Stereotypes and language

I recently read a newspaper headline about a report written by MI5 on stereotyping terror suspects in the UK (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1) . It discussed the inaccurate profiling of the typical terrorists who is a single mad man from Asian background who’s in his 20’s. They stressed that terror suspects can come from diverse backgrounds and they’re not madder than the average population.

People who get involved in extremist activities, according to this report, may be married with children. They could be not that committed to Islam. They could come from White British, British African, or British Caribbean backgrounds.

I have been stressing out about how the media, the government and society in general create these generalised images of terror suspects, which I believe could lead to more intolerance of the Muslim communities in the UK.

I always stress out but rarely do something about my destress. I wait, often very long time, until someone else challenges these stereotypes. My surprise was that it was a governmental body that did it. I am yet to see this translated into action.

Language can manipulate our thoughts and beliefs in ways we are not necessarily aware of. The language, used by media outlets, on the Israel – Palestine conflict is one good example.

A journalist called Seth Freedman:(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/21/israelandthepalestinians.middleeast ) , who had served in the Israeli Army, was recently describing a visit to a Palestinian family in the West Bank town of Nilin. This town together with others have been leading the way in peaceful protests lead by civil organisations against the apartheid wall.

Freedman was watching the Al Aqsa (aliened to Hamas) channel reporting on the violence of some illegal settlers against the Palestinian population, which included firing a rocket into a Palestinian town. He was reflecting on how the report’s language was so different than what we are used to in the Western media.

The use of words such as colonisers (instead of settlers), the occupied forces (instead of the Israeli Defence Forces) and apartheid wall (instead of the security barrier) which depict a more accurate picture of what is happening in historic Palestine, is so controversial here in the West.

Some Jewish organisations complain that the BBC is more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, despite its use of language that is used by the Israeli government to descise the facts on the ground.

That’s another thing I used to stress about all the time but never did anything about. And here comes this journalist and describes the topicin a fair way. Who knows? Maybe through this blog I will start some attempts to challenge language used by the mainstream media, which could lead to people being misinformed .