| This study uses editorial type samples of writings from Arab newspapers as well as samples from TV discussion panels to determine Arab ideologies and opinions in response to the attacks against America on September 11, 2001. The written opinions are from three Egyptian newspapers, al-'Ahram , al-'Akhbar, both mainstream, and the Islamist al-Shacb; and two Arabic newspapers published in London, al-Hayat and al-Quds al-Carabi. The discussion panels are from al-Jazira, the Qatar based satellite TV station. Roughly three samples from each of the Internet sites of the media organizations above are selected for analysis. The first sample shows the first reaction, September 12th--15th. The second and third samples are respectively from about 10 and 20 days later, the third week, and the end of September 2001. The analysis of the texts uses principles of Critical Discourse Analysis to locate and identify ideologies, opinions, and views, by investigating ideological structures of discourse and their grounding in the text.; As a context and a frame preceding the analysis there is a brief Arab historical perspective on main events starting with Napoleon's campaign in Egypt in 1798 till the present time. The events highlight the effects of the Arab/Muslim encounter with the modern Western European imperial nations. Special attention is paid to the Palestinian issue, outlining the Arabs' perspective on hostile and unfair treatment of the Palestinians. Included in the narrative of events are the major intellectual trends from about the end of the 19th century in Egypt and the Levant, the traditionalist Islamists, the Muslim reformists, the secularists and modernists. The discussion traces the ascendancy of the secularists and modernists in the early 20th century till the rise of the Islamist conservatives in the late 20 th century, highlighting causes for the rise of the Islamists at the expense of the modernists.; The study concludes with a recommendation to empower the mainstream Arabs and the secularists in opposition to the traditionalist Islamists and their extremist offshoots. |
