"Look in your Mirror" - Thomas Freidman asks Muslims of the East - The Blasphemy Protests

[AsifAmeer]

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: September 18, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/opinion/friedman-look-in-your-mirror.html

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On Monday, David D. Kirkpatrick, the Cairo bureau chief for The Times, quoted one of the Egyptian demonstrators outside the American Embassy, Khaled Ali, as justifying last week’s violent protests by declaring: “We never insult any prophet — not Moses, not Jesus — so why can’t we demand that Muhammad be respected?” Mr. Ali, a 39-year-old textile worker, was holding up a handwritten sign in English that read: “Shut Up America.” “Obama is the president, so he should have to apologize!”


I read several such comments from the rioters in the press last week, and I have a big problem with them. I don’t like to see anyone’s faith insulted, but we need to make two things very clear — more clear than President Obama’s team has made them. One is that an insult — even one as stupid and ugly as the anti-Islam video on YouTube that started all of this — does not entitle people to go out and attack embassies and kill innocent diplomats. That is not how a proper self-governing people behave. There is no excuse for it. It is shameful. And, second, before demanding an apology from our president, Mr. Ali and the young Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans, Yemenis, Pakistanis, Afghans and Sudanese who have been taking to the streets might want to look in the mirror — or just turn on their own televisions. They might want to look at the chauvinistic bile that is pumped out by some of their own media — on satellite television stations and Web sites or sold in sidewalk bookstores outside of mosques — insulting Shiites, Jews, Christians, Sufis and anyone else who is not a Sunni, or fundamentalist, Muslim. There are people in their countries for whom hating “the other” has become a source of identity and a collective excuse for failing to realize their own potential.



The Middle East Media Research Institute, or Memri, was founded in 1998 in Washington by Yigal Carmon, a former Israeli government adviser on counterterrorism, “to bridge the language gap between the Middle East and the West by monitoring, translating and studying Arab, Iranian, Urdu and Pashtu media, schoolbooks, and religious sermons.” What I respect about Memri is that it translates not only the ugly stuff but the courageous liberal, reformist Arab commentators as well. I asked Memri for a sampler of the hate-filled videos that appear regularly on Arab/Muslim mass media. Here are some:

ON CHRISTIANS
Hasan Rahimpur Azghadi of the Iranian Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution: Christianity is “a reeking corpse, on which you have to constantly pour eau de cologne and perfume, and wash it in order to keep it clean.” http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1528.htm — July 20, 2007.

Sheik Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi: It is permissible to spill the blood of the Iraqi Christians — and a duty to wage jihad against them.http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5200.htm — April 14, 2011.

Abd al-Aziz Fawzan al-Fawzan, a Saudi professor of Islamic law, calls for “positive hatred” of Christians. Al-Majd TV (Saudi Arabia),http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/992.htm — Dec. 16, 2005.


ON SHIITES
The Egyptian Cleric Muhammad Hussein Yaaqub: “Muslim Brotherhood Presidential Candidate Mohamed Morsi told me that the Shiites are more dangerous to Islam than the Jews.” www.memritv.org/clip/en/3466.htm — June 13, 2012.

The Egyptian Cleric Mazen al-Sirsawi: “If Allah had not created the Shiites as human beings, they would have been donkeys.” http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3101.htm — Aug. 7, 2011.

The Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan video series: “The Shiite is a Nasl [Race/Offspring] of Jews.”http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/51/6208.htm — March 21, 2012.

ON JEWS
Article on the Muslim Brotherhood’s Web site praises jihad against America and the Jews: “The Descendants of Apes and Pigs.”http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/51/6656.htm — Sept. 7, 2012.
The Pakistani cleric Muhammad Raza Saqib Mustafai: “When the Jews are wiped out, the world would be purified and the sun of peace would rise on the entire world.” http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/51/6557.htm — Aug. 1, 2012.
Dr. Ismail Ali Muhammad, a senior Al-Azhar scholar: The Jews, “a source of evil and harm in all human societies.” http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/51/6086.htm— Feb. 14, 2012.


ON SUFIS
A shrine venerating a Sufi Muslim saint in Libya has been partly destroyed, the latest in a series of attacks blamed on ultraconservative Salafi Islamists.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19380083 — Aug. 26, 2012.

As a Jew who has lived and worked in the Muslim world, I know that these expressions of intolerance are only one side of the story and that there are deeply tolerant views and strains of Islam espoused and practiced there as well. Theirs are complex societies.

That’s the point. America is a complex society, too. But let’s cut the nonsense that this is just our problem and the only issue is how we clean up our act. That Cairo protester is right: We should respect the faiths and prophets of others. But that runs both ways. Our president and major newspapers consistently condemn hate speech against other religions. How about yours?



A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 19, 2012, on page A29 of the New York edition with the headline: Look In Your Mirror.

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For those of you who do not know Tom. He is a Pro-Palestinian anti-Zionist Jew.

[EniGma90]

100+ likes, Apna Giriban koi nahi daikhta waqai

[rfarooqi]

I believe you do not mean to support his highly flawed argument. Yes, need to clean up our house, totally support that, but this is not a valid comparison.

[sangeen]

Muslims are against the Jews because of their war crimes and atrocities in Palestine and around the world... We hate USA because of your war mongering and the evil practices you do in the world... Now Mr. Writer tell me how many Christians been killed in Iraq due to that religious cleric who said as quoted

"Sheik Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi: It is permissible to spill the blood of the Iraqi Christians — and a duty to wage jihad against them.http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5200.htm — April 14, 2011."

And how many have you killed in two wars of yours with them???? Can you justify the killings of Aprox 1 million Iraqi Muslims???

And why would one not hate Jews due to their war crimes and the killing of innocent people...

This blasphemy is not the only reason for people to hate USA, its the peak of the storms created in people's mind due to the American atrocities in the world...

[Sayeen]

The article fails to mention that it is the crony governments in the middle east backed by the US, which miserably fail to reflect the sentiments of their population. If the Jews with a single state, can build lobbies across the western capitals and use them to influence law makers for their benefit , the Muslim world of 50+ states must also proactively present a unified viewpoint regarding the sensitivity of this issue to all nations of the world. This failure to act, results in the masses resorting to violence, not the other way around as Mr Friedman likes to propagate.

[moazzamniaz]

It is a blasphemy for a Muslim to look into his/her mirror.

Therefore this whole article is an incitement to blasphemy.

Thomas Friedman......bloody blasphemer!

[nuzhatghazali]

یہ ایک معمول کی بات ہے کہ لوگ کسی کو چپ کرنے کے لئے ساس نندوں کی طرح اسے اس کی کمزوریوں کو اچھالتے ہیں .... کمزوریوں کو اتنا اچھالو کہ انسان چپ ہو کر بیٹھ جایے ....فرقہ واریت کو ہوا دینا یہ بھی دشمنوں کا کام ہے .... آج مسلم دنیا کو تہس نہس کرنے میں شیا سنی فسادات کو فتنہ بنا کر اپنا مفاد حاصل کرنے میں امریکا سر فہرست ہے ..... جب سے مسلمان حکمرانوں نے امریکا کی غلامی کرنا شرو ع کی ہے شیا سنی فسادات میں تیزی آگئی ہے ... حیرت کی بات ہے کہ عوام مل جل کر رہ رہی ہے اور حکومتیں بٹی ہوئی ہیں .....اب سازشوں کو پہچانے کی اور اپنی صفیں درست کرنے کی گھڑی ہے .

[badesaba]

according to this man there is no difference between insult of a Prophet and abuse to each other.these christians cannot understand our love for our beloved Prophet.the love which muslims hv for their prophet is unique.not any other nation has such love and emotions for their prophets and religion

[guest]

look seriously guys, day in and day out you pour bile and filth against jews, ahmedis, hindus christians etc. you break the bamiyan buddhas. you are proud of all sorts of idiots like ghazni, bakhtiar kaki etc who were idol breakers. you have even words in your language like hindukush and but-shikan and most importantly kaafir. seriously, isnt the hypocrisy all too evident? din bhar doosron ko galiyan dene wale, ab ak choti se gali pe ro padte hain?

also @sangeen you can make any excuse you feel like. but the reality is that even a casual look at islamic history in any of the country it historically attacked, the same theme of idol breaking, insulting other peoples faiths and books are all too common. why start from too far. read the medeival history of indian subcontinent to see the truth. at that time there was no USA or israel. so you have to be more self-critical than this. i am sure you were very angry when the babri mosque was broken. so was I. but read babrnama and see how babr broke the temple there. did he break temple there because he was angry with USA or israel? do i need to go on and on. almost any significant structure built by the mamluk or mughal dynasty in india is on the location of a razed structure earlier. when are you going to condemn all that? where are all the signs of buddhism in central asia whihc was replaced by islam? every single stupa and monsatry was destroyed.

[Islam4globe]

Taking things out of context and trying to shift the focus. ITS NOT GOING TO WORK. Mr Asif.

Libya attack on embassy and killing so called innocent employees is still not accepted by any protester. So arguing that protesters did this is totally rubbish.

Similarly taking hate lines against other religions out of context is again a deception to readers by Mr. Thomas.

Don't play games with us, enough is enough.

You west need to see yourself in mirror for the atrocities, crimes against humanity committed by your proud democratic imperialist regime.

That is why, instead of giving us any more lessons, go and clean your own backyard first. PERIOD.

[Islam4globe]

look seriously guys, day in and day out you pour bile and filth against jews, ahmedis, hindus christians etc. you break the bamiyan buddhas. you are proud of all sorts of idiots like ghazni, bakhtiar kaki etc who were idol breakers. you have even words in your language like hindukush and but-shikan and most importantly kaafir. seriously, isnt the hypocrisy all too evident? din bhar doosron ko galiyan dene wale, ab ak choti se gali pe ro padte hain?

also @sangeen you can make any excuse you feel like. but the reality is that even a casual look at islamic history in any of the country it historically attacked, the same theme of idol breaking, insulting other peoples faiths and books are all too common. why start from too far. read the medeival history of indian subcontinent to see the truth. at that time there was no USA or israel. so you have to be more self-critical than this. i am sure you were very angry when the babri mosque was broken. so was I. but read babrnama and see how babr broke the temple there. did he break temple there because he was angry with USA or israel? do i need to go on and on. almost any significant structure built by the mamluk or mughal dynasty in india is on the location of a razed structure earlier. when are you going to condemn all that? where are all the signs of buddhism in central asia whihc was replaced by islam? every single stupa and monsatry was destroyed.

Ah. Mr Guest at its best. Seriously.

Bile and filth against JEWS, ahmedis, hindus, christians is being poured not on all of them, but on individuals like

JEWS----- ZIONIST GROUP.
HINDUS-----SHIV SINA GROUP.
CHRISTIANS----TERY JHONS GROUP.
AHMEDIS----QADYANI GROUP.

The above mentioned groups are busy 24/7 to pour BILE, FILTH against ISLAM. But amazingly Mr. Guest cannot see that.

Then once the filth poured by the above groups overflows in Muslim Countries, then people like Mr. Guest and his "likes" starts deceiving Muslims by games of words.

Not gona work this time Mr. Sam production.

[Islam4globe]

according to this man there is no difference between insult of a Prophet and abuse to each other.these christians cannot understand our love for our beloved Prophet.the love which muslims hv for their prophet is unique.not any other nation has such love and emotions for their prophets and religion

SubhanALLAH, Ummah eyes are open now.

badesaba: jazakaAllah for your reply.

Good bye Mr. Sam and its likes and there stone-age uncivilized ideology.

[Islam4globe]

@asifAmeer , what you want to prove here.

Sometimes you look like a totally confused freak.

Don't try to play with emotions of Muslims in terms of Prophet Mohammad

The love is so great and powerful that Muslims don't even bother about there loved one.

Its part of Faith. brother.

I can sacrifice myself, my parents, my brothers, my sisters and everything I got in the Love of Prophet Mohammad and remember, I am the lowest of all the Ummah of Prophet Mohammad , now imagine, the Ummah 100% who are above me, how much they got Love in there hearts for Prophet Mohammad . ALHUMDOLILLAH.

So don't ignite this issue using your western sources who are totally unaware about this Sacred Relation of Ummah with Prophet Mohammad

[Lawangeen]

look seriously guys, day in and day out you pour bile and filth against jews, ahmedis, hindus christians etc. you break the bamiyan buddhas. you are proud of all sorts of idiots like ghazni, bakhtiar kaki etc who were idol breakers. you have even words in your language like hindukush and but-shikan and most importantly kaafir. seriously, isnt the hypocrisy all too evident? din bhar doosron ko galiyan dene wale, ab ak choti se gali pe ro padte hain?

also @sangeen you can make any excuse you feel like. but the reality is that even a casual look at islamic history in any of the country it historically attacked, the same theme of idol breaking, insulting other peoples faiths and books are all too common. why start from too far. read the medeival history of indian subcontinent to see the truth. at that time there was no USA or israel. so you have to be more self-critical than this. i am sure you were very angry when the babri mosque was broken. so was I. but read babrnama and see how babr broke the temple there. did he break temple there because he was angry with USA or israel? do i need to go on and on. almost any significant structure built by the mamluk or mughal dynasty in india is on the location of a razed structure earlier. when are you going to condemn all that? where are all the signs of buddhism in central asia whihc was replaced by islam? every single stupa and monsatry was destroyed.

Double standerd again... yes we muslims broke the budhas and we will be doing it coz if these so called Gods can't protect themselves then whats the point .... aren't they suppose to protect you not you will be protecting them??? but on the same line if all muslim ruler were breaking all the temples and budhas in india then there would be no temple in india right now and there are still alot of ancient temple exist in india.... and in rest of the world you talked about from pakistan to central asia there is no more idol worshiper and we dont' need them there...

and as you are in heaven, can you see any of those God of urs there or are you one of them ?

[WatanDost]

Mr. THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, You SON of a BI.TCH

In these references Humans are disrespecting Humans and relegion,

No one Disrespected Prophets of Any JEW, Christian, Hindu, Budhist.

So FU.K off and Tell Your Nation of BAS.TArDS i.e. USA dont propagate BLASPHEMY
Against Prophets.

[WatanDost]

Look At ENLIGHTENED muslims here,
They are AGAIN showing there SLAVErY for MASTErs by

Copy Pasting Such STUPID article and Defending THIS STUPID argument.

Shame on you, Look in a Mirror ONCE and ask to Yourself
"DO we Deserve SHIFFAAT e Muhammad SAW on the Day of Judgement"???

[gazoomartian]

100+ likes, Apna Giriban koi nahi daikhta waqai

How did you come up with 100+ likes?

look at: Post Thanks / Like - 3 Thanks, 3 Likes, 3 Dislikes

[AsifAmeer]

& @rfarooqi

Guys I dont particularly like Tom due to his economic views. But thats besides the point. What shocked me was the junk that MUSLIM SCHOLARS has said about other religions and its followers. Why would Muslims expect words of Pearls from those who their Scholars call pigs, unpure? Wait.. what exactly are we expecting from those who our Scholars have abused?

Those who made the movies are subhuman trash. I am calling them IN-response to them making the movie. And I am only calling those 3~4 guys subhumans. I am not calling ALL Christian and Jews as subhumans.

Mera sawal ye hai k jin Muftiyon ne durse mazhab k logoun ko gaaliyan dein hain, un Muftiyon to road par ghaseeta kyun nahi kiya? Kyun k ye to shaitaan hain Mufti k libaas mein. Why are they alive? @Islam4globe you wanna try a shot at my question?

Giving examples of America doing the "WRONG" is like saying 2 wrongs make it right!

according to this man there is no difference between insult of a Prophet and abuse to each other.these christians cannot understand our love for our beloved Prophet.the love which muslims hv for their prophet is unique.not any other nation has such love and emotions for their prophets and religion

[Raaz]

Thomas L. Friedman is a jew writer.... The title should be , " Look into jews mirror..."

Who killed Hndreds of prophets..... ,

The beloved nation of Allah pak at one time , finally Allah pak get annoyed due to their killing and disobeyance.

He is right at MMuslims are divided nd killing each other.

But it does not mean that u make fun of their prophets.

O Jews u did not even have believe in Moses , Marry and then Muhammad ..

U blamed on Marie and Jesus in the same way , that Marrie was corrupt (Naouz Billah).....

How could these people could digest Islam.....They r even angry on Hazrat Jibrael.

Any way , @AsifAmeer ! please look at the author first before publihing.....

Becase jews are not friends of Muslims and Hazrat Muhammad , from day one.

But if you are Qadinai , then it is ok.

[EniGma90]

How did you come up with 100+ likes?

look at: Post Thanks / Like - 3 Thanks, 3 Likes, 3 Dislikes

Itna zor na daaelin chacha, its 100+ like from my side