The debate over whether or not MEMRI conveys a distorted view of the Arab world continues here. Lounsbury sent me an e-mail last night which sums up his objections to the organisation's role:
Selecting marginal publications and consistently highlighting the worst discourse is no better than the Neo Salafi nutters who selectively quote from Western media to give an impression of an impending Xian Jihad against the Muslims and grotesque corruption and debauchery in the West. Both are wrong, both are biases and both are god-awful sources of information re getting a right balanced picture of the other.
But then what to make of this no-holds-barred piece by the German-based Iraqi writer Khalid al-Maaly? [Hat-tip: TM] He accuses Arab intellectuals of playing a dual game, espousing benign, cosmopolitan views in front of international audiences while stoking the demagoguery at home:
The Arab intellectual behaves like a despotic father. No internal family matter may be exposed to the outside world; regardless of what the reality may be, a façade of unbroken unity must be maintained. This is especially evident with respect to such matters as relations with Israel, the scandal over the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, the attacks of 9/11, the Danish cartoons of Muhammad, or the recent war in Lebanon. In private talks with such people, one hears opinions that are radically different from what they publish in the newspapers the next day...
Two months after the 9/11 attacks, during an Arab book fair, a rumour suddenly made the rounds that an aircraft had crashed into a high-rise building in Italy. Many people immediately thought this was a repeat of the previous attacks on America. Numerous publishers and editors shouted Allahu akbar (God is great) and welcomed the presumed act, which turned out never to have happened at all. Some of these intellectuals are welcome guests at conferences on Euro-Arab dialogue.
