November 9, 2009
You must not generalize
Remember when Stuart Nozette was arrested last month, that the Washington Post reported:
Nozette's actions could be misinterpreted in ways that damage American impressions of Jews or provoke an overreaction that divides Americans.
Well actually the Post didn't include any such line. It did note at the end of the article that prosecutors noted that Israel had nothing to do with Nozette's espionage. But it did tell us this:
Sometime before Nozette took a foreign trip in January, he told a colleague that he would flee the United States if charged with a crime, the agent wrote. Nozette added that he would tell officials from an unidentified country and Israel "everything" he knew, the court papers allege.
This is, I suppose, part of the news story and legitimate news, but doesn't it raise the specter of double loyalty that is often trotted out against Jews?
Yet here's a story about Nidal Hasan.
A challenge for investigators is sorting out a potential thicket of psychological, ideological or religious motivations behind Hasan's alleged actions. Hasan's possible contact with extremists such as Aulaqi would complicate matters, suggesting that U.S. authorities may have missed chances to prevent the cleric from instigating this incident and others. But if it turns out that Hasan acted in the throes of an emotional breakdown, his questionable ties could be misinterpreted in ways that damage U.S. outreach to the Muslim world or provoke an overreaction that divides Americans.
Part of the Post's reporting is to ensure that Americans don't generalize from one man's actions. While anti-Muslim hate crimes did increase after 9/11, they are back down again to very low levels. Why is it that when it comes to Muslims does the Washington Post (and American media in general) feel the need to tell us what to think?
Crossposted on Yourish.
Posted by SoccerDad at November 9, 2009 6:03 AM
When chrono-fowl collide
I am not a schnook
Levi's blues
Domestic hostility
How the msm determines motive
Goldstone Refuses To Debate Dershowitz
Obama Channels Jack Benny
The audacity of nope
Ye olde grievance shoppe
Goldstone - nazi hunter?
Its permitted to make generalizations about Jews and Israel. But its verboten to make generalizations about Muslims and Islamic terrorism. Naturally, there's no double standard here!
None at all.
Posted by: NormanF at November 9, 2009 9:29 AMThe coverage of this digusts me. The msm is more focused on doing damage control for the muslim community than expressing any sympathy whatsoever for the victims of this islamic terrorist attack.
Posted by: Laura at November 9, 2009 12:12 PMNormanF said
"Its permitted to make generalizations about Jews and Israel. But its verboten to make generalizations about Muslims and Islamic terrorism. Naturally, there's no double standard here!"
Really? You can not be serious. The media will both under-report anything negative relating to Israel and when they do, they bend over backwards not to offend. If this man had been an Arab and was willing to sell secrets to some Arab state it would have been front page news.
Think of the USS Liberty and Jonathan Pollard, few Americans even know what those two names are about.
We need a clean break from this nonsense.
Posted by: real_democrat at November 14, 2009 6:42 PMYou have to be kidding. What a prick you are. The media is constantly portraying Israel in a negative light. And would anyone but a muslim in the military have gotten away with openly declaring war on America.
Posted by: Laura at November 14, 2009 7:50 PM"If this man had been an Arab and was willing to sell secrets to some Arab state it would have been front page news".
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Muslim American soldier Hasan Abujihaad was convicted last year on espionage and material terrorism-support charges after serving aboard the USS Benfold and sharing classified information with al Qaeda financiers, including movements of US ships just six months after al Qaeda operatives had killed 17 Americans aboard the USS Cole in the port of Yemen.
* Egyptian Ali A. Mohamed joined the US Army while a resident alien despite being on a State Department terrorist-watch list before securing his visa. An avowed Islamist, he taught classes on Muslim culture to US Special Forces at Fort Bragg and obtained classified military documents. He was granted US citizenship over the objections of the CIA. Honorably discharged from the Army in 1989, he then hooked up with Osama bin Laden as an escort, trainer, bagman and messenger. He used his US passport to conduct surveillance at the US Embassy in Nairobi. He later pleaded guilty to conspiring with bin Laden and admitted his role in the 1998 African embassy bombings that killed more than 200 people, including a dozen Americans.
And the espionage case of Muslim chaplain James Yee.