Sheila Musaji doesn’t get it
I came across an article by Sheila Musaji titled “Who is behind Relentless, Obsession and The Third Jihad?”, a 5264 word (including links) article, naming names and somewhat dishonestly portraying the films as islomophobic. I truly detest that term because I am in no way afraid of Islam. I don’t even fear islamists because I am well armed and whatever they are selling, I’m not buying.
She is a fine writer but if you scratch below the surface you find that she uses partial quotes and a touch of smoke and mirrors to make you feel that she is just a madder than hell Muslim who is sick of people putting her and her religion down. She is the editor of a site named The American Muslim or TAM for short.
I’ve found that she has no ability to seperate the terms “Muslim” and “Islamist”. She injects Dr. Robert D. Crane who says there is a Tsunami of Islamiphobia. It looks to me that these two people are basicly backing each other up on Islamist talking points. She doesn’t contradict what is shown in the movies but attempts to disqualify them by pointing out groups that support and show the films. Check out some of these nuggets:
An early review of Obsession posted on the Jewish Virtual Library site includes the statement: ”A film like this would have been difficult to make a few years ago when it was rare to hear Muslims speaking in their own language.” Exactly what language is the Muslim language? I only speak English and am an American Muslim.
If anyone actually clicks the link they will find those words but followed up by these:
Usually we heard only the carefully scripted propaganda designed for Western consumption. Those of us who followed the situation closely knew, for example, that people like Yasser Arafat were saying one thing in English and the opposite in Arabic (one clip shows him condemning terror in English and calling for jihad in Arabic), but non-Arabs only heard what they wanted us to hear. Thanks to organizations such as The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)Palestinian Media Watch, which monitor and translate what is coming out of the Middle East, we now have greater access to what is being said and written in Arabic so we can no longer be fooled.
Why didn’t she quote the rest? I can only assume that she thought people were not smart enough to actually read the info at the link. She also skipped over this part of the article:
Perhaps the most important contribution of the film is to show that the Islamists are not focused on “Palestine” or Iraq; their goal is to spread Islam globally. In stark contrast to the nonsensical notions put forward in Jimmy Carter’s book and the Iraq Study Group report that Iraq, terrorism and the Palestinian issue are connected, Obsession lets the terrorists themselves explain their motives and goals. In addition, by showing how the terrorists have pursued their goals in places such as London, Madrid and New York City, the film makers have ably illustrated the worldwide threat posed by the jihadists.
When she quoted the paragraph after that one:
The same article also said: ”Jimmy Carter and the Iraq Study Group members should be required to watch the film so they will be disabused of their delusion that Israeli policy is the obstacle to peace. Obsession makes clear the real obstacles are the Islamists’ refusal to recognize Israel, the outright hatred of the Jews by many Muslims and the unwillingness to accept a Jewish state on “Islamic land” or Jewish rule over Muslims.” Once again making clear the connection in the minds of these individuals that demonizing Muslims has something to do with supporting Israel.
I can pick it all apart for you, or you can do the work for yourself. Meh, do it yourself.
Read the following for more background:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/06/muhammad_and_the_jews_why_the.html