Waarom zo veel slecht nieuws?

[BFA]

http://europenews.dk/en/node/6847

Why so much bad news?

By Henrik R Clausen

You may wonder, if you follow EuropeNews on a regular basis, why is there so much bad news about Islam? Well, so do I.

When I assumed the post of international editor of EuropeNews in summer 2007, I was looking forward to getting the full picture of Islam, including the stories that the MSM would not pay attention to. I had followed the news closely enough to be aware that the majority of the news would probably be bad, but I did expect something good to appear here and there, things that deserved exposure.

I was, to my dismay, wrong.

Using neutral automated research tool, one of them being Google News, we can assertively say that practically nothing positive about Islam comes out on the Internet. We have the usual set of terrorist attacks, rockets against Israel etc., things we know about. There are discreet undermining of freedom of expression, as exemplified by Rachel Ehrenfeld and her battle against libel tourism.

In Great Britain, the undermining of secular law is becoming a problem. In France, the insurgency and the Zones Urbanes Sensibles are a thinderbox exploding every now and then. In Germany, the Turkish diaspora is isolating itself and ready to explode on the tiniest occasion, such as the recent fire in Ludwigshafen.

Internationally, more trouble is looming. The crazy theocrats in Iran keep building their nuclear capacity "for peaceful purposes only". Yeah right. Since when did we take the words of openly genocidal regimes at face value? The diaster in Pakistan, where Benazir Bhutto died an untimely death and became a martyr for democracy is equally loaded with nuclear worries.

Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sudan, Egypt and other Islamic countries are coming out with severe violent discrimination against non-Muslim minorities, escalating bit by bit and breaking any promises of equal rights for all religions. Just slowly, like cooking a frog.

Turkey is a special case in many ways. The negotiations for a possible membership of the European Union shows massive deception in the areas of reforms and human rights, where the events on the ground show no respect for either, and in particular not for the rights of non-Muslim or non-Turkish minorities. Further, the nationalists and the 'Deep State' are churning their machinations of intrigue and deception, too. Erdogan, meanwhile, seems firmly set on a slow but steady course of Islamisation of the otherwise secular country.

But for the good news? Well, one looks around, and finds some propaganda pieces from the Turkish government against various EU countries. That is hardly good news. Left-wing apologists for Islam seem simply to be underinformed. Islamists like Tariq Ramadan or president Ahmadijedad are guising their real message in eloquent speech which, when analyzed, talk about Islamic supremacy and threats to those opposing it.

Really, what about the good news? Islamic scholars try to explain away the negatives of Islam. Individual Muslims are trying to explain the benefits of religion, but fail to answer to even the smallest bit of concrete criticism. That is hardly good news.

The kind of good news we would like to see would be that of a reformed Islam. Islam compatible with democracy. Islam giving women equal rights, abandoning the idea that women are owned by the family and must wear specific clothing. An Islam that willingly let people convert to other religions and abstain from religious violence.

But other kinds of news would also be good. Like Islam inspiring a new agricultural program feeding more hungry mouths. Islam inspiring generosity for emergencies (Israel was a main donor to Indonesia after the tsunami - not the Arab countries). Arab countries accepting to take Palestinians away from the overcrowded West Bank or Gaza. Islamic leaders preaching forgiveness towards the infidels, respect for science and tolerance of Jews. Islam inspiring better schools, university education and scientific progress.

Any of this would constitute good news. And any of this *will* be published on EuropeNews. If you come across any, please tell us at EuropeNews Tips.