If only….
A noisy demo outside downing street...
...by Pakistani democrats.
Huge amount of media interest...
...for just one of the protesters.
Meanwhile down the road....
...hundreds of angry Somalis...
...are outside Parliament over the deaths of 200 civilians...
There are ten times more reporters here than were dispatched to Pakistan and Kashmir after the 2005 earthquake which killed 78,000 people and left another 3million homeless. That disaster directly affected more UK families than the Tsunami. Any surprise that UK Muslims feel disenfranchised from the media?
Further down the road is an even better example of the priorities of the corporate media.
Around 500 very angry Somalis are holding a noisy protest outside Parliament. The only reporter here is me. 200 civilians, mostly women and children died in Somalia this week. I have to admit that I was totally unaware of this as the coverage in our mainstream press has been zero. The protesters are demanding that US and Ethiopian troops leave their country immediately. Not an unreasonable request as their presence has brought nothing but misery to a country that was only just beginning to recover from a horrendous civil war. Yes, the ‘Islamic Courts’ were a less than progressive dictatorial regime that advocated public hanging and flogging amongst other things. But they were the only stability the country had enjoyed for decades. A far better deal for the average Somali than the orgy of rape and murder that had been delivered by the warlords who had previously been in charge. Who are now in charge again thanks to their western allies.
One of the Somalis accosts me and proceeds to vent his spleen about the press:
“We all of us hope and pray that this little girl (Madeline Mcann) will be returned unharmed to her mother. We have children too and we feel their pain. But how can all the papers talk about nothing but one missing child, when hundreds of children are being killed by your bombs in our country without so much as a mention?”
Couldn’t have put it better myself…..
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