Below is the text of an editorial by Common Sense editor Sahib Mustaqim Bleher for issue 25 (2nd Quarter 1999) on the topic of the use of propaganda against Islam.

The War of Words

Our age has perfected the black art of propaganda. Goebbels would have gone green with jealousy had he been able to watch a preview of CNN, and even George Orwell could not have imagined in his wildest dreams that his idea of "doublespeak" would be employed so efficiently by journalists today. We live in a time where, in the words of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, the word is sharper than the sword. To win a battle, we must first win the argument.

This is a daunting task, and the raison d'être for the Islamic Party of Britain from the outset. Persistent brain-washing has produced a situation where most people readily accept contradictions and double-standards simply because they are the accepted norm. An Israeli pervert can win the Eurovision song contests, and nobody asks why a country in the Middle East is considered part of Europe. Why is Jordan not also a contestant? or if the link with Europe is an historic one, why not America? Likewise, protestors who burned an Israeli flag outside Wembley Conference Centre, where the "Israel 50" celebrations were held, got themselves arrested, whereas protestors burning a Japanese flag in sight of the Japanese emperor where shown on television with the police looking on. Listening to the news one could easily believe that human suffering is not a universal experience, as only the suffering of "our lot" seems to qualify. The apartheid state of Israel would never consider paying reparations or returning confiscated property to Palestinians, nor would Britain ever apologise for the atrocities committed by the Empire.

Whilst the sun may have finally set on the British empire, the interference in the affairs of other peoples continues unabated. And so does the cover-up through propaganda. The attacks on Iraq's perceived capability to poison the water supplies of the world with a bacterial contaminant hide the allied responsibility for the use of depleted uranium and biological weapons in the gulf war, surfaced here through the gulf war syndrome phenomenon, and stop people from probing into the merciless killing of innocent Iraqi men, women and children through the brutal application of sanctions. Similarly, the accusations against the Sudanese government standing in the way of aid delivery to South Sudan mask the tremendous efforts that government has undertaken in difficult circumstances to absorb the flood of refugees from the South as well as that the peace offer they have made is a great deal more generous than the celebrated deal for Northern Ireland.

Moreover, no mention is made that the government of Khartoum did not instigate an Islamic campaign against the Christian South, but inherited the problem of the war from the days of British rule, just as British financiers brought Hitler to power and kept his war machine going. Britain cleverly manoeuvred Japan into the war for her own ends, just as America enticed Iraq into invading Kuwait after having armed him sufficiently to do so. As always, decisions were taken out of strategic interest and to secure the exploitation of resources. The cherished principles of freedom and democracy were a mere veneer to justify the underlying motives. The suffering of ordinary people never mattered. British war veterans should ask their own government for an apology for feeding them to the canons.

Muslims, and other believers, must wake up to the war of deception which has replaced the war of attrition. That only the truth will set us free still holds true today, but a virtual monopoly on information dissemination makes establishing the truth increasingly difficult. Opinion-shapers, numbing our sense of responsibility by presenting twisted facts sugar-coated with light entertainment, have become the magicians of our time. The staff of Moses will be needed to swallow up the illusions they have created. Muslims must plug up the courage to confront the pharaohs of today in argument.

Author: Sahib Mustaqim Bleher

Date Published: Spring 1999

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