Yesterday, UMass Boston’s Hillel students hosted CAMERA’s Christian Media Analyst Dexter Van Zile. Van Zile spoke about minorities in the Middle East, bringing awareness to the human rights catastrophe occurring right now in Syria and Egypt. By some estimates, there are almost two million refugees in Syria alone, with more deaths in the last two years in Syria than the total number dead in the Arab-Israeli conflict since the start of the 20th century. About 25-30 students, community members, and UMass Boston staff attended and learned about the minority communities in Syria and Egypt, their suffering from radical Islamic forces, and the root cause of much of the current violence.
The discrimination of minority groups in Arab countries is often glossed over by much of the mainstream media. While Israel is routinely criticized in papers such as the New York Times and in the UN, millions of people in the Arab world are becoming refugees because of their governments and Islamist forces. While Israel’s border fence with the Palestinian Authority is routinely subjected to criticism, Spain’s separation fence in Africa is rarely mentioned.
Thankfully, CAMERA is here to correct inaccuracies, bring to light both forgotten and relevant stories, and assist students on campus.
Contributed by Gilad Skolnick