Most people who inhabit the blogosphere are probably aware of the Reuters-Little Green Footballs affair. The latest update sends us to an article at the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC-UK) which at once rants against the world-wide Zionist conspiracy and denounces the pitiful resistance put up by allegedly Islamic defense organizations, ending with a pitch for donations.
One aspect of these remarks in particular caught my eye because it reveals the nature of conspiracy thinking, and the ways in which Muslim notions of advocacy and Western journalism in principle contrast vividly, but in practice mesh so seamlessly as to make Pallywood a forgone conclusion.
The article begins with an invocation of one of the great Jihadist generals and companions of Muhammad.
“See with your own eyes that I am standing here firm and determined, and I will not flee.”
Khalid Bin WaleedToday we can reveal that Inayat Bunglawala the pro Palestinian Media spokesperson for the MCB has been the target of Zionists around the world, in an onslaught that began last Thursday (25.05.06), in an all out campaign to have him sacked from his job. Someone had sent an offensive email from the same workplace to a Zionist Blog. The person who sent the email was indeed suspended last Friday (26.05.06).
The Zionist machine as organised and well funded as it is, tracked it back to the work place of Inayat. Now the central nervous system of the Zionist machine sent an alert around the world. Thinking they had him trapped, they launched a world wide campaign to have him sacked.
So the invocation at the beginning is supposed to be a rallying cry for Inayat to stand firm at his journalist’s post at Reuters and stand firm against those who would have him fired. This is an open admission that — at least as far as his supporters are concerned — Bunglawala is a warrior for Jihad. That’s not exactly what journalism is about, at least not, supposedly, in the West. But it is a good description of what it means for journalists working for the cause of Islam, Palestine, what have you. Indeed, the description of Bunglawala is unashamedly open: he is an advocate for the Muslim Council of Britain, an organization whose activities have already created a blog dedicated to tracking their covert activities on behalf of Jihad and which has already commented on this issue:
Today we can reveal that Inayat Bunglawala the pro Palestinian Media spokesperson for the MCB was targeted by Zionists around the world last Thursday (25.05.06) in an all out campaign to have him sacked from his job.
And if, indeed, he is just such an advocate, why is he working as a journalist for Reuters?
This is precisely the kind of problem that produced Pallywood, the systematic use of medium journalism to carry out warfare.
Behind this lies a fascinating aspect of the Moebius Strip of cognitive egocentrism, in which the Muslims project their own mentality onto the West, and especially on to the Jews. In the conspiracy narrative so favored in the Muslim world, and constantly fed by the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Jews control the media for their own nefarious purposes. As so often in conspiracy theory, the people who hold them reveal more about themselves than they do about the people they “describe.” Here we see the Muslims imagining that, with so many Jews in the media, they must be using it to advance their personal (tribal/religious) agenda, and, by contrast, if only they could get as many people in the media as the Jews have, then they would be able to do so.
The irony here is that the Jews are so prominent in the media because they bend over backwards not to be partisan, even to support the other side. (One of the major reasons the NYT played down the Holocaust was because its Jewish owners did not want to have their flagship paper dismissed as a Jewish propaganda organ.) People like CNN’s Andrea Koppelshow remarkable credulity about both the claims of Palestinian sources, and an alarming readiness to condemn Israel on that basis. Suzanne Goldberg of the Guardian did a hatchet job on the Israelis over Muhammad al Durah. And NPR (which Israel advocates commonly refer to as National Palestine Radio) is full of “even-handed” Jews. Wolf Blitzer has moved from the Jerusalem Post and AIPAC to one of CNN’s stars, not because he is an Israel advocate, but because he has impressed everyone with his fairness and willingness not to push an agenda other than professional journalism.
On the other hand, Muslim journalists often treat the media as a front in a larger battle. The Palestinian Journalists Association, has a record of avowed advocacy, repeated recourse to intimidation, and violence in the service of the Palestinian cause.
Journalists moving up in the ranks of Western media outlets, often as a result of a desire for “even-handedness,” have been known to systematically use their positions to apologize if not propagandize their causes. The suicide terrorism of 7-7-05 that struck London brought up one particularly revealing case.
Dilpazier Aslam is an English-born Pakistani Muslim hired as a journalist by the Guardian. In addition to his news articles, Aslam wrote an editorial using first person plural pronouns to speak about England and the English. He argued that, because ‘we’ (the English) have committed so many wrongs against ‘them’ (the Arabs, Muslims), ‘we’ cannot be surprised by ‘their’ understandable responses of rage and terrorism. See, “Today’s muslims aren’t prepared to ignore injustice“. But Dilpazier was, at the time he was hired and wrote, a member of the UK branch of Hizb ut Tahrir, an Islamic group outlawed in central Asia, working to establish a worldwide caliphate where all religious practice would be regulated by Sharia Law. Websites connected to the group have been openly promoting Jihad, suicide bombers as martyrs, racism and anti-semitism. So while, Dilpazier was claiming to be an understanding outsider representing the oppressed minority’s views to his co-citizens, he was actually one of “them”, using the protection of the press, the right to freedom of speech, the right to respect – and even to a job – in order to slip a justification for Jihad, and an opportunity to chastise the West for the hatred and regressive revolution that he foments.
The response of the Western media, eager to be afford the “other side” some affirmative action, and, in the case of the Guardian, perhaps also committed to anti-Israeli journalism, resist acknowledging the problem. Initially, after the discovery of Aslam’s concealed activities, the Guardian refused to fire him, saying the matter was “under review”. Eventually, when they did fire him, (not a consensual process though, one editor resigned) Aslam was outraged and invoked the principles of journalistic freedom, despite the fact that his Jihadi ideology rejects that value. This is classic demopathy.
The irony of it all comes out clearly in the piece at the MPAC-UK. Bunglawala, despite his advocacy journalism, and his demopathic positions as a journalist for Reuters, (Danish Cartoons are bad because they disrespect Islam; Da Vinci Code is good because it disrespects Catholicism), has every “right” to hold his position as a journalist for Reuters and a spokesman for MCB, and anyone invoking the principles of modern professional journalism to question his professional credentials, is, like Charles Johnson, nothing more than an evil Zionist conspirator.
Can we stand up for journalistic standards?
Update:
Commenters who came here from the LGF post have corrected me on the fact that I. Bunglawala is not a journalist… an observation that does change the thrust of my argument. If I.B, is not a journalist, but an op-ed writer (as is, for example, Melanie Phillips), then part of my complaint is invalid. European papers distinguish less than American ones between op-ed and news sections (often, in US papers, there’s a fire-wall between the two).
In any case, a number of my complaints — “And if, indeed, he is just such an advocate, why is he working as a journalist for Reuters?” — are inappropriate given that he’s not. I apologize to readers for misleading them, and I thank the commenters from LGF, some favorable, some hostile) for their comments. Mostly one hears complaints about the level of comment at LGF; this suggests a sharp and well-informed body of commenters.
On the subject of Inayat Bunglawala, however, there is more than enough evidence to suggest that his relationship to journalism, which includes both apology for things like honor-killings and his double standards when it comes to apologizing for Islam and attacking Christianity deserves criticism. That’s not to say he should be cashiered, but also to say that full disclosure when running his articles is appropriate.
So much of these problems comes down to the rump-leftism that is endemic to journalism and elites. Whites are guilty for their oppressive exploitation of “ethnics” and for their place in the Evil Capitalist system. To “balance” the oppressive system out, “we” must grant space to Exploited Third World Peoples. The fact that they are pushing some sort of agenda just means that we are atoning for past injustice and showing balance. I am coming to the conclusion more and more that it is the endemic leftism — which is less “left” than a melange of white guilt and dimestore Marxism with race replaced as class — which is causing so much problems in and around the war.
I recommend a book by Pascal Bruckner, The Tears of the White Man: Compassion As Contempt for some insights into this misplaced guilt. There’s a huge problem facing the Europeans, in particular, who seem at least as much driven by resentment and envy in their choice of moral crusades, as they do with real guilt. They’d rather apologize to people for whom they have contempt, than to those whom they envy.
Comment by quantuum — June 2, 2006 @ 3:51 am
Good piece of work.
Western “journalists” are part of the problem when they should be part of the solution. The dearth of decent journalism is what has led to such a huge expansion of the blogosphere.
Keep up the good work
Comment by Deepdiver — June 2, 2006 @ 12:57 pm
It’s a great piece, but the Guardian hasn’t been the Manchester Guardian since 1959 and it has been based in London since 1964. The Guardian’s only connection with Manchester now is that it owns printing facilities in both Manchester and London.
thanks. correction made.
Comment by Joshua — June 2, 2006 @ 1:34 pm
“this is an open admission that — at least as far as his supporters are concerned — Bunglawala is a warrior for Jihad. That’s not exactly what journalism is about, at least not, supposedly, in the West.”
Erm…….melanie phillips - isn’t she a jihadist for zionists??? Isn’t Fox News a jihadist movement for neo conservatives????
Also, many Commenters on the LGF site have made death threats against leading Muslims around the world. Why doesn’t Mr Johnson take action against them???:
Here is an email I sent to Charles Johnson, and the response, where he admits a commenter named “Rayra” threatened to shoot a CAIR spokesman in the head:
From: Nals Rawna Mailed-By: gmail.com
Reply-To: Nals Rawna
To: cair@cair-net.org
Cc: charles@littlegreenfootballs.com, eschatonmail@comcast.net, mfinn@gop.com, kenmehlman@gop.com
Date: Jul 29, 2005 11:24 AM
Subject: A threat to murder Mr. Hooper has been made on the Internet
Dear Sir/Madam:
I’d like to point you to a popular Republican leaning internet site,
where a threat to murder Mr. Ibrahim Hooper has been made.
On the site, www.littlegreenfootballs.com, which averages nearly
100,000 visitors a day, a commenter made the following statement:
“When is someone goimg [sic] to finally walk up to Ibrahim Hooper and
put a bullet in his brain?”
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=16856#c0028
As of 11 A.M. EST, the threat has not been removed from the site.
Indeed, the consensus on the site is the only reason to not undertake
such action is that it would make Mr. Hooper a “martyr.”
I would urge CAIR to take precautions with the security of Mr. Hooper.
Best,
Nals Rawna
Response:
From: Charles Johnson
To: Nals Rawna , cair@cair-net.org
Cc: eschatonmail@comcast.net, mfinn@gop.com, kenmehlman@gop.com
Date: Jul 29, 2005 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: A threat to murder Mr. Hooper has been made on the Internet
Dear Nals,
The comment you pointed out has been deleted; LGF policy is to delete any
such comments as soon as we become aware of them, and this has now been
done. Thank you for alerting us to this.
Charles Johnson
http://littlegreenfootballs.com
Please note that this “rayra” is still allowed to comment on the site. If Johnson is so worried about threats made against him, why does he not dislcose the identity of someone who threatened to shoot Ibrahim Hooper in the head?
Comment by Jbr — June 2, 2006 @ 2:08 pm
And if, indeed, he is just such an advocate, why is he working as a journalist for Reuters?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I understood that he’s a sysadmin at Reuters, not a journalist.
Comment by JSinger — June 2, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
Correction - he apparently works as a “senior systems engineer” at Reuter’s Canary Wharf office and is not a journalist (see LGF links for updates).
Comment by advocates devil — June 2, 2006 @ 4:17 pm
Correction to my correction - according to LGF it’s the Docklands offices, not Canary Wharf.
From LGF: “Writer Tom Gross has been following the saga of the death threat we received from a Reuters employee, and he has independently confirmed that Inayat Bunglawala, media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, works for Reuters as a senior systems engineer at their Docklands offices in East London.”
Comment by advocates devil — June 2, 2006 @ 4:20 pm
Thank you for another well written article.
Comment by Steven — June 2, 2006 @ 5:30 pm
Heh, heh, eh heh, heh. You said “Bunglawala.”
Comment by spiffy — June 2, 2006 @ 6:02 pm
Bunglawala is mentioned in Bruce Bawer’s book “While Europe Slept” on p. 23: “Though the Muslim Council of Britain issued a statement saying that it didn’t condone Heshu [a 16-year old girl]’s [honor] murder, Council spokesman Inayat Bunglawala added that ‘many Muslims would understand Yones [the girl’s father and murderer] being upset by his daughter’s apparent rejection of her faith’ and by her ‘growing up not with his value system but someone’s else’s’ … It was revolting, moreover, to see Bunglawala referring sympathetically to the ‘value system’ of a man who’d just hacked is child to death.”
Comment by Pauld — June 2, 2006 @ 8:49 pm
Excellent work, supporting links illustrating the GLARING contrasts between what they want to destroy in us and what they’re trying to install OVER us!
Good work, well articulated.
(If any of this could be used for my “Countdown of the Memes!” send me an email, Sir!)
Comment by Karridine — June 2, 2006 @ 9:52 pm
And if, indeed, he is just such an advocate, why is he working as a journalist for Reuters?
Inayat Bunglawala is not a journalist for Reuters, he works in their technical department. Thousands of people have access to that Reuters IP address.
There is no evidence he sent the ‘death threat’ (the tone of the e-mail is a ‘death wish’ to be fair).
Charles really needs to get a thicker skin, perhaps he can get used to vile death threats and internet bile by reading his own comment sections once in a while?
PS
This is an open admission that — at least as far as his supporters are concerned — Bunglawala is a warrior for Jihad.
That’s rubbish. Plain and simple.
Comment by MJ — June 3, 2006 @ 2:16 am
I am the great Cornholio, I need TP for my Bungawalla
Comment by Gormless Norman — June 3, 2006 @ 3:58 am
A slight correction:
according to Tom Gross’ Mideast Media Analysis site (as postedd in the Mideast Dispatch Archive section here http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/000734.html), “Bunglawala, who also serves as media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, and in the past has made various anti-Semitic comments, works as a senior systems engineer in the Reuters Docklands offices in east London”.
He is indeed an advocate for the Muslim Council of Britain, he publishes articles and blogs but apparently his job at Reuters involves a different area of responsibility. Looks like he works with the Reuters’ computer network, and as such, he is infinitely well position to cover tracks if it was he who left the original “your throats cut” post on the LGF contact pages and if it was not him, then he certainly knows well enough who has done it.
Comment by ymeagain — June 3, 2006 @ 7:59 am
Answer to Nals:
“this is an open admission that — at least as far as his supporters are concerned — Bunglawala is a warrior for Jihad. That’s not exactly what journalism is about, at least not, supposedly, in the West.”
Erm…….melanie phillips - isn’t she a jihadist for zionists??? Isn’t Fox News a jihadist movement for neo conservatives????
I’m a bit confused here. What do you have in mind? I find it hard to compare Fox and Melanie Phillips with the kind of Jihadi journalism we’ve seen, or even some of the opinions expressed by I. Bunglawala. Do you have an equivalent for his attitude towards honor-killings (cited below in a later comment)?
I’ve seen Outfoxed, and must confess that while there are things that are problematic, it’s hardly the kind of systematic dishonesty that Talal abu Rahma and his friends in Pallywood produce. Now I’ll grant you that I don’t know enough of the career of Bunglawala to make generalizations on his journalism — whether it is merely opinionated or dishonest. Apparently, as other commenters have noted, he’s not a journalist, but system’s administrator. It was his many op-ed pieces that misled me. I apologize. Dilpazier Aslam, however, may illustrate the point I was making better.
In any case, I do think it’s worth it to thrash out just what are acceptable journalistic standards. And where opinion becomes propaganda. In all cases, as with the blogosphere, the ability to respond and engage in dispute strikes me as an excellent contribution to the discussion. Your challenges are welcome.
Also, many Commenters on the LGF site have made death threats against leading Muslims around the world. Why doesn’t Mr Johnson take action against them???:
Here is an email I sent to Charles Johnson, and the response, where he admits a commenter named “Rayra” threatened to shoot a CAIR spokesman in the head:
From: Nals Rawna Mailed-By: gmail.com
Reply-To: Nals Rawna
To: cair@cair-net.org
Cc: charles@littlegreenfootballs.com, eschatonmail@comcast.net, mfinn@gop.com, kenmehlman@gop.com
Date: Jul 29, 2005 11:24 AM
Subject: A threat to murder Mr. Hooper has been made on the Internet
Dear Sir/Madam:
I’d like to point you to a popular Republican leaning internet site,
where a threat to murder Mr. Ibrahim Hooper has been made.
On the site, www.littlegreenfootballs.com, which averages nearly
100,000 visitors a day, a commenter made the following statement:
“When is someone goimg [sic] to finally walk up to Ibrahim Hooper and
put a bullet in his brain?”
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=16856#c0028
As of 11 A.M. EST, the threat has not been removed from the site.
Indeed, the consensus on the site is the only reason to not undertake
such action is that it would make Mr. Hooper a “martyr.”
I would urge CAIR to take precautions with the security of Mr. Hooper.
Best,
Nals Rawna
Response:
From: Charles Johnson
To: Nals Rawna , cair@cair-net.org
Cc: eschatonmail@comcast.net, mfinn@gop.com, kenmehlman@gop.com
Date: Jul 29, 2005 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: A threat to murder Mr. Hooper has been made on the Internet
Dear Nals,
The comment you pointed out has been deleted; LGF policy is to delete any
such comments as soon as we become aware of them, and this has now been
done. Thank you for alerting us to this.
Charles Johnson
http://littlegreenfootballs.com
Please note that this “rayra” is still allowed to comment on the site. If Johnson is so worried about threats made against him, why does he not dislcose the identity of someone who threatened to shoot Ibrahim Hooper in the head?
You went in a different direction from the one I expected. I thought you’d ask for him to be removed as a commenter. I certainly would do so. (I don’t even approve comments like FU I.B.) But to ask him to “disclose his identity” strikes me as sinister. Given the multiplication of death threats (which, to be honest, are a specialty, if not an exclusive specialty, of Jihadis), that’s a disturbing demand.
Comment by RL — June 3, 2006 @ 9:59 pm
Response to MJ:
And if, indeed, he is just such an advocate, why is he working as a journalist for Reuters?
Inayat Bunglawala is not a journalist for Reuters, he works in their technical department. Thousands of people have access to that Reuters IP address.
point taken, apology made. correction soon.
There is no evidence he sent the ‘death threat’ (the tone of the e-mail is a ‘death wish’ to be fair).
true. to be fair. nasty stuff, but not the full nine yards.
Charles really needs to get a thicker skin, perhaps he can get used to vile death threats and internet bile by reading his own comment sections once in a while?
Comment by RL — June 3, 2006 @ 10:06 pm
Guys, do some research. I.B. is neither a journalist nor an op-ed writer (Reuters doesn’t have any of the latter anyway). Call up Reuters’s press department and you’ll soon know what his job is. Jeeez, why are bloggers so useless when it comes to basic reporting tasks…?
Comment by lgfwatch — June 4, 2006 @ 2:32 pm
reply to lgfwatch:
okay, he’s not an op-ed writer for reuters. he does do op-eds. lots of them. jeeez, why do people complain when they have a chance to set the record straight.
r
Comment by RL — June 4, 2006 @ 5:26 pm
#3 Joshua,
You are right, The Gaurdian is certainly not the Manchester Gaurdian. The Manchester Gaurdian was considered to be one of the finest, if not the finest, newspapers in the world. Then they dropped the word “Manchester” from their title, moved to London and we have the abomnable parody of a once splendid news organ that we have today.
Comment by African Moonbat — June 5, 2006 @ 1:21 am
so this raises interesting questions. it went to london as far back as 1964. can we date its decline from then? or later? it’s gained an audience among americans as a result of its quality online presence and its anti-war stance. it’s been left a long time, but is there a point where it really goes off the deep-end. i’m very interested in located turning points when the left became visibly loopy.
Comment by RL — June 5, 2006 @ 1:48 am
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