Media Blind Spot

Leslie Sacks

General Petraeus (link) recently voiced his concern that the plans of Pastor Terry Jones - the leader of a (very) small Florida church – to burn Qurans on the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 attacks would endanger our troops. In response to Petraeus’ announcement, Afghan protestors chanted “death to America”.The media, with unerring repetition, has focused only on the reasonable concern for our soldiers; on the quandary of the “burning” for first amendment rights; and on the consequences for our relations with the Muslim World.

Nowhere does the media address the more crucial, substantive and ultimately causal issue: why the burning of text on cellulose by one provocative and obnoxious pastor, who represents no one in particular, ensures that unconnected others will die in a totally separate part of the world.

This, however, is really old news. Recall the 2005 report in Newsweek (later retracted) about a US interrogator at Guantanamo flushing a Quran down a toilet that set off violent riots in the Middle East. Recall how the publication of cartoons of Mohamed in a Danish newspaper resulted in much death and mayhem.

It is not unusual for bibles to be confiscated by the omnipresent Saudi authorities (and presumably later destroyed), for synagogues and churches (with bibles therein) to be burned with alarming regularly in the Muslim world. Yet I do not recall a single death or riot resulting from these events. Are not Jews and Christians sufficiently insulted? Are they not similarly committed to their own religion? Do they not also revere their own God? When Christians or Jews are massacred in riots or by terrorists or suicide bombers, no rampage occurs in the Western World. When Muslims died in the Twin Towers, in restaurant bombings in Israel, in car bombings in Karbala - all at the hands of other Muslims - did Muslim extremists riot the world over? No; a resounding no! Yet the mere desecration of an inanimate Quran, or even the pictorial representation of Muhammad, can set off lethality in the “Muslim street.”

To those searching vociferously for an explanation (i.e. an excuse), one must point out that there is no lack of provocations available to any group, culture or religion worldwide. Why is it that the moderate majority of Muslims does not rise up to stop – or at least loudly object to – these supremely over-sensitive killing sprees, irrespective of their personal feelings or anger? What is it about the extremists’ beliefs, politics and support systems that engender such callous disregard for life, where symbols are valued more than human beings? That is what the media, the politicians and the conciliators should understand, and to which they should react.

These are the real questions, the real news that should be on the front page – the elephant(s) in the room to which the media is congenitally blind. At our peril, to be sure.



Note: The Guardian claims (link) that the pastor will no longer burn the Qur’an due to Imam Rauf’s agreement to move the New York Islamic center away from Ground Zero. The Imam denies this claim and counter-claims continue unabated. .