Frontline Fellowship
  • Home
  • The Mission
    • About
    • Priority Projects >
      • Projects
    • Literature4Africa Online
    • Gospel Defence League
    • Africa Christian Network
    • Boxes with Love
    • Prayer Maps
    • In Memorium
  • Evangelising Extremists
  • Newsletters
    • Frontline News
    • Prayer & Praise Updates
    • Email Articles
    • Missionary Reports
  • Resources
    • Digital Resources
    • Video & Audio Gallery >
      • Audio Gallery
      • Frontline on Youtube
      • Frontline on Vimeo
    • Articles >
      • Articles
      • News
      • Africa
      • Animals
      • Animism
      • Bible Teaching
      • Christmas
      • Family
      • Gun Control & Self Defense
      • History
      • Islam
      • Missions
      • Persecution
      • Political & Social Issues
      • War and Terrorism
      • Film Reviews
    • Articles in other Languages >
      • Afrikaans
      • German
      • French
      • Danish
      • Chinese
      • Russian
      • Chichewa
      • Czech
    • Bible Studies
    • Answers to Critical Questions
    • Skeptics Questions Answered
    • Books published by Dr Peter Hammond
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • BWS & GCC
  • Books in USA

The Arab Spring Turns Out to be More of a Bitter Winter

5/7/2012

0 Comments

 
​Disinformation
Just over a year later, many are questioning how the mainstream media could have gotten it so wrong about the Arab Spring. News reports and articles on radio, TV and in newspapers and magazines worldwide trumpeted the flowering of democracy, pluralism, freedom and tolerance in the Middle East. A new era of democratic freedom was dawning!

​Stubborn Reality
Now as radical Islamicists replace previously moderate governments, the enthusiasm is waning. A seemingly never-ending stream of stubborn reality are shaking the enthusiastically proclaimed illusions. Tunisia used to be recognised as the most tolerant of all Muslim states in the Middle East. Now Egypt Today has screened graphic footage of a young convert to Christianity being beheaded, while Islamic militants recited the Quran and chanted Islamic slogans and curses in Arabic. The popular support for murdering of Arabs who convert to Christianity, bodes ill for the Arab Spring.
Islamic Violence Against Christians
Car bombs, assassinations and mob attacks on Coptic churches in Egypt, murders and bombing of churches in Iraq, car bombs in Northern Nigeria attacking Sunday congregations, are stubborn facts that challenge the talking heads and editorialists who celebrated the demonstrations and uprising throughout the Middle East last year.

Emotive Opinion Presented as News
BBC Head of News, Helen Boaden has admitted that her journalists got "carried away" with events and produced "overexcited" reports. She told the BBC Trust report, that in Libya, where her reporters were "embedded" with rebels, they may have failed to explore both sides of the story properly. BBC Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen was among those criticised in the study into coverage of the uprisings. The study found that excitement infected the reporting, which was described as too "emotive" and "veering into opinion".

Media Manipulation

The document also raised concerns about the BBC's use of footage filmed on mobile phones and other user-generated content. It noted that the BBC failed to warn its viewers about the questionable authenticity of such footage in most of the cases. The report also warned that the BBC ignored major events in some countries, as it concentrated on selected stories.

Overexcited and One Sided
Miss Boaden said: "In the conflict in Egypt in the beginning… we might have sounded overexcited – you can take on the colour of who you are with. I had to say just be careful about your tone… In Libya too, where we were essentially embedded with the rebels at the start, we might have sounded overexcited - you have to be careful if you can't get to the other side of the story…"

Irresponsible and Unaccountable

The Daily Mail (25 June 2012) reported: "Our coverage of the Arab Spring was overexcited admits BBC." Fox News has commented that none of the pundits, even though they are consistently wrong, are ever held accountable for the disastrous movements that they promote.

Warning Vindicated
On 10 February 2011, I wrote in an article for JOY! Magazine and circulated throughout the Frontline Fellowship e-mailing list, What is Happening in the Middle East? In this article we warned: "radical groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood are tempting to exploit the instability and hijack the popular revolution to turn Tunisia from a mostly secular state to a radical Islamicist regime."

Egypt on the Brink
We also warned: "An Islamicist takeover in Egypt would be a massive crisis, because the country has so much influence in the peace process with the state of Israel. Egypt is America's key regional ally and was the first Arab state to make peace with Israel. The vital Suez Canal is controlled by Egypt… the popular uprising in Egypt is being described by Iranians as an Islamic Awakening, which could lead to the establishment of an Islamicist Middle East led by Iran, dedicated to the extermination of the state of Israel.

Increased Persecution
"Along with this tidal wave of popular Islamic fanaticism on the streets of the Middle East has come a sharp increase of violent persecution of Christian communities. Many hundreds of Christians have been wounded, or killed in violent attacks on Christian churches and neighbourhoods, especially in Iraq and Egypt. Tens-of-thousands of Christians are packing up and fleeing the region.

The Myth of the Moderate Muslim Majority

"With the crisis escalating throughout the Arab world, Western governments are facing a conundrum of their own making. For many years Western governments and media have been repeating the liberal mantra that the vast majority of Muslims are moderate and against terrorism. This is now being shown to be a self-deceiving fantasy. Surveys and opinion polls in Egypt have revealed that 59% of Egyptians back Islamicists; 50% of Egyptians support the radical Hamas terrorist group; 30% of Egyptians support the even more violent and radical Hezbollah. 20% of Egyptians express support for Al Qaeda terrorist group.

The Failure of Democracy in the Middle East

"The proposed solution by Western liberals to virtually any problem worldwide, that of ballot box democracy, is plainly not going to work in the Middle East. After the American military succeeded in toppling Saddam Hussein's dictatorship in Iraq and making possible the first democratic elections in that country, the result was more radical Islamicists in power and far more severe persecution of Christians than had ever been experience in Iraq before.

A Radically Different Concept of Freedom

"The religion of Islam does seem to be diametrically opposed to the Western world's concept of freedom… The Islam concept of freedom bears no resemblance to the Western understanding of freedom. What Islam defines as freedom, most Westerners would understand as slavery. In fact that is exactly what Islamic scholars define freedom as. Ibn Arabi, a noted Islamic scholar, defined freedom as: "being perfect slavery" to Allah. The Muslim definition of freedom is submission and subjection to Sharia law."

Deadly Democracy

Our article on the Middle East in February last year also pointed out that a Pew Opinion Survey found that 84% of Egyptians favoured the death penalty for Apostates (those who choose to leave Islam). 74% of Egyptians favoured a strict enforcement of Sharia law. 67% of Egyptians favoured a Caliphate (a military dictatorship uniting all Muslims under Sharia law).

Freedom for Islam Alone
Islam does not recognise any other religion as valid. What we in the West understand as freedom of religion, to Muslims is freedom for Islam alone.

A Clear and Present Danger
The Muslim Brotherhood, which seems posed to hijack the popular revolution in Egypt, has been responsible for the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, the birthing of the Hamas, Hezbollah and Al Quaeda terrorist movements. For some Western leaders to claim that the Muslim Brotherhood is "a force for moderation" in Egypt (despite its radical statements and bloody track record) is incredible.

The Threat of a Caliphate
We concluded in our article of February 2011, What is Happening in the Middle East?: "Those who understand Islam and the Middle East are warning that democracy will bring change, but it would be in the form of the worst nightmare - An Islamicist crescent spreading from Pakistan in the East, to Morocco in the West, a pan-Arabian Caliphate, where the word Islamicist would no longer just be shorthand for terrorist, but describe official government policy, even in capitals such as Cairo."

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are clever in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. … but deny justice to the innocent." Isaiah 5:20-24

Dr. Peter Hammond

Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Email: [email protected]

See also:

Pray for Christians Under Fire in Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia

Bombing of Churches in Nigeria Intensifies

The Church Under Attack in Nigeria

Persecution of Christians Increases

What is Happening in the Middle East?
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    idop.africa

    More Articles

    All
    20th Anniversary Of The Bisho Massacre
    70 YEARS OF COMMUNISM IN CHINA
    A Different Church A Strange God
    A Different Kind Of War
    American Foreign Policy Affects The Persecuted Church
    A New 'Gospel'
    A Response To "why Churches In Sudan Are Not Bombed"
    ARRESTED IN SUDAN
    A Tale Of Two Islands
    A Tribute To Dr. Nicolae Gheorghita
    Atrocities In Angola
    A World At War Against God
    BATTLE FOR THE AIRWAVES
    Being Prepared
    BILL BATHMAN – MISSIONARY TO THE PERSECUTED
    CHANGING THE COURSE OF HISTORY - BY PRAYER
    Christian Students Targeted In Nigeria
    Christians Under Fire In Ethiopia
    CHRISTOPHOBIA
    Churches Bombed In Nigeria And Burned In Ethiopia
    COMMUNIST LIBERATION - MYTH & REALITY
    Counter Attack
    Dealing With Pathological Antagonists
    Death By Government
    DEATH THREATS FROM MUSLIM EXTREMISTS
    DIED IN THE SERVICE OF CHRIST
    EAT YOUR BIBLES
    Ethiopia - Lessons In How To Run A Famine
    FATAL FLAWS IN THE 'FOUR FEATHERS'
    Forced Removals In Ethiopia
    Frontline Newsletter: Uprooting Terrorism
    Genocide In The Nuba Mountains Of Sudan
    God Help The Animals
    Holocaust In Rwanda
    Hostility To Christianity In Europe
    HOW CIVILIZATIONS COMMIT SUICIDE
    How The Enemies Of God Use The Church To Destroy Christianity By Dorothea Scarborough
    How Was The Greatest Century Of Missions Was Derailed Into The Worst Century Of Persecution?
    ICASA TARGETS GOSPEL RADIO
    International Day Of Prayer For The Persecuted Church
    IN THE LION'S DEN FOR THE WORLD'S GREATEST REVOLUTIONARY
    INVITATION TO JOIN THE LARGEST PRAYER MOVEMENT FOR THE PERSECUTED
    Islamic Persecution Throughout Africa
    Learning From The Persecuted
    Maputo Hell Hole
    Massacre In Mozambique
    MISSIONARIES MASSACRED!
    Mobilise Prayer For The Persecuted
    Mobilize Prayer For The Persecuted
    Peace In Sudan
    Persecution Continues
    Persecution Explodes As Muslims Come To Christ
    Persecution In History
    Persecution In The Bible
    Persecution Or Revival
    Please! (Worldnet Daily Interview: Peter Hammond)
    PRAYER & PRAISE UPDATE - MUGABE CLAMPS DOWN ON PRAYER
    PRAY FOR THE PERSECUTED
    PRAY FOR THE PERSECUTED YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH PRAYER AND ACTION
    Praying For Justice
    PRAYING THE IMPRECATORY PSALMS FOR JUSTICE
    Reign Of Terror In Central African Republic
    RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS AT RISK IN SOUTH AFRICA
    RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND ISLAM
    Remember The Persecuted
    Remember The Victims Of The Holocausts
    Responding To Criticism
    SERVING THE PERSECUTED
    Slavery Today And Setting The Captives Free
    So You Want To Be Persecuted?
    Terrorism And Persecution
    THE ARAB SPRING TURNS OUT TO BE MORE OF A BITTER WINTER
    THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM
    The Christian Answer To The Present Crisis
    The Elim Massacre Revisited
    The Greatest Killer
    The Great Siege Of Malta
    The National Suicide Of Zimbabwe
    THE ST JAMES MASSACRE
    The TURKISH GENOCIDE Of ARMENIAN CHRISTIANS
    THE WORLD'S GREATEST REVOLUTIONARY
    THROUGH THE FIRES OF PERSECUTION - ANSWERS TO PRAY IN MOZAMBIQUE
    TRIUMPH AMIDST TRIBULATION
    Uganda For Christ
    Ugandan Tragedy Continues
    War Against Christians Intensifies
    What Can We Do To Help Persecuted Christians Survive This Tsunami Of Violence?
    What Dangers Should Watchmen Be Warning Against?
    What Every Christian Needs To Know About The Inquisition
    What Is A Caliphate?
    What Is Happening In The Middle East?
    WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?
    Where Are The Watchmen On The Wall?
    Why Forgive?
    Why Is There So Much Hostility To The Bible And Christianity?

    Archives

    April 2025
    July 2024
    October 2023
    August 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    October 2019
    November 2017
    September 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    September 2015
    May 2015
    August 2014
    October 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012

    RSS Feed

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
”
 Matthew 28: 18-20
Picture

P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town, South Africa

Tel:  +27 (0)21 689 4480 
Email: [email protected]
  • Home
  • The Mission
    • About
    • Priority Projects >
      • Projects
    • Literature4Africa Online
    • Gospel Defence League
    • Africa Christian Network
    • Boxes with Love
    • Prayer Maps
    • In Memorium
  • Evangelising Extremists
  • Newsletters
    • Frontline News
    • Prayer & Praise Updates
    • Email Articles
    • Missionary Reports
  • Resources
    • Digital Resources
    • Video & Audio Gallery >
      • Audio Gallery
      • Frontline on Youtube
      • Frontline on Vimeo
    • Articles >
      • Articles
      • News
      • Africa
      • Animals
      • Animism
      • Bible Teaching
      • Christmas
      • Family
      • Gun Control & Self Defense
      • History
      • Islam
      • Missions
      • Persecution
      • Political & Social Issues
      • War and Terrorism
      • Film Reviews
    • Articles in other Languages >
      • Afrikaans
      • German
      • French
      • Danish
      • Chinese
      • Russian
      • Chichewa
      • Czech
    • Bible Studies
    • Answers to Critical Questions
    • Skeptics Questions Answered
    • Books published by Dr Peter Hammond
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • BWS & GCC
  • Books in USA