the Saudi-owned and Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, a popular Arabic satellite television station that bought the show and broadcasts it across the region, cancel it.

[RonF]

I'm thinking of that beer commercial where Cedric the Entertainer dreams of being on an island with 2 women and beer and quickly revises his fantasy after imagining what it would be like. I have been told that the Chinese pictogram for "trouble" is a stylized picture of two women under one roof.

[barker]

and Muslims are suffering because of the actions of a few.

If any are suffering, good. The rest are quilty because of their silence.

[Alouette]

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

..........................................

[TASMANIANRED]

And the problem is?

[humint]

Last year, some television stations canceled "The Road to Kabul," which chronicled life under Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers, after Internet threats from Islamists against everyone from actors to television executives if the show portrayed the Taliban in a negative light.

When portraying the Taliban, is it possible to do it in a positive light? Broadcasters across the ME need support to tell it like it is, and if they don’t, jam them...

[expatguy]

A long time ago, I stopped believing that the terrorists and their supporters were a minority. They are the mainstream. Those who speak out against the terrorists are on the fringe of this "religion"

And yet you will still hear bantered about that the extremists only represent a very small fraction of the Muslims worldwide.

While that might be true, what people don't seem to understand is that the majority of Muslims worldwide including those in the United States and Europe are sympathizers to the cause of the extremists.

[humint]

"the majority of Muslims worldwide including those in the United States and Europe are sympathizers to the cause of the extremists."

Would apathetic be a better description than sympathetic? And if not, how goes the effort to win hearts and minds in your opinion?

[sheik yerbouty]

They're angry? Verily, I f*rt on their beards!

[Convert from ECUSA]

"And Muslims honestly can't figure out why more and more people are highly suspicious of them as a group? Where is the collective renunciation of terrorism? Where is the disassociation with terrorists acting in the name of Islam? Why is it that only American and European apologists seem to be claiming that Islam is not in favor of terrorism? Where are some of the millions upon millions of Muslims worldwide when terrorists strike? From what I've seen, admittedly from MSM news accounts, is that they are dancing and celebrating in the streets. How are we to believe that Islam is the Religion of Peace when so much evidence denies that?"

Amen, right on, and nailed it!

[RonF]

From what I've seen, admittedly from MSM news accounts, is that they are dancing and celebrating in the streets.

I wouldn't trust the MSM to be more accurate in portraying public opinion in the Middle East than they are in portraying public opinion in the United States. Hell, in the U.S. they at least speak the language.

[spacewarp]

I have to say it would be ironic as hell if Osama bin Llama was on the run from the US for so long, hiding out in Paki, despite the claims to the contrary, and suddenly God said "No more. Sorry about the collateral damage, but I can't let you go on anymore OBL."

Paul

[expatguy]

No, sympathetic would in fact be the right word.

It really needs to be understood, that the so-called extremists are in actuality fundamentalists, and as such much of the Muslim world finds themselves in a dilemma when called upon to condone the actions of their fellow Muslims.

[humint]

"It really needs to be understood, that the so-called extremists are in actuality fundamentalists, and as such much of the Muslim world finds themselves in a dilemma when called upon to condone the actions of their fellow Muslims."

Good point... let's say the dilemma you speak of has rendered %90 of Mohamed's followers sympathetic to the terror tactics of %1, what do you suggest the "powers that be" do with the remaining %9? This question is the foundation of the argument for fighting for Muslim's hearts and minds. The fact is, some Muslims are working for a better future but unfortunately their efforts are often lost in WOT rhetoric. Beyond rhetoric, anti-fundamentalist Muslims are vital allies in the WOT and their role must be supported and emphasized. Are there any anti-fundamentalist Muslims in your neck of the woods?