by Ari Soffer
Outspoken activist and blogger Ahmed Meligy says lack of 'proper, decent, honest' coverage of Israel 'provoked' him to speak out.
Since the recent escalation in Arab terrorist attacks in Israel began at the start of October, Israelis and their supporters around the world have complained of biased media coverage including, shockingly, a widespread phenomenon of media outlets portraying Palestinian terrorists shot dead during or after attacks as victims.
The phenomenon appears so blatant that even the former chairman of the BBC formally complained to his former company in a sternly-worded open letter.
But that sense of outrage has extended beyond Israeli and western audiences, it seems, with one Egyptian peace activist also weighing in to condemn the coverage.
Ahmed Meligy is an Egyptian peace activist and blogger whose outspoken support for Israel - as an Egyptian patriot - has landed him in hot water on several occasions. Despite the peace treaty which exists between Egypt and Israel, anti-Semitism and fierce anti-Israel sentiment is still widespread in the world's most populous Arab state.
In the video (see above), uploaded to his Facebook page on Monday, Milegy declares his love for his own country and notes that "Egypt was the very first Arab country to recognize Israel's right to exist."
He says he decided to speak out so vocally because "after the last three weeks of violence, stabbing civilians everywhere... the media is handling this in a way that provoked me and pushed me to the point that I have to put (up) the Israeli flag and say that Israel has the right to be recognized... as a country and a society who suffers from issues and problems, and bomb shelters and sirens and rockets on the south. People who are now facing attacks every day.
"So they have all the right to be recognized in the media in a proper, decent, honest way."
Meligy is not the first Egyptian to declare his support for Israel or urge his countrymen to think differently about their Jewish neighbors. As both countries increasingly find themselves on the same side of the find against jihadist terrorism - be it from Hamas/the Muslim Brotherhood or ISIS - a steady trickle of voices have called on Egyptians to abandon their age-old prejudices against Israel.
From a legendary Egyptian playwright to a prominent historian, calls have increased for a "normalization" of ties with Israel. One outspoken blogger even produced a pro-Israel video which went viral - before eventually being removed from YouTube for unknown reasons.
Ari Soffer
Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/202627#.VjJBPCuzddt
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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