by B. R. GOWANI
Photo from a former employee of the law firm of Steven J. Baum: Two Steven J. Baum employees mocking homeowners who have been foreclosed on.
“On Friday, 28 October, the law firm of Steven J. Baum threw a Halloween party. The firm, which is located near Buffalo, is what is commonly referred to as a ‘foreclosure mill’ firm, meaning it represents banks and mortgage servicers as they attempt to foreclose on homeowners and evict them from their homes. Steven J. Baum is, in fact, the largest such firm in New York; it represents virtually all the giant mortgage lenders, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.” PHOTO & TEXT/New York Times
Some anti-Islam emails have been circulating on the internet for quite some time. One of them is about how many Nobel laureates are Jews as compared to Muslims, whose number can be counted on one’s fingertips.
Then there is this email which lists few Muslim countries and Israel occupied Gaza, and ridicules that Muslims living in those countries are never happy. On the other hand, Muslims residing in non-Muslim countries are indeed happy but wants to recreate the atmosphere of their countries of origin.
I’ll deal with the second mail this time. The first one at some other time.
The good thing about propaganda is that if it is carried on for long, many people belonging to the community being maligned will start believing it too–either due to historical ignorance or lack of understanding of the motives of the propaganda propagators. Many individual Muslims are circulating these emails too and are also posted on some Muslim sites.
Then there are those people who have either been the victims of the Muslim fanatics (such as authors Ayaan Ali Hirsi and Salman Rushdie) or their supporters and/or friends (such as the late Christopher Hitchens) who became so obsessed with the Muslim fanatics or “Islamofascists” (their label) that in their parochialism they not only refuse to acknowledge the white imperial terror but instead joined hands with the imperialists. This made them the darling of the dominant media (providing then space in print media and on radio and TV) and the publishers (bringing them big bucks for their books).
This is not to defend the Muslim idiocies (such as ridiculous or deadly fatwas); or their terror attacks (such as suicide bombings); or the repressive and corrupt regimes in Muslim countries; or the liberal culprits who remain silent amidst all these things; or a tiny segment of those Muslims residing in Europe, US, Canada, and Australia who talk about introducing a sharia law in those countries. Yes, Muslim countries have many problems. However, it becomes too much when the entire Muslim community is labeled as crazy and terrorist. Or, as the following email proclaims, Muslims are happy everywhere except the Islamic countries.
The following is the email:
“MUSLIMS ARE NOT HAPPY
They´re not happy in Gaza.
They’re not happy in Egypt.
They’re not happy in Libya.
They’re not happy in Morocco.
They’re not happy in Iran.
They’re not happy in Iraq.
They’re not happy in Yemen.
They’re not happy in Afghanistan.
They’re not happy in Pakistan.
They’re not happy in Syria.
They’re not happy in Lebanon.”
“So, where are they happy?
They’re happy in Australia.
They’re happy in England.
They’re happy in France.
They’re happy in Italy.
They’re happy in Germany.
They’re happy in Sweden.
They’re happy in the USA.
They’re happy in Norway.
They’re happy in almost every country that is not Islamic!
“And whom do they blame?
Not Islam…
Not their leadership…
Not themselves…
THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE HAPPY IN!
And they want to change the countries they’re happy in, to be like the countries they came from, where they were unhappy.
Try to find logic in that!”
Unhappy Muslims
Gaza
Imagine your house has been occupied by a thief. After a long struggle, you get back two of the nine rooms (about 22% of the area) and the remaining seven rooms (about 78% of the area) have become thief’s property. Now those two rooms are not adjoined but are separated by thief’s rooms. In one of the two rooms (the West Bank), you have got many of the thief’s people occupying prime locations. And the other room (Gaza) is turned into a prison where the supplies of any kind cannot enter without the approval of the thief.
And the thief, Israel, is supported by the US.
How happy are you going to be in that room?
One more example:
Egypt
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was supported by the US for thirty years. Even when the protest began in Egypt last year, the Egyptian generals were visiting the US.
Can anyone blame the Egyptians for not being happy?
…
Are non-Muslims happy?
Neither all Muslims residing in the countries they were born in are unhappy, nor all non-Muslims residing in the countries they were born in are happy.
Are people in the US who have lost their houses, and are being made fun of by the evicting firm, happy? (See the above picture.)
Are millions of low caste people in India, facing “apartheid” type discrimination, happy?
Are those Greek parents who, because of dire poverty, are handing over their children to Ark of the World happy?
Hundreds of examples can be cited where people’s lives are so miserable that they can’t even think about joy.
Muslims want to change the countries they’re happy in
In every ethnic, religious, or ideological group, there is a tiny section of people who are missionary minded and are always hell bent on changing “others” rather than adjusting themselves, or, at least, continuing their traditional ways without disturbing others.
There is a joke, albeit pregnant with truth, about the white European missionaries who, during the colonial era, were on missions to convert the natives in Africa, Americas, and elsewhere.
“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.”
Missionary minded Muslims in Western countries have no such luck. Some Muslims in Western countries do talk, try, and influence politicians to introduce Islamic laws, but they have faced vehement opposition by many people, including Muslims. Yes conversions do happen but then Christianity is gaining new members in other countries too.
And it is the Western countries which have been more successful in changing the world by forcing their corporate practices and cultural trends. Muslims are nowhere near.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com