The purpose of this column is to make the reader aware of current events in politics and media and to explain the facts from both sides to get a real picture of the argument instead of having message skewed through mainstream media. This is one man trying to relate to college students the hot issues of the world so as to make the information for accessible. The column will present an opinion but will do the it’s best to only use opinions supported by lines of evidence.
Patrick Olds
– Opinions Editor –
There is no end in sight to the extent that the national media will continue to attempt politically correct “multiculturalism.” David Cameron, Prime Minister of Great Britain, recently stated about minority populations living in England, “Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream.” This means that it has become a natural habit to make excuses for minority cultures so as not to offend.
This more broadly affects the coverage of the crisis in Egypt. The Egyptians have suffered for too long, going without free speech, assembly and petition of government in a world where those rights should be fundamental. For the most part, everyone is in agreement that the current president, Hosni Mubarak, has been oppressive to his people and must go as soon as possible.
Recently the people of Egypt took their peaceful protests to the next level by erupting into riots. Strangely enough, many other countries are facing similar unrest in the region including Tunisia, Pakistan, Yemen and Jordan.
Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran recently encouraged the Egyptian people, “It is obligatory for Egyptian men and women to rise and destroy this government who has announced that it is at war with Islam.”
One common theme among these countries is, in fact, the religion of Islam. It should be stated clearly that there is an extremist faction within the religion that tends to speak for all Muslims. Whether fair or not, it needs to be understood that there is incredible danger within this extremist view. The Ayatollah of Iran should be the last person speaking for the people of a country that is dissatisfied with their government. Iran suppressed peaceful protests last year on the heels of a flawed presidential election.
The problem, though, is the Muslim Brotherhood within Egypt that seeks to gain power.
There are elitist scholars, such as Samer S. Shehata, who is an assistant professor at Georgetown University, that feel the Muslim Brotherhood is a peaceful organization. He was recently on “The Colbert Report.”
“The Muslim Brotherhood is not a radical; clerically based…They reformed itself in the 1960s and condemned the use of violence and have actively been participating, or trying to, in politics,” said Professor Shehata. When asked by Stephen Colbert, “Does this increase the chance that there could be hostilities between Egypt and Israel again?” Professor Shehata responded, “No, very unlikely, that is hostilities towards Israel.”
Muhammad Ghannem of the Muslim Brotherhood recently said the Suez Canal should be closed immediately, and that the flow of gas from Egypt to Israel should cease “in order to bring about the downfall of the Mubarak regime.” He added that “the people should be prepared for war against Israel.” The world should understand that “the Egyptian people are prepared for anything to get rid of this regime.”
Israel is very worried about this possibility and our news media has to be aware of Muslim extremism. Israel is America’s biggest ally in the region and to promote the Muslim Brotherhood as a peaceful organization is untrue.
