Some Arab journalists can tell the truth (and other comments)

Submitted by Rachel Garber (United States), Mar 9, 2008 at 20:38

I want to make two comments about this article. The first is to relate the story that Khaled Abu Toameh gave to Bryan Schwartzman of the Jewish Exponent. Is article can be found in the Feb. 28 issue of the Exponent, so I won't quote the whole article, however he told Schwartzman that "his willingness to criticize leaders and Palestinian society has not made him a very popular figure among Arabs living in the West Bank and Gaza. Many of the colleagues have been shot, many of my colleagues have been killed, have been imprisoned. But 'if they kill me,' he said 'I'd rather die as someone who told the truth than as a hypocrite'"

The other point that I'd like to make is that there are many Buddhists living in this country, many of whom I would venture to guess who are followers of the Dalai Lama. Now I don't know diddley squat, about Buddhism, nor I suspect, do many people in this country understand Buddhism. They go about their business, worshiping in their temples, following their beliefs, and I don't know of any of them clamoring for more Buddhist journalists on the nations newspapers. I haven't heard demands of fair representation so Americans will understand their religion, why they should have their spiritual homeland back from China.

Incidentally, Tibet, unlike "Palestine", was a sovereign nation. In 1947, the 22 Arab nations who voted on the partition plan, the plan that would have created a Palestinian state was vetoed by them.

Over the years, many religions have come under fire for various "problems" created by some within their community. Most notably, the scandal a few years ago involving sexual assaults on minors by Catholic priests, here and abroad. Although there was a great hew and cry from the Catholic hierarchy about the attention given by the press, I heard no calls for more Catholic journalists, there was no outrage, no one bombed the newspaper offices, no one tried to bomb the American embassy in Rome. No one attacked innocent non-Catholic civilians in various countries around the world, or took non-Catholic soldiers as hostages.

All this whining for understanding by the Muslim world is just an excuse. An excuse to make their religion seem to be so put upon, to demand that non-Muslims not eat in front of them during Ramadan, that their terroristic acts be called "criminal murderers" (as if there any other kind of murderer) in England. To refuse to pick up blind passengers with seeing eye dogs (if dogs so offend you, find another job) to refuse to pick up passengers carrying alcohol (are they holding a gun to your head and demanding you drink it?), and to be able to enforce shar'ia laws in non-Muslim countries.

Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists (the religion of Japan) Methodists, Jews, Mormons, should all be free to live wherever they please. But to expect, nay demand, that things should be changed to accommodate their beliefs, they really should live in Muslim countries, where they can practice their religion without having to come in contact with the rest of the world.

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