Washington Times’s Arrogance

After NY Times’s ‘moderate’ article on CAIR, which I had analyzed here, Washington Times came with its guns blazing on a few days ago. What extremely irks me about this editorial is the sheer arrogance of the Times. This line especially gets under my skin: “This is a lesson [about a robust media] our Muslim brothers will learn sooner or later as they become accustomed to life in America.”

What? Are you kidding me? Is this the semi-respectable ‘unbiased’ newspaper Washington Times, or am I reading commentary on Spencer’s Jihad Watch? Ok, I am not that naive; I know the Times is a conservative right-wing (not just leaning but completely FOXish right-wing) paper. But still, isn’t there something calling journalistic responsibility? Isn’t even the most biased media outlet that purports to report news still supposed to pretend that it is TRYING to be unbiased, even if it ultimately isn’t?

Well, not in Washington Times’s case. This newspaper is so beholden to AIPAC and other right-wing nuts’ position that it does not even pretend to be unbiased. Back to the line that irked then, what in the world are you talking about WT? “Our Muslim brothers”? First of all, we ain’t your brothers, especially YOUR brothers. Secondly, what does this mean: “accustomed to life in America”? Are you aware, editors at WT: that many of the CAIR people are actually born-Americans, and probably all of them are Americans? And most of them are doing fairly well in America, and your condescending, belittling statement does nothing except to show how ridiculously low your editorial standards are.

Furthermore, WT tells CAIR (and by token of this to all the Muslims) that “The way to stop unfavorable coverage is to straighten up and fly right. Shooting the messenger, as any successful American advocacy group could tell them, never works. ”

Let me tell you, WT bigots: the way to stop unfavorable coverage from your paper is for Muslims to become once-Muslims. The only people that will make you happy are Muslim-pretenders such as Manji, and the “we are Muslims when we really are not” folks such as Ayaan Hirshi, or Wafa Sultan. And let me also tell you, that it ain’t happening! Maybe some of the proggie boys and girls at eteraz might buckle down and fulfill your requirements for ‘good Muslim boys and girls’, but the vast majority of normal Muslims will always be ‘radical’ in your sight, just like CAIR. So take your worthless, insincere and unjustified advice and mail it to AIPAC, Daniel Pipes’s ‘Campus Watch’, and your very own organization, which best exemplifies the ‘kill the messenger’ methodology. Have we forgotten what was done to Carter and to the two Professors who wrote a critical analysis of AIPAC? We haven’t.

CAIR’s statement on the editorial (a few excerpts):

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/15/07) – A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called the right-wing Washington Times newspaper “beyond hypocritical” for claiming to support a “robust media” while refusing to publish responses to alleged anti-Muslim bias in its reporting and commentary.

As evidence of the Washington Times’ refusal to publish editorial responses from Muslims, CAIR cited a letter to the editor it sent to the paper earlier this week. That letter, headlined “Washington Times Seeks to Silence American Muslims,” has not appeared in that newspaper. It stated in part:

“It seems that Internet searches of extremist anti-Muslim blogs have replaced responsible journalism at the Washington Times. That can be the only explanation for the laundry list of recycled smears, distortions and outright falsehoods littered throughout S.A. Miller’s hatchet job on the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group.

“CAIR is a grass-roots expression of American Muslims who resolved to rise to the challenges facing our society, namely to confront intolerance and promote justice. As the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group, CAIR’s 32 chapters bring together Americans from every walk of life. The diversity represented by CAIR’s staff, volunteers and supporters is a reflection of the diversity of America.

“We are the same group that launched an online petition drive, called ‘Not in the Name of Islam,’ designed to demonstrate Muslim repudiation of terrorism and religious extremism. CAIR is also the group that launched a television public service announcement campaign of that same name and coordinated a ‘fatwa,’ or Islamic religious ruling, against terrorism. . .

Saylor, the author of CAIR’s letter to the Times, added: “The fact that CAIR comes under attack by anti-Muslim extremists should come as no surprise to anyone who works for positive social change. All proponents of justice, including leading organizations in America’s civil rights movement, have faced similar attacks designed to silence their voices.