Mackenzie Column Was Riddled With Bias
In December, I pointed out that Wikileaks revealed a democratic deficit in the Middle East. Recent developments have proven that this deficit is unsustainable. Ross Mackenzie seeks to confront the issue, but from the start, his article is riddled with regional bias and insular thinking.
First, he betrays his own prejudice when he describes Iraq as “democratic” - a state in which public assembly, labor unions and certain political parties are expressly criminalized. In 2010, every major Iraqi party called the elections “fraudulent.” He goes on to cite Israel, a nation founded on the ethnically-based expropriation of its native population, as another “democracy.”
He vilifies the “spiritual leader” of the Muslim Brotherhood with a scary Anti-American quote - which was really shocking, coming from a nation whose autocratic leader has been propped up for the last 30 years by the U.S.. The Brotherhood, far from a representation of the protesters in Tahrir Square, refused to even take part in protests for the first few days of the uprising in Egypt.
Further, Mackenzie fails to mention that nearly half of Jordanians are of Palestinian origin - a fact that might shed some light on how peace with Israel, a nation which continues to expand its undefined borders, is both unpopular and undemocratic there.
Mackenzie doesn't seem to think that Arabs deserve a democracy that reflects the interests of the people. But let’s be honest with ourselves - in this narrative, Arabs really aren’t allowed to have sovereignty - let alone democracy.
I can say this for Mackenzie, though: he didn’t author Oliphant’s racist comic that accompanied the article on page E3. The caricature looks like it was pulled right from a 19th century Anti-Semitic cartoon - only this time, it is the Muslim who is portrayed as dirty and sinister.
Mackenze Column was Riddled with Bias - Dean Sayers, Richmond Times Dispatch
Obamacare and the Islamist Movement - Ross Mackenzie, TownHall Conservative
Disgusting Caricature of "Muslim Brotherhood" - Pat Oliphant, GoComics