Dilemma faced by the Western Muslim intellectual

The barrage facing Muslims in the Western world:
One successful political PR strategy is repetition. Take a message and repeat it, ad infinitum. Yes, people may become sick of it, but keep repeating it. Using a careful re-definition of the terms and concepts, just keep repeating it. Academic references are in the appendix.(footnote 8) but recent examples will make the point clear

**The Fastest U-Turn in History: **
The latest example of such propaganda were the Iraqi WMDs. Very few, indeed very very few intellectuals had the conviction to trust their intelligence and disagree at that time — just a few months ago. Yet, now, every talking head is talking about the deception perpetrated through a media establishment willing to be raped in that fashion. Such is the power of repetitive media bombardment. But even more sinister is the following: after declaring major combat over, as soon as Bush went back to repay his debt to Blair and the world by solving the Palestinian issue, he has been consistently shot down, and the same repetition is incessantly in the opposite direction now — against Bush. The Peace Process has been predictably derailed, and Bush is silent. Can any one of my intelligent friends tell me how could this 180 degree turn happened in a span of about 3 weeks during this summer. My friend and I measured the turnaround — it was actually accomplished in about 6 days.

If your memory serves you, would you be surprised to know that Afghan men still have beards and Afghan women still wear the burqa, even after the fall of the Taliban. Many Westerners are surprised to know that!

My intelligence sees a pattern here, and I trust my brain more than the media. Richard Nixon was very concerned about ‘the presence of Jewish writers in every newsroom.’ Link Every politician in North America knows that the wrath of AIPAC is political death. Listing as ‘anti-semitic’, blocking funds, exposing those who donate, and total blackout by the media. Ever heard what happened to these American politicians: Paul McCloskey and former senators George McGovern, James Abourezk, John Glenn, Charles Percy? If this is not control, if this is not conspiracy, then what is?

**Well, why don’t we hear more about this? ** Hmm…. let us make conspiracy-theorist a bad word. Aha. As soon as you say ‘conspiracy’ – you must be a kook. But history tells us that conspiracies and media control have occurred since time immemorial — and have been exposed after generations.

There has been an active campaign against Muslims since 1948. In case you disagree, please name ONE good report in the mainstream media about anything happening in the Muslim world. Are we to assume that there is NOTHING good happening in the Muslim world, or that there is a conspiracy — there is no other solution. Did you know that a G7 meeting just wrapped up in Dubai? Have you seen one documentary about the economic diversification of the UAE and Qatar? The work of Abdus Sattar Edhi is thousands of times more reaching in its effect, than Mother Theresa — a great server of humanity. If this is not conspiracy, what is?

What do we hear? Muslims are backward, they are violent, their women are oppressed, they seek to kill, their religion tells them to kill without provocation. They have no value for life – they kill themselves without a cause.

Where there’s smoke, there must be fire. What is the purpose of this conspiracy? Where does all this pattern lead? One goal with two side-effects —
Goal: to justify the Zionist’s genocide and apartheid against the Palestinians. Side-effectIn addition, demoralizing of Muslim nationalism leads to the maintenance of dictatorial regimes and the continued supply of cheap oil. Another side-effect: the undercutting of the only ideology left standing in response to the Western (Europen Judeo-Christian) one.

We now know that the Soviet and American ideological juggernauts engaged in a 50-year global propaganda war. We know every detail of it now. If Islam is the new ideological enemy (footnote 9), then why is it different now? This propaganda is going on right now, as we speak.

Those who know the English language know the inherent double-talk — a technique developed by the the English nobility when communiating within earshot of commoners — read how I say it instead of what I say — i.e. read my lips! Bush says, “Islam is a religion of peace” — and in the next breath — “Saddam is a threat to the civilized world” — but fails to mention the uncivilized world? My repeated requests to the State Department have failed to show the members of the “uncivilized world”.

The historical evidence to back this up is in another section of this book.

** The confused Muslim intellectual: **The Muslim intellectual is left doubting him/herself. How does he make him/herself immune to the bombardment? Personally, I felt so sick of it I started developing physical symptoms of stress. Last year, when I could not take it any longer, I went on a trip to the Pakistan and some Arab states, and was mentally prepared to emigrate permanently. I saw a different world — unlike the West — but vibrant and full of empathy, humanity, justice, success, promise and pride.

If practicing Muslims and nationalist Arabs can be doctors, scientists, nuclear physicists who can make the A-Bomb from scratch, UN Secretary-Generals, IAEA Directors, writers, poets, researchers, Nobel Prize winners, philanthropists, world-class businessmen, athletes, loyal friends, faithful husbands and wives, there is NOTHING wrong with Islam or Arabs. It may be different and alien, like China is to us, but not WRONG as in ‘sick’.

**A convenient but destructive escape: **The Muslim intellectual can escape — escape into atheism, New Age ideas, agnosticism, or become a vocal critic of Islam, or try to find what is wrong with it. All these are escapes and not the solution. Why do I say so? Because in this mode they cannot contribute anything useful to anyone.

When Locke and Hobbes and Kant and Smith and others engineered the European renaissance, they did it with pride. Some of their works are littered with racist superiority — with an almost acknowledged superiority of the European culture and a benevolent desire to rectify the rest of the problems faced by their nations and then their hemisphere, and then maybe, the rest of the world. Their ideas cannot benefit other civilizations.

China needed a Mao, for better or for worse, and Russia needed Lenin and Gorbachev to guide them through transitions.

My dear Muslim intellectual, you can become the master of any field of knowledge in the West – but now – you cannot partake in political thought, mainstream media, or philosophy. You will have to give up Islam or give up this desire — and I wish you the best of luck.

However, your nation, the nation of your forefathers, the nation of your future generations, needs you. It needs you as a proud custodian, as a benevolent parent, as a steady charger, to rectify the problems that exist. Not as as shrill, powerless critic who vacillates without identity.

** Three Shining Examples: **Gandhi could not do anything about apartheid in South Africa, Iqbal could not have changed the philosophy of Germany and Jinnah could not have partitioned Ireland. Their incredible powers were realized in their homelands, although they had a following and respect in their transplanted countries. They changed the history of the subcontinent, and Iqbal and Gandhi have had an even wider influence — once their ideas and identities were fused and focused. Such is the power of our identities — and it is unescapable — regardless of the myth of the melting pot or multiculturalism.