I have a suggestion. Can someone get the mustache a subscription to a serious Arab press translation service like mideastwire.com? Or even point him towards those Arab publications that translate their articles into English, like al-Hayat? Perhaps point out to him that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda are at war over the former’s participation in elections and commitment to non-violence? Perhaps even email him a few of the many articles that appear in Arabic doing exactly the things that Friedman (and his native informant Fandy) says do not happen in the Arab/Muslim world?
This man is becoming dangerous. He obviously has influence, you can’t get the NYT to fire him even though its own correspondents (I hope) could probably tell him that he is full of shit. Someone has to give Thomas Friedman an education before he makes the view that Arabs and Muslims are congenitally amoral subhuman hordes completely mainstream.
(The full op-ed is after the jump. Prepare yourself, it’s one of the worst in a while.)
New York Times
March 2, 2007
Pg. 17
The Silence That Kills
By Thomas L. Friedman
On Feb. 20, The A.P. reported from Afghanistan that a suicide attacker disguised as a health worker blew himself up near “a crowd of about 150 people who had gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open an emergency ward at the main government hospital in the city of Khost.” A few days later, at a Baghdad college, a female Sunni suicide bomber blew herself up amid students who were ready to sit for exams, killing 40 people.
Stop and think for a moment how sick this is. Then stop for another moment and listen to the silence. The Bush team is mute. It says nothing, because it has no moral authority. No one would listen. Mr. Bush is losing a P.R. war to people who blow up emergency wards. Europeans are mute, lost in their delusion that this is all George Bush’s and Tony Blair’s fault.
But worst of all, Muslims, the very people whose future is being killed, are also mute. No surge can work in Iraq unless we have a “moral surge,” a counternihilism strategy that delegitimizes suicide bombers. The most important restraints are cultural, societal and religious. It takes a village — but the Arab-Muslim village today is largely silent. The best are indifferent or intimidated; the worst quietly applaud the Sunnis who kill Shiites.
Nobody in the Arab world “has the guts to say that what is happening in Iraq is wrong — that killing schoolkids is wrong,” said Mamoun Fandy, director of the Middle East program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “People somehow think that killing Iraqis is good because it will stick it to the Americans, so Arabs are undermining the American project in Iraq by killing themselves.”
The world worries about highly enriched uranium, but “the real danger is highly enriched Islam,” Mr. Fandy added. That is, “highly enriched Sunnism” and “highly enriched Shiism” that eats away at the Muslim state, the way Hezbollah is trying to do in Lebanon or the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt or Al Qaeda everywhere.
One result: there’s no legitimate, decent, accepted source of Arab-Muslim authority today, no center of gravity “for people to anchor their souls in,” Mr. Fandy said. In this welter of confusion, the suicide bombers go uncondemned or subtly extolled.
Arab nationalist media like Al Jazeera “practically tell bin Laden and his followers, ‘Bravo,’ ” Mr. Fandy said. “The message sent to bin Laden is that ‘You are doing to the West what we want done, but we can’t do it.’ This is the hidden message that the West is not privy to. Unless extreme pressure is applied on Muslims all over the world to come up with counter-fatwas and pronounce these men as pariahs, very little will happen in fighting terrorism.”
“The battleground in the Arab world today is not in Palestine or Lebanon, but in the classrooms and newsrooms,” Mr. Fandy concluded. That’s where “the software programmers” reside who create symbolic images and language glorifying suicide bombers and make their depraved acts look legitimate. Only other Arab-Muslim programmers can defeat them.
Occasionally an honest voice rises, giving you a glimmer of hope that others will stand up. The MEMRI translation Web site (memri.org) just posted a poem called “When,” from a Saudi author, Wajeha al-Huwaider, that was posted on Arab reform sites like www.aafaq.org.
When you cannot find a single garden in your city, but there is a mosque on every corner — you know that you are in an Arab country.
When you see people living in the past with all the trappings of modernity — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.
When religion has control over science — you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.
When clerics are referred to as “scholars” — don’t be astonished, you are in an Arab country.
When you see the ruler transformed into a demigod who never dies or relinquishes his power, and nobody is permitted to criticize — do not be too upset, you are in an Arab country.
When you find that the large majority of people oppose freedom and find joy in slavery — do not be too distressed, you are in an Arab country.
When you hear the clerics saying that democracy is heresy, but seizing every opportunity provided by democracy to grab high positions — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country. …
When you discover that a woman is worth half of what a man is worth, or less — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country. …
When land is more important than human beings — you are in an Arab country. …
When fear constantly lives in the eyes of the people — you can be certain you are in an Arab country.”
Why do Americans stand for this sort of bigotry from a leading columnist in a supposedly liberal newspaper? Is there no way to discuss the problem of suicide bombers and violence without sounding like the nuts themselves? The reference to the “hidden messages” of al-Jazeera sound absurdly like old anti-Semitic cliches and the “poem” is racist crap. Why are hate-filled messages like http://www.cafepress.com/buy/terrorism+dearborn/-/pv_design_details/pg_1/id_13994013/opt_/fpt_/c_360/“ rel=”nofollow”> this and http://www.cafepress.com/buy/terrorism/-/pv_design_details/pg_1/id_14045407/opt_/fpt_________F______P___b7_a2/c_368/“ rel=”nofollow”>this any more acceptable than other bigoted filth?
It’s worst when he tries to “translate” Arab cultural production (after his one year studying at AUC decades ago). One time he intepreted Mohamed Sobhi’s hit play Mama Amrika (late nineties) as evidence that the Arab world considered the US its mother. Of course, he mentioned he had not even seen the play. Wanted to yank off his bloody moustache.
Why do you consider the poem racist crap? OK, it i extremely critical. But coming from a Saudi author I have a hard time to consider it racist…
And just because Friedman cites the poem, that should not have an effect on the poem. Possibly Friedman quotes the poem with a racist agenda, but still that does not mean the poem itself is racist.
Moritz
SP, for several reasons. One: few Americans have contacts with Arabs that they know of, two: years and years of cultural conditioning from Disney right down to “24”, a general atmopshere of fear and distrust that has heightened in the last two years, thanks to the Decider and friends, and three: only 30% of all Americans have passports. And you can bet most of them are not going to Egypt, Syria or Lebanon. Neither they nor Friedman’s editors seem to know the difference.
Moritz – parts of the poem could certainly be taken as a cri de coeur of your average, angry Arab intellectual. Such as:
When you hear the clerics saying that democracy is heresy, but seizing every opportunity provided by democracy to grab high positions — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country. …
When religion has control over science — you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.
When clerics are referred to as “scholars� — don’t be astonished, you are in an Arab country.
When you see the ruler transformed into a demigod who never dies or relinquishes his power, and nobody is permitted to criticize — do not be too upset, you are in an Arab country.
And then there’s the broad brush critique that plays handily into every stereotype of Backward Arabs and could come right out of a nineteenth century colonial manual, and you know damn well why MEMRI translated these bits:
When you see people living in the past with all the trappings of modernity — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.
When you discover that a woman is worth half of what a man is worth, or less — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country. …
When land is more important than human beings — you are in an Arab country. …
Context is certainly important. Notice that Friedman doesn’t qualify this poem as “people in the Arab world frustrated with the way things are and who want to change them,” no, it’s the one “honest voice” in the midst of generalised masses of “mute muslims” who want to “glorify suicide bombers.”
Zazou, I don’t know if the usual “Americans don’t have much exposure” argument really works here, because Arabs and Muslims have been at the centre of much profiling/discrimination and civil rights debate in the US over the last few years, and people have made much more of an effort to “learn” (I use the word advisedly because it can also just mean picking up a Bernard Lewis diatribe) about the Muslim world since 9/11. Considering all that, it’s surprising to me that people, particularly the elite, educated kind that read the NYT, would be comfortable with this sort of crap.
Issander, calm down. I see nothing wrong in friedman’s article. In fact, I have wrote about the Arab/Muslim world’s crazy indifference towards the massacres in Iraq over and over again. I said that the Arab street/media/religious leaders do not give a rat’s ass about Arab/Muslims being killed as long as the killer is not an Israeli or an American. This is the naked truth that you need to face and try to find a remedy for.
The problem is that Friedman is what passes for an “expert” on the Middle East. Sometimes I don’t even know why people like him even bother travelling at all, because they’re just going to spit out the same regurgitated pap every time anyway.
Sure, there are fundamental criticisms to be made about the way that the Arab world treats violence and oppression committed by Arabs (Darfur, Western Sahara, Iraq, etc.), but to go from this to the sort of wholesale denigration of Arab society is absurd, and he should know better.
A lot of the aspects of that poem can be related to other countries. There are American cities where you see no grass, but there’s a Church and a liquor shop on every country. Religion with control over science? Ask Bill Frist about that.
As for some of the other points, they’re obviously hyperbole. I live in Lebanon and have visited Palestine, Egypt, Jordan and Syria, but I’ve never met a single person who finds joy in slavery.
This is not to say that the Arab world doesn’t have problems, it obviously does. It’s just hard to find sympathy for criticism coming from mealy-mouthed halfwits whose policies have done nothing but make the situation worse.
I agree with BP. Look, I’m not defending Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza or the invasion of Iraq, but these events prompt massive demonstrations across the Arab world. Genuine, heartfelt outrage. But where on Earth is even a small fraction of that anger when huge car bombs kill hundreds of people in Baghdad, for example?
I realize that government control, to a large degree, whether demonstrations can happen. But unauthorized anti-Israeli demos happen. Nothing similar when it comes to al-Qaeda or other extremist groups (I do recall such protests in Morocco and Jordan, but it’s not quite so compelling when you’re the ones who just got bombed).
Take the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait as an example. I can’t use any source except my own experience, but I’ve never encountered a single Arab who thought that this was an outrage. All you get is “Kuwait was always part of Iraq.” Of course, the killing and raping and looting that came with the invasion is irrelevant, as it why exactly Saddam Hussein’s thugs get to assert control over a piece of land just because of how the Ottomans and Abbasids drew their maps.
Maybe I’m wrong. I can’t read Arabic so there may well be mounds of outrage and anger over Islamist bombings (in countries other that of the protesters). But I can’t recall a single report mentioning such a demonstration, nor have I ever hear a single Arab condemn such attacks, with the same vitriol always reserved for Israel and the US.
As far as I can tell, Arabs are more concerned with who’s doing the killing than the killing itself. That’s not uniquely Arab and does not make Arabs sub-human, but it’s extremely sad and profoundly undermines the legitimate grievances Arabs have against Israel and the US.
Issandr,
Most of your blog, you’re railing against Arab governments, groups, institutions. You said in an earlier comment thread you’re no apologist and gave a brief list of some of what’s wrong:
“Real problems are when half of your country is illiterate, you’ve been under martial law as long as you remember, state failure is rife, massive unemployment has created a lost generation of people with no prospects, and as far as you can see there is little ground to be hopeful about your country for the foreseeable future.” — is what you said.
What Friedman did in this editorial didn’t strike me as much different. Also, his position is that the solution to the Arab world’s problems must and will come from within the Arab world, not outside it–inherent in that is hope, not racism.
All that said, I can of course understand why Arabs would not like this sort of editorial, because even if it’s not racist it can be used by racists to villify Arabs. But I also don’t know what you can do about it and I don’t think Friedman’s to blame for it or is racist, just because what he’s saying might be misconstrued. It’s a consequence of any criticism. It’s especially a consequence highlighting a group’s internal discourse for a wider audience that might not have the same understanding of the issues as the internal audience.
Maybe how you feel reading this editorial is how I feel when the anti-Israel crowd point out Israeli criticism of Israel, in a ceaseless struggle to erode belief in Israel’s right to exist. Inherent in the original Israeli criticism is a belief in Israel’s right to exist. But you can twist it, and you can use it to try and ‘prove’ the opposite, that Israel has no right to exist — a racist aim. I do not consider your blog racist for continually pointing out, for example (one of many), critical Haaretz editorials that ‘prove’ this or that about ethnic cleansing or apartheid or how Israel has no interest in peace, etc. Should I?
You think there’s nobody reading your blog, adding all your links to their Why-Israel-Is-Evil file? Are you going to stop criticizing Israel because your criticism might be misused by anti-Semites?
Yes, it is the silence that kills, not the horrible mess created by the incompetent Americans (and the Americans themselves, too). This is the same old crap from TF : the invasion has failed to produce the results that it was supposed to (i.e. is American control of Iraq and the Middle East). Who’s responsible? Well Arabs, and Muslims, (and Europeans too, by the way). You are in a place where you are never responsible for the results of your policies? You are in America.
Sanaa, the Arab world was not exactly paradise on Earth before the invasion. I doubt that much would be different had the US not invaded Iraq, apart from (1) less of an excuse to clamp down on opposition and (2) less Sunni-Shiite tension. But (1) was already very bad before the invasion (and seemed to get better, then worse afterwards). The Arab world might not get any help from the outside, but there are serious problems that have relatively little to do with foreign influence.
Adam, among the people I know, the thought about Kuwait was mostly so what, although when I mentioned Iraq had invaded a sovereign nation, they did say, uh huh, but then went back to their opinion that Kuwaitis are rich (unprintable) with little or no conscience- and the fact that the emir had gold faucets installed before he did much for his own people after the liberation confirmed the opinion that the Kuwaitis were not worth getting worked up over. I think the behavior of Gulf/Hizaz Arabs when they go to poorer parts of the Arab world, does not endear them to their poorer brethren who, when something happens to them say good! and go about their business. Sorry.
Adam, TF is not talking about the “problems of the Arab world”, he is talking about the American failure in Iraq.”No surge in Iraq would work unless we have a moral surge”, he says. That is the real meaning of this article. “The problems of the Arab world” (and the “Arab mind” too) are discussed here only insofar as they relate to that. That problems in the Arab world exist in themselves is one thing. That they are the issue here only because TF needs desperately to excuse the Americans is obvious.
To say that the American invasion has basically nothing to do with the situation in Iraq right now boggles the mind.
Zazou, I agree. I don’t really blame anyone who was mistreated by Kuwaitis (or their families) for saying screw them, they deserve whatever they get. It doesn’t make that sentiment acceptable but it does make it understandable and perfectly human.
However, other Arabs (such as my family, which is doing just fine) who are totally removed from these experiences and have no reason to feel resentment towards Kuwaitis also say that it’s great that Iraq invaded. Their attitude seems to be that the Kuwaitis are basically pigs who should be treated as such. Well, Kuwaitis are real people who suffered enormously in 1990-91. I’m just saying I’ve had too many conversations with too many other (privileged) Arabs whose attitude is that Kuwaitis are basically sub-human and if they were tortured and raped, good, they deserve it and the glorious Iraqi nation comes above all. It really boils my blood. Maybe the people I know are an extreme sample, but that’s my experience.
Sanaa, fair point. I certainly didn’t mean to say that the invasion is irrelevant to the situation in Iraq (it has everything to do with it). But it’s not terribly relevant to the situation in other countries and is less and less relevant the further you get from Iraq. In that sense, it’s like the Israeli occupation – the overwhelming (even, perhaps, the only) issue for the people directly concerned but a rather weak explanation for problems elsewhere in the Arab world. I suppose that’s quite different from TF’s point but it’s what I was getting at.
Let’s not kid ourselves please. Al-Jazeera is near gleeful when a new Zawahiri video is released, and not only for the ratings boon. The subtext Fandy grabs at is apparent to anyone who wishes to see it. As for Friedman, yes he can be a pain, but Ithink Issander is secretly jonesing for his column, hence the xtra angst…
I wrote a long response to Moritz’s points but I think my comment got eaten, ya Issandr.
” I doubt that much would be different had the US not invaded Iraq”
I think Iraq itself would probably be pretty different.
My impression about the attitude in the Middle East (or at least Egypt) is a sense of numb horror at the situation. People aren’t really sure how to react under the neverending avalance of pain and misery they hear about. But for most people out here, this all stems from an original sin that is not Saddam’s reign but the US invasion — so ultimately it is all the Americans fault, for stirring up the hornets nest, for unleashing the Shia, for firing up the jihadis, etc. etc. And frankly it’s a point of view that has a lot of merit.
In the end, don’t we all prefer to blame the villain we are more comfortable with? So Friedman focuses on the depraved suicide bombers, the people in the Arab world focus on the “precision guided munitions” that kill dozens or the Shiite death squads.
…and what’s with Friedman’s cheap shots at the Brotherhood and Hezbollah, it’s a little tough to start putting their activities on the same plane as Qaeda in Iraq. Jeez.
I agree with Paul. Yes, the majority of deaths in Iraq right now are being inflicted by Iraqis on other Iraqis, in a situation in which lines of ultimate causality are difficult to draw. It’s only human to focus on an enemy that makes us feel like the good guys while not facing up to uncomfortable truths – as the Americans should know, seeing the extreme aversion in the US to counting civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq or taking responsibility for strategic military errors that cost lives, while insisting all the time that the Iraqis are the ones who have to “stand up” and fix the mess.
But the likes of Friedman will refuse to think about this, will essentialise Arab behaviour as something owed to a deep psychological Arab problem/problem with Islam. People like him polarise the debate and put Arabs and Muslims on the defensive even when there is, and has always been, lots of debate in the Arabic press about terrorism and Islamism and what can be done about it, and the problems of the Arab world. You have to wonder if he’d even bother to engage in this debate if it were put in front of him. His attitude is “Arabs are the problem” rather than “Arabs have some problems” and quite honestly he seems more interested in venting and reinforcing prejudices than empathising with those problems. It’s kind of a shame he’s gone in this direction because he used to write the occasional sensible thing about the Arab world and took a fairly principled stand on the need for democracy.
Dahr Jamail made an interesting point on Link TV tonight. He said (and I stupidly can’t remember the complete percentage), something like 20% of deaths in Iraq today can be traced directly to the Occupation, so if we leave, that’s 20% more people alive. In addition, the Occupation has killed an incredible number of people – easily 30,000 for every year we’ve been there (ah, but who’s counting? The US? nah…), not to mention the cluster bombs laying about, the Golden Dome Mosque, the looted libraries, the sacked museums, the women who can’t go out, Negroponte’s boys, little things like that. Yeah, I guess it was a coin toss-bomb Baghdad, don’t bomb Baghdad…Yes, it’s Iraqi on Iraqi violence (mostly) right now- but for Friedman to elide over the US hand, seen and unseen, in this is criminal because he panders to a mindset that says see- they really are savages, but at least they have democracy- the ungrateful bastards- and by doing so, TF leads them not into self-awareness and a certain level of global information, but into the warm waters of the West with a Heart of Gold Who Is Misunderstood. Yet Again, Sigh…
I think TF knows what he is doing…
“As far as I can tell, Arabs are more concerned with who’s doing the killing than the killing itself. That’s not uniquely Arab and does not make Arabs sub-human, but it’s extremely sad and profoundly undermines the legitimate grievances Arabs have against Israel and the US.”
Adam,
you couldn’t have said it better.
BP/Adam – isn’t the quote above true of all war? Aren’t all militaries and voting publics in nations going to war focused on who’s doing the killing, bent on making the other bastard die for his country, convinced that the death and destruction are worth it – for some cause or the other? Aren’t “our” human rights abuses and use of torture always justified, and “theirs” reveal that they are sick bastards? Do we tar all those who go to war with the brush of “sickness” and “nihilism”? (perhaps we should – but I don’t think the Moustache is saying that).
As for the question of why Arabs and Muslims are so much less bothered by Muslims killing Muslims, absolutely right, there’s a lot of defensiveness about owning up to this and taking responsibility for it. It’s difficult to achieve this level of honesty in the finger-pointing climate that the Moustaches of this world have created – they just want to confirm their ideas about the eternal, essentialised problems of Islam and Arab culture, so why would anyone want to have a thoughtful discussion with these guys if anything they said was simply used as ammunition? (I rather think Fandy was used in that way – he’s not stupid and I don’t find him as prejudiced as TM’s quotes suggest).
Hmm. It does not look like, as if the eaten comment (see #16) will return. I would have been very interested to see it though… 🙁
SP, yes, people are going to care more about “our” suffering than “theirs” and “their” abuses than “ours.” That’s why it’s a mistake to identify this tendency as some kind of bizarre and uniquely Arab phenomenon. But today it’s hard to think of any other group for whom it’s more glaringly true. Although ironically enough Americans would probably place second, albeit a distant second I would say.
The problem is that if we’re waiting for the rest of the world (OK, the West mainly) to shape up and get its act together when dealing with Arabs before we expect to see positive change in that region, it’s going to be a long, LONG wait. If the change doesn’t come from within then it’s never going to happen (yes, I know, it’s hard to do that when you’re being invaded and occupied but again this is only the Iraqis and Palestinians, there are quite a few other Arab countries).
Funny thing is that the Palestinians probably have the most advanced Arab democracy (the only competition is from Lebanon, really) and it was entirely, 100% developed under occupation.
Sorry for the over-active spam-filtering, I think I’ve fixed the issue but let me know. I’ll be putting a disclaimer on the comment form soon to explain that this (much better) spam control system occasionally puts things in a moderation queue.
re: all of the above arguments, surely TF’s blanket generalizations are something we can all agree on. BP you’re the Egyptian version of that Saudi poet, fair enough coming from you but you’re still exagerating. You know as well as I do that there are people in the region who are concerned about people dying in Iraq. But it’s a confusing situation where most of the time you’re not sure who’s doing the killing and it’s certainly a fair argument to make, if perhaps besides the point, that this killing would have not have taken place without the US occupation of Iraq. The neo-cons even boasted of attracting all the Jihadis to Iraq to deal with them in once place. That’s what they got, why act surprised that Jihadis kill people?
BP- profiling and endless anaylsis in the news does not create familiarity for most Americans- it creates a false sense of being informed, since many can’t find Cincinnati- let alone Cairo, on a map. What truly makes a difference is personal contact or knowledge of something or someone. A lot of Christian Arab Americans don’t look what an American thinks Arabs typically look like- and not that many are going around advertising it. How many people know that White House Correspondent Helen Thomas is Arab-American, or Kathy Najimi or H. Murray Abrahams? Or their neighbor? Muslim Arab-Americans tend to live in larger centers and not in the smaller cities. Their history of immigration is more recent and more apart, in the sense that the mosque and the dress (for some) is not something most Americans can relate to. There is some hope that, as the younger generation goes to school, the barriers will be broken down and contact will be easier. But TF is of no help in this and neither is the program “24”.
Just to give you a little idea of what I am talking about, the Urban Tribal bellydancers movement shamelessly borrows from Arab culture left and right- but ask them to defend Arab-American rights, appear at rallies, show up and Arab-Ameican art show where they are not performing, and you see not a one. They do not come. I cannot tell you how irrititating this is, We have given up on reaching out to what one would assume to be natural allies.
“The problem is that if we’re waiting for the rest of the world (OK, the West mainly) to shape up and get its act together when dealing with Arabs before we expect to see positive change in that region, it’s going to be a long, LONG wait. If the change doesn’t come from within then it’s never going to happen “
Adam – who the hell said anything about the West getting its act together blah blah? I’m definitely in the camp that thinks the Western role in the Middle East is exaggerated. But the issue here is that Friedman is casting Arabs as somehow uniquely and uniformly incapable of applying moral judgement to crimes committed by their own, and insisting that there are no moderate and reasonable voices “within Islam” to condemn these acts when that is patently false.
Moritz, I think my comment #5 above is the one that had caught caught in the spam filter and is now liberated.
Mullah Cimoc say: click on link for great anti war rap song by an iraki amerikan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mprsqx2VT8M&mode=related&search=
I think some of the posters here are overstating the complexity of the reactions and opinions involved. The anger against Western criticism has to do with Arab culture that places a very high premium on honor/shame. This is the polar opposite of a guilt-led culture. Not only is there no introspection and self criticism, but criticism launched from the outside is the epitemy of humiliation in such a cultural atmosphere. You still see so much of Arab incompetence being blamed on outsiders and deflected onto others. You hear the incessant criticisms of Israel’s democratic deficiency even though Israel is more democratic than the other countries in every category.
So this is not racist – culture is at the core here – the same cultural mechanisms that have created Arab stagnation.
Lyrics to the Jim Crow-era artist Johnny Rebel’s song “Coon Town”:
If you smell somethin’ funny when you walk down the street
You’re in Coontown
You look and see garbage all over the street
You’re in Coontown
Up and down the street there ain’t nothin’ but trash
Nigger girls tryin’ to get a nigger boy’s cash
Then you even see a spook with a big moustache
In Coontown
…..
…….
It amazes me to see the way they live
In Coontown
They do all the takin’ while we have to give
To Coontown
The white man worries the nigger don’t care
‘Cause at the end of the month his check’ll be there
Every nigger earns his livin’ off the old welfare
In Coontown
Every nigger earns his livin’ off the old welfare
In Coontown
Go there, my friends, and see who is right. Go to Kuala Lumpur right now and talk to people–the fear is palpable. ALL articles like this generalize–if they didn’t, you wouldn’t have a thesis–but don’t ever doubt it–Friedman is more than fair in this piece.
Can someone get the mustache a subscription to a serious Arab press translation service like mideastwire.com?
Friedman has said he won’t do that because he doesn’t trust anything coming out of the middle east if it is written in English, not even translations of Arabic articles.
“When religion has control over science — you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.” Unless you maybe you are in Kansas, and then you can be sure you’re in Republican territory…
I find Friedman noxious and have for years. But he is usually behind the NYT sub. wall, so who cares.
generalizations are always bad. but like other commentators have said, the man isn’t far off. most of the points he made are at least partly true: and partly is too much. no, these problems are not unique to just arabs, but that doesn’t make them less true.
as for the poem…what makes you think the translation is at error? or is it the choice of material translated? because this is very credible coming from a woman in Saudi Arabia, and spot on if i may say so.
I see nothing wrong in Friedman’s op-ed, nor in the poem. I wouldn’t count MEMRI as a reliable, unbalance source of translation of Arab media since it is obviously biased, but apart from that, I totally agree with him, I would also add that I am shocked at the Egyptian (and Arab) population that show indifference towards these barbaric acts in Iraq, and I can’t figure out why does it hurt so much if the killer is not Arab/Moslem, while it is ok if our side is doing the killing en mass be it in Darfur or in Iraq.
“I am shocked at the Egyptian (and Arab) population that show indifference towards these barbaric acts in Iraq”
What is your evidence for that? I think there is very little indifference in the region over the barbaric acts in Iraq, it actually rather upsets people.