Economics, Politics, and Religion: Social Justice |
The purpose of this blog is to discuss topics in Economics, Politics, and Religion from a social justice approach. I am a strong believer in ethics; and I truly believe that no anlytical methodology is strong without an ethical perspective that, at least, attempts to assign people their respective rights. However, there will be posts that don't analyze all topics through ethics; but all posts will mantain a tangent to one of the three subjects. |
To the majority of the American people, the “Muslim World” might appear to be falling apart. From the post-elections riots in Iran that seem only to get more violent each day, to the suicide attacks in Iraq and Pakistan, and of course, the political failure that is Palestine. Putting aside the questionable notion of the “Muslim World,” which seems to homogenize a world that is represented by fifty seven states (technically its fifty six; the other plus one is Palestine, which is not officially a state), there have been good reasons to celebrate in some of these, otherwise, chaotic countries. There is no doubt that trouble looms at large in some of the Muslim countries; however, successes in sporting events this week have given a reason for the people of Egypt and Pakistan to cheer. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the U.S. media has not found it worthwhile to cover these events.
While Iran narrowly missed out for qualifying for the 2010 soccer world cup, Egypt beat reigning World Champions Italy in the Confederation cup qualifiers on June 19th that are being held in South Africa. For those of us (most of us) who don’t watch the world’s most popular sport, this is the first time an African country has beaten Italy. While soccer is undoubtedly played all over the world, the financial hub, which then attracts talent, is based in Europe. The win has not only brought pride to Egypt, but all of soccer crazy Africa.
On an even higher note, Pakistan, on June 21st won the cricket T20 world cup. This was an extraordinary win for Pakistan. The event was so big that not only did it deserts streets in Karachi and Lahore, but also in London. This was a very emotional win for Pakistan. Pakistani cricket team has had the least exposure to the international cricket out of all major cricketing countries in last two years. The terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March effectively saw them shut-off by all cricket playing countries.
Entering the world-cup they were not only the underdogs, but were written off to have any chances to progress to the second qualifying stage. While they did face early defeats, they came back not only to beat South Africa (the top favorites) in the semi-finals, but also Sri Lanka (another top favorite) in the finals. Shahid Khan Afridi, who is deemed responsible for leading Pakistan to the victory, hails from the troubled region of Khyber agency in NWFP province (the current center of insurgency in Pakistan). Younus Khan, the captain, too, is from NWFP. The people being held responsible for the current sorrow of Pakistan also brought them the greatest joy—a world cup.
These are great feats for Pakistan and Egypt and hopefully, progress and good news is further to come for the people of these countries. For Iran, good fight and better luck in the next world cup. For American journalists, please keep a broader perspective.
