As I have said, I don't mourn the death of henchmen of any Arab regime but it is another thing to be cute about the menace of car bombs which almost always kill innocent civilians. I saw the menace of car bombs (by Israel primarily but also by Lebanese factions and by the Syrian regime) in the years of civil war in Lebanon. But regarding this cute comment by one American journalist:
"#thatawkwardmoment when Westerners and secular Arabs cheer a suicide bombing."
First, when ignorant Western journalists who can't speak Arabic talk about "secular Arabs" they invariably mean either Muslim Brotherhood types in the Syrian National Council who wear suit and tie or they mean propagandists of Saudi princes (like Jamal Khashuqji) who pose to Western journalists as "secular Arabs". I don't see secular Arabs cheering at all. Leftists and secularists in Egypt, for example, have largely left the Syrian crisis alone and not bothered because they don't necessarily like the regime but they certain loath the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood-dominated exile opposition and FSA. In fact, there are even secular Egyptians who even supported the Syrian regime (as that Egyptian Nasserist journalist who died on the air the other day while defending the regime). But then again, I am accustomed to ill-informed Western journalists making all sorts of generalizations about Arabs. But it is a first today: to see Westerners celebrating and cheering car bombings. I will remember that next time I hear Westerners yelling indignantly at Arabs: how can you cheer car bombs in Israel. I will remember that next time around.
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First, when ignorant Western journalists who can't speak Arabic talk about "secular Arabs" they invariably mean either Muslim Brotherhood types in the Syrian National Council who wear suit and tie or they mean propagandists of Saudi princes (like Jamal Khashuqji) who pose to Western journalists as "secular Arabs". I don't see secular Arabs cheering at all. Leftists and secularists in Egypt, for example, have largely left the Syrian crisis alone and not bothered because they don't necessarily like the regime but they certain loath the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood-dominated exile opposition and FSA. In fact, there are even secular Egyptians who even supported the Syrian regime (as that Egyptian Nasserist journalist who died on the air the other day while defending the regime). But then again, I am accustomed to ill-informed Western journalists making all sorts of generalizations about Arabs. But it is a first today: to see Westerners celebrating and cheering car bombings. I will remember that next time I hear Westerners yelling indignantly at Arabs: how can you cheer car bombs in Israel. I will remember that next time around.
