The head of Arab Press Freedom Watch, Ibrahim Nawar, comes out in support of BBC reporter Robert Kilroy-Silk and his comments about the Arab world: Kilroy-Silk is right about the Middle East, say Arabs. (Hat tip: Peter Verkooijen.)

“I fully support Robert Kilroy-Silk and salute him as an advocate of freedom of expression. I would like to voice my solidarity with him and with all those who face the censorship of such a basic human right.

“I agree with much of what he says about Arab regimes. There is a very long history of oppression in the Arab world, particularly in the states he mentions: Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, as well as in Sudan and Tunisia. …

“I would also agree with Mr Kilroy-Silk’s comments on the oppression of women by totalitarian Arab states. Women in Saudi Arabia even have to struggle for the right to walk unaccompanied in the street or to drive a car.

“It is worth remembering, however, that there are individual Arabs who do work hard to defend human rights and one cannot make a blanket generalisation about Arab people. We support Mr Kilroy-Silk’s comments specifically in reference to Arab regimes because we are against the oppressive policies supported by rulers in the Arab world.

“I condemn the decision to axe his programme and call for the BBC to reinstate him forthwith. Indeed, the treatment of Mr Kilroy-Silk is very worrying because it indicates that censorship is now taking place in liberal, Western countries like the United Kingdom. These countries should instead be setting an example to the oppressive Arab regimes that violate freedom of expression on a daily basis.”

That last is a particularly salient point. Rather than knuckling under to the whining demands of extremist, professional victim groups like the Muslim Council of Britain, the Western press must start to find its critical voice and tell the truth about the world situation. No one is served by denying reality, least of all the oppressed masses of Arabs themselves. The real danger of groups like MCB, CAIR, AMC, and many others is that they are trying to take advantage of our Western concern for civil rights and fairness, to institute the same repressive censorship that dominates the Arab world and stifles their societies.

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