Talk:Madeleine Bunting

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[edit] Controversy

There is no sense from the entry that Madeleine Bunting is at all controversial. One article written by her at the time of the Luxor massacre has gone completely out of print, is therefore all the more useful to recall, and gives an idea as to why many people find her writings objectionable and offensive. In it she complained that the British media had unfavourably compared the killers to one of their victims - a 5 year old British girl. Photos of al-Gama'a Islamiya ('Islamic Group') members (whom she described as generic "Muslim leader") were unfavourably contrasted with the 'enchanting' dead girl. As well as guns, the killers used knives to behead and disembowel 62 tourists.

This is the opening paragraph of the article, which appeared on page 19 of the Guardian of 20 November 1997:

"In reporting on the Luxor massacre in Egypt on Monday, the media did not mince their words: the Muslim fanatics or maniacs behind it were evil and brutal. Sinister photographs of Muslim leaders were juxtaposed with those of the enchanting five-year-old Briton Shaunnah Turner, who was killed with her mother and grandmother. For some of Britain's 1.4 million Muslims, this was yet another act of extremism that was to lead colleagues and neighbours to call them to account on behalf of the faith. What happened in Luxor has more to do with politics than Islam, but the media coverage ensures that such terrorist attacks affect the lives of Muslims thousands of miles away." [The above comments were posted by a user with the IP address of 82.42.228.14 at 18:00 on February 2, 2007]

[edit] WP Biography Rating

Due to a backlog it is no longer possible to give comment on ratings. Please put any comments/questions on my talk page. GDon4t0 20:44, 4 March 2007 (UTC)