Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Arutz Sheva Writer Talks of "Barbarians" in the Middle East

One media outlet that the COGs tend to use is Arutz Sheva.  It is a right wing media outlet that caters for national religious Israeli Jews. It is based in Beit El, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It caters to a particular audience that most Jews are not a part of.

It is often quoted by PCG and to a somewhat lesser extent by UCGLCG and RCG. It is never criticized by the COGs. The COGs trust Arutz Sheva. They have never bothered explaining to their readers the political stances Arutz Sheva tend to take. Unfortunately the COGs tend to only quote what they find useful for their purposes. Anything else is ignored. Let's take a look at what else is written in this media outlet that the COGs' 1% are not inclined to discuss.

One Arutz Sheva columnist recently wrote an article that mentioned a 2014 novel which discusses the genocide against Armenians, Assyrians and other minorities in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Using this novel the author comments about current affairs in the Middle East. Alas, many collaborated in the frightful acts associated with the genocide. This post focuses the Arutz Sheva columnist's discussion of present events.
The powers-that-be's apathy allowed what has happened over the past few years in the Middle East to Yazidis, Christians and other hapless minorities. It is the only way to understand the world's standing by, Obama welcoming Muslim migrants but not rescuing or opening the doors to Yazidis, the Pope's deafening silence, the West's late intervention. 
Actually there are reasons why the Christians of those areas are less inclined to be refugees fleeing to Europe.

The author takes a swipe at the idealistic regard for the common humanity of all humankind.
Any naïve and liberal humanistic thoughts of the brotherhood of man should disappear after reading this book – a true story, except for details of conversations and some names - of a well-to-do Assyrian Christian family living in a close knit, religious community in the beautiful plain of Urmia at the outbreak of WWI. 
The author declares that the Middle East has been a home to "barbarians ... since the beginning of time."
The eye opener, for my Western eyes at least, is the part played by the Kurds. They are the mass murderers in this book, the wild savages who join the Turks and mercilessly torture and slaughter anything in their path. During WWI they were on the other side, murdering peaceful Assyrians, but today they are fighting ISIS, so we talk sympathetically about giving them a country. While independence for the Kurds may be a feasible plan, it is important to realize how the Kurds themselves are seen here to be no different than all the other barbarians the region has spawned since the beginning of time.
Then the author manages to praise earlier immigrants to America while lambasting present day immigrants to America at the same time.
The family story taking place within the historical saga is heartbreaking, because Joe David is actually setting down the life story of his own mother, the young girl who is the main character in the book and whose sheltered life is cruelly destroyed. She ... manages to reach the United States – and for the right reasons - quite a different kind of migrant from those we witness today – becomes a patriotic American in heart and soul and raises her courageous, moral voice to fight for freedom and affect US history.
The author expresses hope that president elect Trump will stand up against such "barbarians".
President elect Trump will soon have to deal with the barbarians who have risen once again in the Middle East –  ISIS, Hamas and all the rest. Hopefully, he has learned the lessons of history and will be a leader who remembers those innocents of every origin whose lives are on the line.
And who are "all the rest"? Is it proper to be so vague about accusing people in the Middle East of being "barbarians"? Would that include Kurds today? Many of the Kurds today fight against the criminal network known as ISIL. However the vast majority of Kurds today were born after the genocide against the Assyrians and had nothing to do with it.

Should the COGs' leaders trust a media source like this?

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