An observation:3 examples:
1- this is a quote from a tweeter @Iyad_elbaghdadi :
"Let's talk a bit about that quote: "Insurrection of thoughts always precedes insurrection of arms." It was said by Wendell Phillips. Phillips (http://j.mp/dLzdIG) was an abolitionist, calling for an end to slavery in the USA, and for equal rights for Native Americans. He made the case that slavery and oppression are chiefly in the mind of the slave. He won't allow his thoughts to stray too far. Therefore he said that the true end to slavery isn't in legislation or on the battlefield but in the mind of the slave. It starts with men not believing anymore that they're slaves, who believe they're free, who no longer recognize slavery as legitimate.This insurrection of minds, once it has taken hold in a person, is the true revolution #Libya. The Libyan people no longer believe themselves to be slaves to Gaddafi. They have broken those shackles of mind for good. #Libya"2- This example is an observation witnessed by a dear friend of mine who is studying a Masters degree on Islam in Britain. He is also on twitter: @Abdulazim
He spoke of a vicious circle of the medias general view and narrative on young British Muslims. That when you impose an idea that young British Muslims are ticking bombs, that they are susceptible more than their peers to become violent, radical and criminal. Left alone, they will come to a crisis and two choices, either to leave their faith, or to truly become radicalised believing what he is told about himself, because of the media coverage. Then taking the real Muslims as people who compromised. thus fueling the hate machine and entertainment news media.
he also added that this all comes down to:
a) a lack of religious guidance from scholars
b) a rejection of the violence and imperalism of western states
c) an identity crisis
3- this is my personal observation of what is happening to the people in Bahrain:
The government is using all its resources to promote sectarianism, and today I can say from what I have seen, that I know how Nazi Germany can happen:
Control the media, control education, and control all important social institutions. How can you go wrong?.
with the uprising of a nation of a majority shia populace where they are the oppressed! in the gulf where I am now, the local media wishes me to believe that unarmed civilians, (There is a gun ban in all GCC nations) who only have old swords and kitchen knives are initiating violence and aggressing against an institution that has an armed and armored task force, another country's army and helicopters in the air to boost. (Just to add on this issue of media, reporters from outlets such as the CNN and BBC were not allowed in Bahrain) .
The Sunni people in Gulf nations are made to think that their governments are protecting them from the threat of Iranian imperialism...That Collectively all Shia are terrorists who secretly wish the death of all Sunnis, that they would betray their fellow Sunni for a fellow Shia for any reason, that their allegiance is not to their own people, but to Iran and Hezbullah..
. These sentiments are not new, they are generations of hate indoctrination put to work now, from my father to my little brother. God knows if I didn't leave Qatar to the UK I would have still accepted such vile ignorance as fact. The funny thing is, these people who speak with such hate, would sometimes be the ones who commit what they accuse my Shia brothers and sisters of. The media narrative today of Bahrain and the embedded hate, can do nothing to a Shia individual, but make him possibly either confused or angry, and would give great publicity to the few radical elements among the Shia and nothing to a sunni individual, but confirm the lies
The specific reasons of why sunni and shia would hate each other don't matter, because after I learned of the shia tradition from shia I knew what I was told was but lies. I needed nothing but to learn, which removed the shade of ignorance.
There is however a more important aspect to all of this, that the govnt used this tactic to remove itself from blame, to make as if shia are up to their antics again, and accused it of promoting the sectarian divide, making the rest love their government more and more for "protecting" them. Hence people praised saudi when it went into Bahrain with its tanks to a different country to "battle" unarmed people.
Has anything I said rang a bell in some other issue, in some other place in a time past possibly?
In this issue in my opinion it comes down to these matters:
- It begins with collective judgment: to assign a group of people to have a specific negative aspect to them based on colour, creed, nationality or some type of grouping
- It comes from a position of power: either in number of in status.
- Its for the Ignorant masses that the person or people of power deem to represent. They are meant to believe this so much so, that the people of the group accused of this lie start to doubt themselves and sometimes believe it to be the case.
- the purpose is to propose a set of ideas, or to alienate the particular group, or to propose a set of legislation, all for the consumption of more power either real of imaginary.
Of course this analysis at the end is purely simplistic and it comes from an individual who is no expert on this issue.
At the end I'd like to propose this article I read recently that speaks close to the issue this blog wished to raise: Politically Incorrect Authoritarianism
I hope you have found this blog to be of use.
God Bless ^_^
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