Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People

MSgt · 11-07-07, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldreliable67

Witches burned in Salem? None in the last, oh, 100 years or so.

The veneer of civilization is thin, indeed, and there is no denying that violence against women is a huge societal problem. But nowhere in recent times is the veneer as thin, to the point of being nonexistent, as in areas dominated by radical Muslim theology and sharia. It is as if the followers of the three Abrahamic religions, as you put it, have become much more enlightened over the centuries, while radical Islamists have regressed. Indeed, a major part of the thrust of radical Islam is to reject modernity.

Moreover, there seems to be a distinction that should be recognized between violence for social, non-religious reasons (i.e., simple criminal behavior, sans religious motivation or instruction), versus violence inflicted for religious reasons (i.e., carrying out the instructions of Allah or some perceived deity). The majority of violence against women in non-radical Muslim areas is of the former variety, I believe, while in radical Muslim areas, it is the latter.

Is one motivation qualitatively "better" or "worse" than the other? One being more of a "social" problem while the other has a religious motivation suggests (to me, anyway), that institutionalized religious motivation is by far the more serious. Mere bad behavior, though serious but not often fatal, can be addressed much more readily than religious fanaticism, which as we have seen, often results in death by stoning or public execution.

I'm pretty sure you are talking over his head. He seems to be only concerned with throwing insignificant things around to defend what is probably his world.

WI Crippler · 11-07-07, 11:09 AM

How about we use this as a litmus test, since we are bringing up witches and all.

How many practicing witches exist in America today?? Pick any ME country you want, hell combine a few and lets see who is more tolerant of womens rights to practice witchcraft in this day and age.

oldreliable67 · 11-08-07, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Hill

Note that Iran is still a safe place for civilians to travel and live.

Really?

Quote:

Nearly a year ago, French-Iranian filmmaker Mehrnoushe Solouki arrived in Tehran to shoot a documentary about the burial rites of Iran's religious minorities. But when she stumbled upon a mass grave of regime opponents summarily executed in 1988, Solouki was suddenly thrown into Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
...
It all began in December 2006. Solouki arrived in Iran to film a documentary about the burial traditions of Iran's religious minority communities, such as Armenian Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians.

Solouki says the Iranian Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance granted her a research license. She says the authorities were told in advance of the locations where she wanted to film, and that they were aware that the subject dealt with the cemeteries of Iranian minorities.

The authorities therefore had prior knowledge of her planned activities -- they were not taken by surprise. "The bureau in charge of minorities affairs at the Culture Ministry coordinated all this," Solouki said. "[By that] I mean coordination between the ministry's press office and its minorities bureau."

But while filming, Solouki says she stumbled on an area at the Khavaran Cemetery on Tehran's outskirts that caught her attention. She described it as "totally different" from the other parts she had filmed. Asked whether she was referring to a mass grave of people summarily executed in 1988, she said, "Yes."

How many people were buried there has never been established. However, estimates by Iranians and outsiders generally point to more than 2,800 killed, with their bodies buried in different areas around the country, not just the Khavaran Cemetery. Most were opposition leftists and mujahedin members taken from jail and summarily executed. Solouki says the authorities may believe that she intended to make a film critical of the mass executions, which took place in the summer and fall of 1988.
...
Solouki's story is similar to a case earlier this year in which four Iranian-Americans were also prevented from leaving after being vaguely accused of antistate activities. All four have since been allowed to leave.

One of them was Radio Farda correspondent Parnaz Azima, who had traveled to Iran in January to visit her ailing mother. Azima's passport was confiscated on arrival. But while she was finally freed to leave in September, the charges against her of "activities contrary to Iranian security" are still pending.

[emphasis added]

Is that you define "a safe place for civilians to travel and live?"

Read the whole report, here.

Joe Hill · 11-09-07, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GySgt

I'm pretty sure you are talking over his head. He seems to be only concerned with throwing insignificant things around to defend what is probably his world.

I keep hearing that history before 9/11 is irrelevant yet Islamophobes keep referring to the Koran and Mohammed to vilify modern Arabs and Muslims. In your desperation to demonize a race and a religion, you either use ancient history or focus on taliban groups who were created with reagan's blessing. Do you really think our society would not slide into Fundamentalist chaos in the South if we were invaded and brutalized by a Muslim military superpower with nothing but contempt for our many Xtian sects and our culture? Medieval Europe and Salem are what we could expect from an occupied Third World USA.

Joe Hill · 11-09-07, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldreliable67

Really?

[emphasis added]

Is that you define "a safe place for civilians to travel and live?"

Read the whole report, here.

Mass graves to bury the US-backed Shah's SAVAK victims. How many millions more killed by US-backed Saddam Hussein's attack on Iran? What country did Iran ever invade? The hypocrisy of Imperialists is breath-taking at times.

Joe Hill · 11-09-07, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldreliable67

Really?

[emphasis added]

Is that you define "a safe place for civilians to travel and live?"

Read the whole report, here.

What do actual travellers to Iran say?

Quote:

http://tinyurl.com/2on49r

I'm in Iran now. To echo all the voices here, Iran is really very safe - the main exception being the manic driving!
It's absolutely bizarre that of any country in the world, Iran could be considered dangerous - the people are about the most hospitable poeple I've met in years of travelling. Come and see, if only to witness how totally warped the western press has become!

roguenuke · 11-09-07, 07:03 PM

I think most of my sentiments were already expressed here by others on the thread, but there was one small one that I must address because I know this first hand. I have been to the UAE and can attest that they do not force women to wear any kind of headdress. Although some men still do not accept women as equals and there isn't a whole lot of women's rights, they would not be shot or otherwise attacked for walking around without a veil or headscarf. My friends and I played paint ball with a local family while we were there and neither the mother nor daughter had their heads covered. (Actually, they were both a lot better at it than I was

, but it was the one and only time I played.

oldreliable67 · 11-09-07, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Iran is really very safe

Right. Just don't give even the appearance of "activities contrary to Iranian security."

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeHill

on taliban groups who were created with reagan's blessing.

I don't think Reagan had anything to do with the Taliban. You might be thinking of the mujahideen as whole, but keep in mind that the Taliban was a group of fundamentalists that attacked the mujahideen groups that had succeeded in defeating the Russians. The Taliban drove the Northern Alliance and associated mujahideen tribal groups out of Kabul back into their northern redoubts.

Joe Hill · 11-11-07, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldreliable67

Right. Just don't give even the appearance of "activities contrary to Iranian security."
.

Try wearing a kaffiyeh, burqa, or political teeshirt in a US airport or near the WhiteHouse.

Monk-Eye · 11-11-07, 03:08 PM

"Invasion Of Arabism"

Quote:

Originally Posted by akyron

None because it happened about 3 centuries ago and was oversensationalized anyway.
This year
Teenage girl stoned to death
2005
woman stoned to death
"During the Taleban's rule, women were regularly stoned to death for adultery"
Hajiyeh Esmaelvand was killed in such a manner in December 2004
Iran stoning-

You were ignored for jihad.

11-07-07, 11:09 AM	#72
WI Crippler Call the amber lamps Mod team member Join Date: Oct 2006 Last Seen: Today 08:24 PM Location: Where the sun doesn't shine Posts: 13,152 Thanks: 2,814 Thanked 7,366 Times in 3,876 Posts Lean: Independent Gender: Total Awards: 3	Re: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People How about we use this as a litmus test, since we are bringing up witches and all. How many practicing witches exist in America today?? Pick any ME country you want, hell combine a few and lets see who is more tolerant of womens rights to practice witchcraft in this day and age.
	__________________ "We have people like that in our world too. People who say that freedom is no longer practical, that we must surrender it for a greater common good." "Fear them....They tolerate tyranny, excuse it, compromise with it. In doing so they always bring savagery and death upon the rest of us". -Terry Goodkind Law of Nines

11-09-07, 07:03 PM	#77
roguenuke Educator Join Date: Nov 2007 Last Seen: Today 09:59 AM Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 854 Thanks: 218 Thanked 207 Times in 141 Posts Lean: Slightly Conservative Gender: Total Awards: 2	Re: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People I think most of my sentiments were already expressed here by others on the thread, but there was one small one that I must address because I know this first hand. I have been to the UAE and can attest that they do not force women to wear any kind of headdress. Although some men still do not accept women as equals and there isn't a whole lot of women's rights, they would not be shot or otherwise attacked for walking around without a veil or headscarf. My friends and I played paint ball with a local family while we were there and neither the mother nor daughter had their heads covered. (Actually, they were both a lot better at it than I was , but it was the one and only time I played.

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