"THE Islamic State has visibly attracted young Muslims from all over the world to its violent movement to build a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. But here’s what’s less visible — the online backlash against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, by young Muslims declaring their opposition to rule by Islamic law, or Shariah, and even proudly avowing their atheism."
Fascinating! A backlash against ISIS and Shariah law. The fly in Friedman's ointment? That's simple. As reported by the Pew Research Center in April 2013, the "% of Muslims who favor making sharia the official law in their country" is as follows:
Indonesia: 72
Malaysia: 86
Afghanistan: 99
Pakistan: 84
Bangladesh: 82
Iraq: 91
Morocco: 83
Egypt: 74
Jordan: 71
Tunisia: 56
Palestinian Territories: 89
Of course, according to the Pew Research Center, there are also Muslim countries with lower percentages, e.g., Kazakhstan with 10 percent. However, the percentage in Indonesia, the country with the largest population of Muslims in the world, is not going to decline overnight.
Friedman's examples of opposition to Shariah Law are meant to warm our hearts? Remember how Friedman gushed over the Arab Spring from Tahrir Square . . .
Spare me. I no longer have the patience.
JG: seems the NYT is in deeper trouble, thanks to those opinion pages (and nepotism?):
ReplyDeleteFrom Dec. 22, 2014:
"...Then, on June 4, the Times announced that it would be starting a subscription called NYT Opinion, aimed at those who so greatly valued the insights of Times columnists and unsigned editorials that they’d pay for it as a standalone app. On October 1, the Times announced they’d be shutting down NYT Opinion after less than four months because “it was not attracting enough subscribers.”
On the same day, the paper also shared its “plans to eliminate about 100 newsroom jobs” plus jobs from the operations side—a shocking blow to a paper already whipsawed by buyouts and cuts. ..."
http://observer.com/2014/12/new-york-times-insider-multi-million-dollar-shortfall-causing-drastic-cuts/
fwiw, it is truly frightening to see palestinian tactics being used by "activists" targeting US police...not that anyone in US media will ever notice...
k
even better from February 4, 2014:
ReplyDeletehttp://observer.com/2014/02/the-tyranny-and-lethargy-of-the-times-editorial-page/
"...Another former Times writer, someone who has gone on to great success elsewhere, expressed similar contempt (and even used the word “embarrass”) and says it’s longstanding.
“I think the editorials are viewed by most reporters as largely irrelevant, and there’s not a lot of respect for the editorial page. The editorials are dull, and that’s a cardinal sin. They aren’t getting any less dull. As for the columnists, Friedman is the worst. He hasn’t had an original thought in 20 years; he’s an embarrassment. He’s perceived as an idiot who has been wrong about every major issue for 20 years, from favoring the invasion of Iraq to the notion that green energy is the most important topic in the world even as the financial markets were imploding. Then there’s Maureen Dowd, who has been writing the same column since George H. W. Bush was president.”
..."