Shackled opinions:: New Age Xtra

This article was originally published in New Age Xtra on June 18, 2010

Shackled opinions

by Syed Tashfin Chowdhury

The recently released movie Unthinkable opens with a shot of a scruffy-faced Caucasian male introducing himself to a video camera. Seemingly nervous, after a number of attempts, he finally informs with a determined face to the viewers that he is a converted Muslim who has placed three nuclear bombs in three important cities of the USA. The bombs will explode within less than four days thus killing millions if his demands are not met.

As the plot unfolds, this terrorist who calls himself Yusuf, who was earlier known as Steven Younger, is revealed to be a war veteran thus being no stranger to US army tactics. He gives himself up to the law enforcement forces, who appoint a Black Ops interrogator and an FBI official to wring the location of the bombs out of him. However, he seems determined against all the levels of pain inflicted on him by the self-righteous interrogator.

The torture reaches the level where the terrorist’s innocent wife is murdered right before his very eyes by the interrogator who later tries to torture his two children. Before this, the terrorist commits suicide. The movie has been getting mixed reviews with most people debating the idea placed by the plot: how long can anyone stick to their morals when such an imminent threat looms over the lives of millions?

Many will waive away the plot of the movie as a harmless thriller. However, this is not the case given the recent US-European activities against those who feel for the Palestinian cause or even dare to say anything against Israel.

The recent case of Helen Thomas, the legendary White House correspondent, proves the administrative sentiment of a nation that apparently promotes the freedom of speech.

89-year-old Helen is an American author, a former news service reporter, former Hearst Newspapers columnist and a former member of the White House Press Corps. Thomas covered every president of the United States since the later years of the Eisenhower administration and serving until the second year of the Obama administration.

Being a member of the White House Press Corps., she used to sit in the front row at every press briefing. She was noted for her outspoken views against the US stance regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Iraq war, the attack on Afghanistan and other issues.

The Bush administration stopped calling her to briefings since 2007 due to her ‘troubling’ questions to the President and other White House representatives.

However, she was again present in her front row seat at a press conference when President Obama talked about the Federal bailout bill on February 9, 2009. Things went well until May 27, when she was interviewed by Rabbi David Nesenoff outside the Jewish Heritage Celebration Day event at the White House.

She was quoted as saying that Israel should ‘get the hell out of Palestine’ as they have ‘occupied’ Palestinian land. ‘They (should) go home,’ she said referring to Poland, Germany and America. ‘Why push people out of there (Palestine) who have lived there for centuries?’

The video was put up on Rabbilive.com fuelling the rage of politicians, concerned authorities and the Western media comprising numerous so-called friends and colleagues, who had admired Helen’s efficiency and courage over the past 57 years.

Following vehement criticisms, she issued the following apology on her personal website: ‘I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.’

However, this was still not enough for the so-called ‘free-speaking’ US media and related authorities.

On June 6, Nine Speakers, Inc., Helen’s agency, announced that they had dropped her as a client because of her remarks followed by Craig Crawford, who co-authored the book titled Listen up, Mr. President with her, announcing that he ‘will no longer be working with Helen on our book projects’.

On June 7, the White House Correspondents' Association called her comments ‘indefensible’ while White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs even rebuked her for these. Even the commencement speech she was supposed to deliver at the Walt Whitman High School in Maryland was cancelled.

That very day, Helen handed in her immediate resignation from Hearst Newspapers, entering into retirement.

The following day, President Obama called her retirement ‘the right decision’ while also claiming that her remarks were ‘offensive’ and ‘out of line’ in an interview on NBC's Today Show. He called it a ‘shame’ that the celebrated journalist’s career had to end in such a controversy. However, he did not forget to console her by calling her ‘a real institution in Washington’ having covered so many US Presidents during her lengthy career.

This incident reminds us once again about how Naom Chomsky was banned entry to Israel when he was supposed to speak at the Birzeit University, located at West Bank in Israel on May 16. Apparently the 81-year-old author, linguist and philosopher, was deemed a ‘security threat’ by the Israeli interior minister. Maybe it was because of some comments he had made that could have been against Israel on the Israel-Palestine issue.

While Helen and Chomsky are harassed and persecuted in such ways, others like Pat Robertson, Joe Klein, Jerry Farwell, Mike Huckabee, Glenn Beck, Marty Peretz, Franklin Graham, William Safire, Bill O'Reilly and many more get promotions and are lauded when they hurl insults or make remarks against the Muslim or Arab afflictions. That does say a lot about the veritable double standards practiced by the West, doesn’t it!

The common link between all these incidents, the core message behind movies like Unthinkable, and even the recent Gaza Aid flotilla attacks that saw nine people killed with the majority being British and citizens of other nationalities detained in Israel, is the spreading paranoia that the conspiracy behind the prevailing problems in the Middle East, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, potential sanctions on ‘rogue’ nations like Iran and Syria, which are being questioned by free-thinkers.

Despite having different faiths, these individuals are protesting against the ordeals and this is extremely undesirable to the powers controlling the globe! Hence the suppression and harassment of these protestors that will surely make future protestors think twice before raising their voices.

It really is an irony that notwithstanding the increasing number of mediums and types of news agencies all over the world, the freedom of the press has persisted with its nosedive, ever since the sixties.