Previous chapters dealt with Islamic influence in
Governments and Universities. In this chapter we will look at ways in which it
is able to influence the Media.
Money
Rupert Murdock’s News Corporation is one of the largest
media companies in the world. A Saudi prince owns a 7% stake in the company
worth around US$3Billion[1].
In November 2005 two Muslim youths died from electrocution whilst running from
police after committing a crime. Muslims across France rioted night after night
burning cars and buildings. A British newspaper reported the following[2]:
Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal bin Abdul aziz Al-Saud told a conference in Dubai he had telephoned
Mr Murdoch after seeing a strapline on the news channel describing the
disturbances as "Muslim riots".
"I picked up
the phone and called Murdoch and said that I was speaking not as a shareholder,
but as a viewer of Fox. I said that these are not Muslim riots, they are
riots," Campaign Middle East magazine quoted the prince as saying.
"He
investigated the matter and called Fox and within half an hour it was changed
from 'Muslim riots' to 'civil riots'."
Intimidation
Unless you have been living on Mars for the last few
years, you probably remember the Danish cartoon affair. A Danish newspaper
decided to make a (very important) point about the erosion of freedom of
speech.
In order to do so they ran a series of cartoons poking fun at Islam and
Mohammed. Although the response was muted at first, an Imam, to whom the Danish
had kindly granted citizenship, toured the Middle East stirring up hatred of
Denmark and all things Danish. The resulting rioting, violence and economic
attacks are estimated to have cost the Danish people around US$170 million.
Things calmed down after a grovelling apology by the paper and the Danish
government. The cartoonists have since joined the growing number of journalists
needing 24/7 protection from Muslims. It is clear that before any news outlet
criticizes (or even explains the truth about) Islam, they will consider the
likely consequences.
Education
Journalists who cover Islam/Middle Eastern affairs are
usually specialists who took Middle Eastern Studies at university. The vast
majority of these departments appear to be financed by Middle Eastern
petro-dollars (See Story of Mohammed Part 21).
Government
In theory we believe in a free press. In practice
however, the Government will always wield a degree of influence over the press
through a combination of threats, rewards and favours. You would have to expect
that Islam would use its influence over Governments to apply pressure to the
media.
This seems especially likely for semi government broadcasting
corporations such as the BBC, whose Arabic service has faced criticism for its
pro Jihadi stance. Many people believe that the media is largely owned by the
Jews and is heavily pro Jewish. If that were the case, you would expect to see
plenty of programs or news articles which were critical of Islam.
With a degree of control over the Government, media and
universities, Islam is able to spread its influence through most of the other
institutions in our societies. Obvious examples would be schools (Government
run with university educated teachers), police (Government run), book
publishers (as with the media above) , the Judiciary (government run,
university education), local councils (Muslim votes) etc. Hopefully by now you
can understand why you have never heard the story of Mohammed’s life and the
significance it has for modern day society.
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