[Dean's World] Aziz P: MEMRI nutpicking and the Apple NYC Store

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Aziz P:
MEMRI nutpicking and the Apple NYC Store
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1160598318.shtml


   The Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, has breathlessly
   announced today that [1]muslims are offended by the Apple Retail Store
   on 5th Avenue in New York City:

     On October 10, 2006, an Islamic website posted a message alerting
     Muslims to what it claims is a new insult to Islam. According to
     the message, the cube-shaped building which is being constructed in
     New York City, on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets in
     midtown Manhattan, is clearly meant to provoke Muslims.

   Emphasis mine: an unnamed Islamic website somewhere has a message that
   asserts something dumb. And what possible reason is there for
   broadcasting it? In essence, MEMRI is [2]nutpicking :

     ... the moronic practice of trawling through open comment threads
     in order to find a few wackjobs who can be held up as evidence that
     liberals are nuts. It's both lazy and self-refuting, since if the
     best evidence of wackjobism you can find is a few anonymous
     nutballs commenting on a blog, then the particular brand of
     wackjobism you're complaining about must not be very widespread
     after all.

   MEMRI habitually applies the same method to muslims. Their methodology
   is [3]suspiciously selective. MEMRI's [4]selection bias results in
   disproportionate influence on mass media, public opinion, and
   ultimately even policy. Marc Lynch observes that MEMRI essentially
   [5]conceded that they engaged in selective quoting in the past, and
   this latest smear attempt suggests that they haven't changed their
   stripes.

   MEMRI quotes an unnamed "Islamic website" which could be anything
   ranging from a jihadi forum to a punk's blog. They provide no link or
   context or replies to the message. The result? The technical media,
   normally apolitical, swallows the bait. "[6]Muslims are offended by
   Apple Store" says Jason D. O'Grady of ZDNet. Muslims? Can O'Grady
   identify a single offended muslim? The Register jumps in with
   "[7]Apple's Store is an 'insult to Islam'". It is? Who speaks on
   behalf of Islam that the store is an insult? Ars Technica asserts
   "[8]Apple Store 'provokes' Muslims.". Which muslims were provoked?

   Where is the outrage? Islamoyankee observes that [9]muslims don't hate
   macs:

     I must confess though, that I live close by and go on pilgrimage
     there at least once a month and play with the toys. I know of no
     one who is offended by this thing (except for the fact that the
     elevator only seems to work 50% of the time). But of course, as you
     can see by some of the comments on Jason's blog, MEMRI has achieved
     their goal of de-humanizing Muslims as thoughtless brutes.

   And that is precisely MEMRI's goal. Muslims are brutes; they are orcs.
   [10]Muslim-baiting has already been legitimized and I am afraid that
   we will yet see much worse.

References

   1. http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD131506
   2. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_08/009324.php
   3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,773258,00.html
   4. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/weekinreview/18worth.html
   5. http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2006/06/the_fast_and_th.html
   6. http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=305
   7. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/11/apple_ny_store/
   8. http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2006/10/11/5577
   9. http://www.islamicate.com/islamicate/2006/10/muslims_dont_ha.html
  10. http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/10/muslim_baiting_in_politics_something_new_and_ugly_0