Georgetown academic John Esposito has joined the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood in accusing the media of having “double standards” in its coverage of the Ft. Hood shooting. In the Washington Post, Dr. Esposito writes:
While many in the major media were careful and tentative, focused on whatever information they could garner, others jumped the gun, with speculations that created rather than reported the news….Lost in the rush to speculate was any attempt to place this story within a broader context. What about the many Muslims who have served and now the 20,000 who currently serve in the armed forces, those that fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq? Are they influenced by their religion in their willingness to serve, fight and die for their country? Courageous Muslims like Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, praised by Colin Powell in his endorsement speech of Barack Obama, gave his life for his country, and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and the honor of being buried in Arlington cemetery. Why this common tendency and double standard towards Islam and Muslims post-9/11? We judge the religion and majority of mainstream Muslims by the acts of an individual or an aberrant minority of extremists. Yet, when Jewish fundamentalists kill a prime minister or innocent Palestinians or Christian extremists blow up abortion clinics or assassinate their physicians, somehow the media is capable of sticking to all the facts and distinguishing between the use and abuse of a religion. There can be no excuse, personal, political, or religious, to justify this senseless act of mass murder. There should also be no excuse for a rush to judgment that creates “facts on the ground,” that once again negatively impact the American public’s perception of Islam and the vast majority of our Muslim fellow citizens.
U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leaders have consistently and publicly said for many years that Muslims in the U.S. are held to “double standards” and the subject of s systematic campaign to deprive them of political enfranchisement. An earlier post discussed a statement by U.S. Brotherhood leader Jamal Badawi in which he chastised the Western media, and the West in general, over the coverage of the Ft. Hood incident.
Dr. Esposito has espoused views consistent with Brotherhood doctrine and during the 1990’s was known for his claims that Islamic fundamentalism was, in fact, democratic and posed no threat to the U.S. Dr. Esposito has at least a dozen past or present affiliations with global Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas organizations including having served on the advisory boards of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought in the U.K, enjoyed a close relationship with the United Association for Studies and Research in the U.S., and has served with global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi on the Steering Committee of the Circle of Tradition and Progress. In 2005, Saudi prince Alaweed bin Talal, a financial supporter of the global Muslim Brotherhood donated $20 million to the Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown, headed by Dr. Esposito.