This is an excellent and succinct explanation of what’s wrong with the BBC feature series on the Ottoman Empire. Also, it must be asked what the point of this program is — why did the BBC decide to run it at all? Its clear purpose is to becalm the British people regarding the rapid Islamization of their own country: don’t worry! You see the Islamic State murdering and subjugating in the name of Islam, but look how tolerant and cosmopolitan the Ottomans were! No one need be concerned about the overwhelming numbers of Muslim immigrants, and the increasing power of Islamic supremacists in British society! Why, the Sceptered Isle will be a veritable new Ottoman Empire!
“BBC News’ ‘Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors’: Putting a Positive Spin on Conquest,” by Kate O’Hare, Breitbart News, August 9, 2014 (thanks to Twostellas):
Tonight (Saturday, Aug. 9), cable channel BBC World News premieres the three-part series The Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors, which aired last fall in the U.K.
(If you don’t have BBC World News on your cable system, the series is available on iTunes and on DVD.)
While it’s not exactly a whitewash of the invasion into Europe of Muslims from Turkey, and the subsequent centuries-long occupation, it’s not a condemnation either.
As the U.K. Catholic Herald wondered at the time of the show’s premiere:
The title of the series tries to sneak in a rather contentious point as a given–‘Europe’s Muslim Emperors.’ Some mistake, surely? While large swathes of Europe did fall under Ottoman rule, for centuries this rule was deeply resented, and the powers of Europe, or at least most of them, did their best to expel the invader.
Even if the Ottoman Turks may have ruled parts of Europe, their civilisation was not European, but Asiatic. As someone once said, ‘Turkey has always represented a different continent, in permanent contrast to Europe.’ It would make sense to describe the Turkish Sultans not as European, but anti-European.
And while the series has three hours to tell its story, it wastes an inordinate amount of time with static shots of host Rageh Omaar–a British Sunni Muslim of Somali heritage–walking hither and thither, staring moodily across landscapes or squinting at interviewees.
Many of these sequences are repeated episode to episode, along with verbatim sections of certain interviews, leaving one to wonder if the budget just didn’t allow for enough material to fill three full hours, because the whole thing, while sumptuously filmed, feels thin in places in terms of history and information. Or perhaps, Omaar used his own face or beautiful images to fill in gaps where there were parts of the story he wanted to soften or minimize.
And sometimes, the images don’t live up to the words.
Omaar, the International Affairs Editor for ITV News in the U.K. (and late of Al Jazeera English and the BBC) shows us pictures of what he says are spectacular Ottoman buildings, but the most impressive is Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which no doubt was even more magnificent when it was a Christian church in the former Constantinople, before Ottoman conquerors stripped it of much of its art and religious symbols.
Otherwise, Omaar does show us the lovely 16th Century Suleymaniye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey, which is the work of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent’s gifted architect, Mimar Sinan.
But as it turns out, Sinan was born a Bosnian Christian, taken from his family as a little boy as part of a system of child enslavement called devshirme, forcibly converted to Islam and raised a Muslim. This was a common practice of the Ottomans, who used these kidnapped lads to help build their armies. But Omaar and his experts point out that some went on to have glittering careers, so that’s, one supposes, all right then.
Christian girls were also taken and forced into harems, where, as it’s pointed out, they had the chance to become the mothers of sultans, so, again, what’s your problem? (Apparently abducted concubines, lacking any protection or social status, were easier to deal with than women with troublesome relations who might want things.)
Other than the Suleymaniye Mosque, the buildings Omaar tours are not particularly magnificent, nor do they look particularly well-kept.
At more than one point, he gazes out at the Bosphorus Straits, a view he says “takes your breath away,” where Ottoman emperors could view the two continents they ruled.
True, but the same could have been said of rulers of the earlier Byzantine Empire, which under Justinian in the 6th Century, extended into North Africa and Italy.
At one point, a British historian states that Europe is “richer for” the Ottoman Empire, but the documentary never really explains how, except to say there was a lot of “multiculturalism” and trade (which one supposes would have gone on anyway). It does go to great pains to talk about how “tolerant” the Ottomans were of Christians and Jews, so long as they peacefully accepted their Muslim overlords, their second-class dhimmi status, and dutifully paid their extra taxes (oh, and if they were Christians, tithed their sons and daughters).
To Omaar’s credit, while it’s evident that he’s trying to put the best face on the situation, he does include many dissenting voices, including Eastern Christians, Greeks, and other descendants of people subjugated by the Ottomans. And while some of the historians practically glow in their admiration of the Ottomans–including some Brits–others are more skeptical.
Interestingly, the greatest threat to the Ottoman Empire’s Muslim hegemony was, as Omaar repeatedly states, “nationalism,” or, as Americans like to call it, self-rule, self-determination, and basic human freedom.
Things get stickiest at the end of the Empire around World War I, when the Ottomans were called the “sick man of Europe.” The Empire sided with the Germans, as the Turks went on to do also in World War II, but Omaar’s story ends before that (as did the Ottoman Empire) and leapfrogs into the present day.
There is an examination of the ejection of Greek Orthodox Christians from Turkey in 1923, exemplified by the occupation by Muslim newcomers of an entire Greek town (now abandoned because the new residents couldn’t make a go of it), balanced by the woes of one Muslim family who had to leave Greece (but look to be doing pretty well in modern times).
Of course, then there’s the question of the wholesale slaughter of Armenian Christians in Turkey, generally said to have begun in April 1915, which even the often left-leaning History Channel labels as the “Armenian Genocide.” Omaar’s interview leaves the exact labeling of the atrocity an open question.
In the last episode, Omaar examines the rise of leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his spearheading of the transformation of the Ottoman theocracy into the modern secular (or at least it was, until recent elections) Republic of Turkey.
But Omaar laments the decline of Islam as a guiding force under Ataturk and seems pleased to see it return, with Turkey presenting an opportunity to see if Islam and democracy can co-exist (an experiment that is far from over). He also seems to approve of a lavish Turkish TV-series–titled, in English, “Magnificent Century”— which adds a dose of glamour to a depiction of Suleiman’s court….
Read the rest here.
John Magee says
Why is the brilliant and beautiful 1,200 year old Christian civilization of Byzantium almost totally ignored today in our history books in high school and at college or university? It was the Byzantine’s who largely preserved the ancient writings of the pagan Greeks and Romans. They built the magnificent city of Constantinople. Instead we are lied to about the brief flame of “tolerant” Islam in Spain. Instead we have this BBC revisionist history of Islam in Europe.
Jay Boo says
ISLAM the SLAVE TRADE RELIGION
From Mecca to the Ottoman Empire and Africa and beyond.
Muhammad ‘owned’ slaves
Let me repeat “Muhammad ‘owned’ slaves”
Islam’s foundation and whole purpose of being revolved around the slave trade.
Why is this such a secret?
We often hear of the liberal news media including BBC doing in depth examination of Colonial America’s link to the slave trade.
Some will point out with smug delight that former US President Thomas Jefferson used slave labor on his plantation.
Hollywood makes big budget movies about Jefferson’s link to slavery.
People write numerous books about this.
Let’s do a real documentary movie about Muhammad.
Muhammad’s legacy to the slave trade is so much greater than Jefferson’s.
He invented Islam
The slave trade religion.
This story demands to be told.
Kathy Brown says
Jay, you’re so right.
For a real laugh sometime take a gander at the beginning of ‘Roots’. Therein you’ll see nothing but lily-white ‘slave traders’ roaming around the African jungle, just about to snatch Kunta Kinte and his fellow (loving, peaceful) Muslims from their bucolic war-free home…
Yeah, right. As if the white slave-traders woke up one morning in Europe or America and said to themselves: ‘Hmm! I feel like hiking on over to the [unknown, unexplored] African continent to buy me some black slaves!’. When of course the blacks there-Muslims-had been enslaving each other for centuries and the White Europeans were latecomers to the slave trade.
Oh-and for the final laugh? Is-Slime is the ONLY ‘religion’ which continues the practice of slavery, today!
Jay Boo says
I am not surprised about the movie Roots.
I love good documentaries but I have never watched the movie ‘Roots’ because in spite of the importance of the topic I always suspected it to be more of a movie designed to tell me what and how to think using Hollywood’s manipulating story-line gimmicks and box-office truth stretching agenda under the guise of dramatization than an informative recreation of historical facts.
If only Hollywood would take out the ‘Hollywood’ part I would go see it.
Semeru says
This book roots has a lot to do with why so many Afro-Americans look to islam. Also Alex Harvey the author had very strong ties to the Nation of Islam
Semeru says
Oooops I meant Alex Haley
BlueRaven says
It is UK’s tax dollar at work on these clowns working for BBC. BBC should be sued for glorifying terrible Islam invasion as seen from the European view point.
John Spielman says
I pray that there will be a democratic revolution in the UK that will sweep the Islamic trash out of the UK govt and it’s institutions for good.
Jay Boo says
I have an image of contented BBC executives sitting around in a stylish café sipping wine with their Muslim advisors and patting themselves on the back while waiting for long anticipated flattery telling them that they did a real good thing like lap dogs seeking approval.
Good boy.
That’s a good boy.
bayah says
There is a media ombudsman in every country. Report your concerns and report the contrast that you see between the news of the day and this thinly disguised effort at propoganda.
John Spielman says
No matter, when ISIS, which is PURE Islam, invades Turkey it will destroy all theses magnificent buildings a plunge Istanbul back into the Stone Age!
jewdog says
There always were Islamic supremacist extremists, for example, the Berber Almohads in Spain that Maimonides fled from, or prototype suicide bombers like the Hashishin, the Shiite assassins during Saladin’s reign in the twelfth century. The interesting question is why did Islamic society come to be increasingly dominated by such extremists over the centuries instead of progressing as Christian civilization did? Examining that question would be far more relevant today than the usual pandering puff piece meant to soothe people rightly alarmed by the menace that Islam has become.
WhatsUpDoc says
HA ha, her e we go with Ottomans now. I remember BBC series on noble Moguls kings who invaded India. They totally left out the resistance against them right until the British conquest of India. The totally forgot to mentions that Akhbar the great was an apostate who started his own religion call Din_E_ Alahi.
They were so impressed with Babur that they contradicted his own diaries called Babur Nama or Babur’s diaries listing all the deaths and destruction he caused including killing Muslims who he thought were wrong kind of Muslims . LOL
Richie says
The BBC doesn’t want to cause offense, so has programing that is anti Israel and pro Muslim, all in the name of community cohesion of course
Anushirvan says
“because the whole thing, while sumptuously filmed, feels thin in places in terms of history and information.”
Surely, that’s Rageh Omaar all over. Every time the Beeb dispatches this idiot to the ME, he excels in being totally vague and vacuous. The general public has nothing to learn from such an airhead, other than how to conduct hot air journalism. This suits the guy down to the ground.
Mirren10 says
I never watch **anything** the BritishBroadcastingCrap produces. They make me ill.
”Rageh Omaar–a British Sunni Muslim of Somali heritage”
Correction: ”Rageh Omaar – a Sunni Muslim of Somali heritage who holds a British passport.”
Sinclair Short says
Ye canny polish a jobby!
Mirren10 says
”Ye canny polish a jobby!”
🙂
But the BBCrap will keep trying.
tpellow says
This was the latest in a series of pro-Islam, BBC propaganda TV series of programmes commissioned for, and presented by Muslim, Rageh Omaar, lately of BBC, Al Jazeera and now of ITV. It was first shown in U.K, a few months ago, but Omaar’s euphemistic spin on this Islamic history received little media criticism.
tpellow says
Muslim, Aaqil Ahmed has been head of religious affairs at BBC for the past five years.
“Why can’t the BBC understand that we are STILL a Christian country?”
(2009.)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1180970/STEPHEN-GLOVER-Why-BBC-understand-STILL-Christian-country.html#ixzz3A1cABKK2
Jay Boo says
Very revealing
Side note: BBC funding
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/31/uk-britain-bbc-worldservice-idUKBREA2U00120140331
http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/
tpellow says
-From ‘Islam Watch’-
“An Assessment of Rageh Omaar’s BBC Series ‘The Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors’”
http://www.islam-watch.org/authors/169-englinvarrangos/1497-an-assessment-of-rageh-omaars-bbc-series-the-ottomans-europes-muslim-emperors.html
Michael Copeland says
‘Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors’
Translation needed of this arch whitewash sly spin:
“Ottomans: Asia’s Muslim Invaders of Europe”.
tpellow says
Yes.
GP says
Britain has been consumed by islam
Steffen Larsen says
I seem to remember Rageeh from Baghdad, during the last days before the city fell to the US forces.
I remember him coughing, a LOT but not convincingly. Whether to let us be sure not to forget that Baghdad was burning, or hinting that the Americans were spraying poison gas, I do not know.
Mirren10 says
” … hinting that the Americans were spraying poison gas.”
I pick that one.
sdnikko says
When Lee Rigby was slaughtered one of the killers said that Britain should get out of “Muslim lands”. Muslims repeat that phrase all the time but what does it really mean? Underlying the phrase is the common Muslim belief that Allah (and by extension all Muslims) owns the world. Places where Islam is not the state religion then become places for Muslims to conquer in the future in the name of Allah. Countries that were once ruled by Muslims but later retaken by non-Muslims become occupied Muslim lands. They even continue to use the Muslim names for those places. In the eyes of many Muslims history only begins after Islamic conquest. Palestine is a good example. The fact that Jews and Christians were there long before Islam even existed is irrelevant. Since it was once ruled by Muslims it is now and forever a Muslim land. In a classic case of projection (and conspiratorial paranoia) Muslims now claim that Jews want to rule the world. Spain wasn’t regained by it’s original citizens but was taken by infidels as though it always belonged to Islam.
The links to modern day Muslims and Nazism are all over the place. In this case it’s the desire to expand into more and more territory in the name of their personal ideology along with the supporting assumption that it rightfully belongs to them. This deep-seated belief lies in stark contrast to the realities of the modern world where “Muslim lands” have always only been a small part of the world and where the Muslims in those lands live under third-world conditions.
Instead of recognizing where they went wrong Muslims today attribute the success of other countries to Satan and give themselves license to kill the non-Muslim “occupiers”.
Peter B says
Indeed. And the BBC is perfecting the dhimmi’s preemptive cringe.
“The title of the series tries to sneak in a rather contentious point as a given–’Europe’s Muslim Emperors.’ Some mistake, surely? ”
No mistake at all, of course. After all, Europe is just a place, and all cultures are equivalent.
G says
What else can u expect? Many such series are funded by the Middle East.
sammy says
Obviously, the BBC feels the need to “re programme” its fee payers on the values of Islam (yet again),to re assure them that what they are witnessing on their screens on a daily basis regarding the “religion of peace” is not a true reflection of it.
Trouble is, so many of these non thinking, gullible fee payers swallow it.
chrisleo says
Not seen this yet, but if you disagree, then bloody well write to the BBC and let them know what you think.
Wolfy Ghalkhani says
The British elite belongs to the house of Islam. It basically ran the Ottoman empire from the 19th century on. The slaughter of millions of unarmed Christians while the Western European empires looked the other way is testimony to their love of Islam and contempt for Christianity. Shame they were/are too ignorant to understand that without Christ, civilization is a big flat zero. Once Christian majority regions were subjugated by the sword of Islam; they were shattered beyond repair. Now, that they are completely Islamized, there is no hope or future for their numerous children. And thats why Muslims, parasites and predators that they are view the US & Western Europe with such contempt. Too bad for them & us.
Geraldine says
There’s another angle that may not be obvious to American readers: the EU.
Cameron is still keen – as ordered by Obama – to open the doors of the UK (via France, as usual) to 75 million Muslim Turks(increasing at about 1% a year). Other EU countries keep dragging their feet but Obama wants to bribe the Turks to work for NATO and an open door to the UK, via the EU, will be their reward.
LX says
What a great benefit for Europe! Specially in those countries there the Ottomans ruled.
Hungary had about 4 million inhabitants in 1500, just about the same as France.
After 150 years of the turkish occupation on a third of the country, the number decreased to 1,5 millions. France increased to about 10 millions.
So Europe should prize this genocide?
gravenimage says
BBC’s positive spin on jihad conquest: ‘Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors’
…………………………..
Did they put a ‘positive spin’ on the massacre of women, children, old people, priests, and nuns in Hagia Sofia Cathedral after the Mohammedan hordes took Constantinople, as well?
Pre-emptive dhimmitude…*Ugh*.