Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What if a Muslim in a forest complained about a New York retail outlet he'd never visited? Would he make a sound? If MEMRI weren't around, he wouldn't.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What if a Muslim in a forest complained about a New York retail outlet he'd never visited? Would he make a sound? If MEMRI weren't around, he wouldn't.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-10-12T02:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/apple_store_manhattan.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/\",\"name\":\"Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-10-12T02:09:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-10-12T02:09:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"What if a Muslim in a forest complained about a New York retail outlet he'd never visited? Would he make a sound? If MEMRI weren't around, he wouldn't.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\",\"name\":\"Shahed Amanullah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shahed Amanullah\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI","description":"What if a Muslim in a forest complained about a New York retail outlet he'd never visited? Would he make a sound? If MEMRI weren't around, he wouldn't.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI","og_description":"What if a Muslim in a forest complained about a New York retail outlet he'd never visited? Would he make a sound? If MEMRI weren't around, he wouldn't.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2006-10-12T02:09:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/apple_store_manhattan.jpg"}],"author":"Shahed Amanullah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shahed Amanullah","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/","name":"Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-10-12T02:09:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-10-12T02:09:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945"},"description":"What if a Muslim in a forest complained about a New York retail outlet he'd never visited? Would he make a sound? If MEMRI weren't around, he wouldn't.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/10\/selective_memri\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Apple store controversy: Selective MEMRI"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945","name":"Shahed Amanullah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shahed Amanullah"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Kaaba-esque<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Recently, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) stated<\/a> that an anonymous Islamic website in the Middle East urged Muslims to show their outrage at the Apple Store in New York City, which built a pavilion coincidentally resembling the cube shape of the Ka\u2019aba, the ancient structure in Mecca towards which all Muslims pray (the actual structure is glass, though MEMRI referenced a black plywood cover during construction). Predictibly, the post brought out cries of indignation<\/a> from people upset that Muslims would be offended (yet again). But missing in the report was the name of the purported website, why it was considered authoritative on the matter, or any actual offended Muslims (our straw poll garnered a collective shrug, along with much respect for Steve Jobs, himself the son of an Arab<\/a>). It\u2019s not the first time the controversial<\/a> organisation has selectively framed an issue to show Muslims in a less than positive light, nor is it the only instance of pre-emptive outrage attributed to Muslims in recent months. Take the case of a Kate Moss advertisment<\/a> across the street from a New York mosque. The idea that Muslims might be offended by this went from blog post<\/a> to mainstream media<\/a>, somehow becoming \u201chundreds\u201d of Muslims \u201c infuriated<\/a>\u201d along the way. Nobody bothered to ask Muslims, though. In fact, no Muslim ever complained<\/a>. A similar story happened when a UK art gallery pulled<\/a> some sexually explicit art pieces depicting young girls so as to not \u201cshock the population\u201d of Muslims who live in their east London neighborhood. As with the above, no Muslims actually complained, but it didn\u2019t matter \u2013 the damage was done, and Muslims were labeled anti-art without even having a say in the matter. The list goes on. A British school bans children\u2019s stories<\/a> about pigs so that Muslims won\u2019t get offended \u2013 again no Muslim complained (\u201cIt is rather sad,\u201d commented UK imam Ibrahim Mogra. \u201cMuslims would not find the Three Little Pigs offensive.\u201d). A German opera last week cancelled a performance<\/a> in which the leaders of various religions were beheaded, again citing Muslim sensibilities \u2013 even though, again, no Muslims complained, and the opera was performed three years ago without incident. Despite the reaction<\/a> of the Muslim world to the Danish Muhammad cartoons \u2013 which probably drove much of the paranoia behind these decisions \u2013 Muslims in the west have a thicker skin than most people think, and the vast majority aren\u2019t looking to impose their values on others. But in the case of the (selective) MEMRI account<\/a>, where at least one Muslim did (allegedly) complain about the NYC Apple Store, it seems that whenever a lone Muslim says something incendiary \u2013 even when it is an anonymous person hiding in a cave somewhere \u2013 his words are taken to somehow represent all Muslims. When whole groups of Muslims issue condemnations<\/a> of terrorism, they are treated as \u201cbrave but isolated cries\u201d, or worse, ignored. In MEMRI\u2019s case, the mainstream media has already begun reporting<\/a> it as fact. When it comes to Muslims, everyone loves a rumor.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"