Ben
Norton describes how U.S. news outlets have selectively reported only
the aspects of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai they want
you to see.
“Malala's
Nobel victory can be appropriated by the U.S. political establishment
to 'prove' that its invasion, occupation and destruction of
Afghanistan has 'helped' its people. (As for the hundreds of
thousands killed and injured in the process, well, those inconvenient
exceptions aren't part of this narrative.)”
“As
Michael Parenti points out, while most people who win the Nobel
'Peace' Prize do so for war-mongering and crimes against humanity
(Henry Kissinger boasts one, for example, along with Barack Obomba
himself), Malala actually deserves hers. This makes the exploitation
even more grotesque.”
“Interestingly,
many of the same people lauding the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for
her advocacy of nonviolence also happily cheered on the violence of
the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. The utter hypocrisy
does not strike them. After all, it has always been much more useful
to advocate a philosophy of nonviolence for individuals and oppressed
groups than hegemons and states.”
“As
much as it highlights Malala's words on education and nonviolence,
the U.S. corporate media never mentions the side of Malala that it
doesn't like, the side of Malala that doesn't serve but rather
challenges Western imperialist interests, the side of Malala that
overtly opposes not just U.S. drone strikes but capitalism itself.”
“What
went much less reported was that at this meeting, Malala warned that
U.S. 'drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are
killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani
people.' The White House, which, given its supposed investment in
fighting terrorism, would presumably not be interested in spreading
it further, left these comments out of its official statement. Just a
few weeks after this meeting, another Pakistani girl visited
Washington to testify before Congress, and received much less media
attention. Nabila Rehman was 8 years old when she was out in a field
picking okra and her grandmother was eviscerated before her eyes by a
U.S. drone strike. Seven children were also wounded, including family
members.”
“In his
article Malala Yousafzai and the White Saviour Complex, journalist
Assed Baig explored how this racist 'white man's burden' phenomenon
is still alive and well, detailing the repugnant ways in which the
West has exploited Malala Yousafzai's amazing strength and bravery to
support its interests. Absent from many of these discussions,
however, is that Malala herself is well aware of this manipulation.
In a statement released on October 13, 2013, she defiantly declared
that she is 'not a Western puppet.'”
“The
attempt to deliberately silence Malala is not only evident in the way
the U.S. corporate media ignores her criticism of U.S. drones; even
more insidious is its complete disregard for the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate's politics. In March 2013, Malala sent this message to the
congress of Pakistani Marxists: [...] I am convinced Socialism is
the only answer and I urge all comrades to take this struggle to a
victorious conclusion. Only this will free us from the chains of
bigotry and exploitation.”
“This
is the Malala the Western corporate media doesn't like to quote. This
is the Malala whose politics do not fit neatly into the
neocolonialist, cookie-cutter frame of presentation. This is the
Malala who recognizes that true liberation will take more than just
education, that it will take the establishment of not just bourgeois
political 'democracy,' but of economic democracy, of socialism.”
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