by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
<\/em>The Gatestone Institute<\/em><\/p>\n When it comes to Muslim persecution of Christians, the mainstream media (MSM) has a long paper trail of obfuscating; while they eventually do state the bare-bone facts \u2014 if they ever report on a story in the first place, which is rare \u2014 they do so after creating and sustaining an aura of moral relativism that minimizes the Muslim role.<\/p>\n False Moral Equivalency<\/strong><\/p>\n As\u00a0previously discussed<\/a>, one of the most obvious ways is to evoke “sectarian strife” between Muslims and Christians, a phrase that conjures images of two equally matched \u2014 equally abused and abusive \u2014 adversaries fighting. This hardly suffices to describe reality: Muslim majorities persecuting largely passive Christian minorities.<\/p>\n Most recently, for instance, in the context of the well-documented suffering of Christians in Egypt, an\u00a0NPR<\/a>\u00a0report declared “In Egypt, growing tensions between Muslims and Christians have led to sporadic violence [initiated by whom?]. Many Egyptians blame the interreligious strife on hooligans [who?] taking advantage of absent or weak security forces. Others believe it’s because of a deep-seated mistrust between Muslims and the minority Christian community [how did the “mistrust” originate?].” Though the report does highlight cases where Christians are victimized, the tone throughout suggests that examples of Muslims victimized by Christians could just as easily have been found (not true). Even the title of the report is “In Egypt, Christian-Muslim Tension Is on the Rise”; the accompanying photo is of a group of angry Christians, one militantly holding a cross aloft \u2014 not Muslims destroying crosses, which is what prompts the former to such displays of religious solidarity.<\/p>\n Two more strategies that fall under the MSM’s umbrella of obfuscating and minimizing Islam’s role \u2014 strategies that the reader should become acquainted with \u2014 appeared in recent reports dealing with the jihadi group Boko Haram and its ongoing genocide of Nigeria’s Christians.<\/p>\n First, some context: Boko Haram, whose full name in Arabic is “Sunnis for Da’wa [Islamization] and Jihad,” is a terrorist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the secular government and establishment of Sharia law (sound familiar?). It has been slaughtering Christians for years, with an uptick since last\u00a0December’s Christmas day church bombing<\/a>, which left 40 Christians dead, followed by its New Year ultimatum that all Christians must evacuate northern regions or die \u2014 an ultimatum Boko Haram has been living up to, as hardly a day goes by without a terrorist attack on Christians or churches, most recently, last Sunday’s\u00a0Easter day church attack that killed nearly 50<\/a>.<\/p>\n Blurring the Line between Persecutor and Victim<\/strong><\/p>\n Now consider some MSM strategies. The first one is to frame the conflict between Muslims and Christians in a way that blurs the line between persecutor and victim, for example, this recent\u00a0BBC<\/a>\u00a0report on one of Boko Haram’s many church attacks that left three Christians dead, including a toddler. After stating the bare-bone facts, the report goes on to describe how “the bombing sparked a riot by Christian youths, with reports that at least two Muslims were killed in the violence. The two men were dragged off their bikes after being stopped at a roadblock set up by the rioters, police said. A row of Muslim-owned shops was also burned\u2026” The report goes on and on, with a special section about “very angry” Christians, till one all but confuses victims with persecutors, forgetting what the Christians are “very angry” about in the first place: unprovoked and nonstop terror attacks on their churches, and the murder of their women and children.<\/p>\n This is reminiscent of the Egyptian New Year’s Eve church bombing that left over 20 Christians dead: the MSM reported it, but under headlines like “Christians clash with police in Egypt after attack on churchgoers kills 21″(Washington Post<\/em><\/a>) and “Clashes grow as Egyptians remain angry after attack”(New York Times<\/em><\/a>) \u2014 again, as if frustrated Christians lashing out against wholesale slaughter is as newsworthy as the slaughter itself; as if their angry reaction “evens” everything up.<\/p>\n Dissembling the Perpetrators’ Motivation<\/strong><\/p>\n The second MSM strategy involves dissembling over the jihadis’ motivation. An\u00a0AFP<\/a>\u00a0report describing a different Boko Haram church attack \u2014 which also killed three Christians during Sunday service \u2014 does a fair job reporting the facts. But then it concludes with the following sentence: “Violence blamed on Boko Haram,\u00a0whose goals remain largely unclear<\/em>, has since 2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year, according to figures tallied by AFP and rights groups.”<\/p>\n Although Boko Haram has been howling its straightforward goals for a decade \u2014 enforcing Sharia law and, in conjunction, subjugating if not eliminating Nigeria’s Christians \u2014 here is the MSM claiming ignorance about these goals (earlier the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0described Boko Haram’s goals as “senseless<\/a>” \u2014 even as the group continues justifying them on doctrinal grounds). One would have thought that a decade after the jihadi attacks of 9\/11 \u2014 in light of all the subsequent images of Muslims in militant attire shouting distinctly Islamic slogans such as “Allahu Akbar!” and calling for Sharia law and the subjugation of “infidels” \u2014 reporters would by now know what their motivation and goals are.<\/p>\n Of course, the media’s obfuscation serves a purpose: it leaves the way open for the politically correct, MSM-approved motivations for Muslim violence: “political oppression,” “poverty,” “frustration,” and so forth. From here, one can see why politicians like former US president\u00a0Bill Clinton<\/a>\u00a0cite “poverty” as “what’s fueling all this stuff” (a reference to\u00a0Boko Haram’s slaughter of Christians<\/a>), or the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs insistence that “religion is not driving extremist violence<\/a>” in Nigeria, which he said in response to last Sunday’s Easter day church bombing.<\/p>\n In short, while the MSM may report the most frugal facts concerning Christian persecution, they utilize their entire arsenal of semantic games, key phrases, and convenient omissions that uphold the traditional narrative \u2014 that Muslim violence is anything but a byproduct of the Islamic indoctrination of intolerance.<\/p>\n \u00a92012 Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Raymond Ibrahim The Gatestone Institute When it comes to Muslim persecution of Christians, the mainstream media (MSM) has a long paper trail of obfuscating; while they eventually do state the bare-bone facts \u2014 if they ever report on a story in the first place, which is rare \u2014 they do so after creating and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[225,227],"tags":[57,192,1035,1044,30],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-dm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6357,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/in-egypt-media-sympathizes-with-muslim-brotherhood-persecution-of-christians-ignored\/","url_meta":{"origin":828,"position":0},"title":"In Egypt, Media Sympathizes with Muslim Brotherhood, Persecution of Christians Ignored","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0NRO's The Corner While Western media, following the lead of pro-Brotherhood Al Jazeera, continue demonizing the Egyptian military\u2019s attempts to neutralize the Muslim Brotherhood terror bases \u2013\u00a0where people have been tortured, raped, and killed, all according to Islamist fatwas (yes, including the rape, more on this later)\u00a0the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Muslim Brotherhood"","block_context":{"text":"Muslim Brotherhood","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/muslim-brotherhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7216,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-are-slaughtering-us-like-chickens-muslim-persecution-of-christians-december-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":828,"position":1},"title":"The Are Slaughtering Us Like Chickens’: Muslim Persecution of Christians, December 2013","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Insitute As happens at Christmas every year throughout the Muslim world, Christians and their churches were especially targeted\u2014from jihadi terror strikes killing worshippers, to measures by Muslim authorities restricting Christmas celebrations.\u00a0 Some incidents follow:","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7139,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-the-media-doesnt-cover-jihadist-attacks-on-middle-east-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":828,"position":2},"title":"Why the Media Doesn’t Cover Jihadist Attacks on Middle East Christians","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0The Torch\u00a0 \u201cTo their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace\u201d\u2014Hebrews 6:6 The United Nations, Western governments, media, universities, and talking heads everywhere insist that Palestinians are suffering tremendous abuses from the state of Israel.\u00a0 Conversely, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/cufi-300x250.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7027,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/new-york-times-biased-coverage-on-muslim-persectution\/","url_meta":{"origin":828,"position":3},"title":"New York Times Biased Coverage on Muslim Persectution","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/ RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 The\u00a0New York Times\u00a0has finally found a victim of Islamic aggression in Nigeria worth reporting on: homosexuals. \u00a0 In a big spread complete with pictures appearing last week, the NYT\u2019s Adam Nossiter wrote \u201cWielding Whip and a Hard New Law, Nigeria Tries to \u2018Sanitize\u2019 Itself of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nigeria"","block_context":{"text":"Nigeria","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/nigeria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6219,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/crucified-again-venn-institute-interviews-raymond-ibrahim\/","url_meta":{"origin":828,"position":4},"title":"Crucified Again — Venn Institute Interviews Raymond Ibrahim","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Raymond Ibrahim [Note: The following interview was conducted by the\u00a0Venn Institute\u00a0with Raymond Ibrahim] Raymond Ibrahim is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam expert, and author most recently of\u00a0Crucified Again: Exposing Islam\u2019s New War on Christians. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@RaymondIbrahim5 Venn Institute: Most Americans see persecution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6275,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/christian-tragedy-in-the-muslim-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":828,"position":5},"title":"Christian Tragedy in the Muslim World","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We are living through one of the largest persecutions of a religious group in history. by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0Defining Ideas \u00a0 Few people realize that we are today living through the largest persecution of Christians in history, worse even than the famous attacks under ancient Roman emperors like Diocletian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/riot-620x413.jpg?fit=400%2C246&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5625,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions\/5625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}