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Moderate is a Relative Term in the Mideast, Just Ask Assad

Cast your minds back to the year 2000 when Bashar al-Assad became president of Syria. Headlines such as this from the AP: According to CNN, Assad Jr liked windsurfing and the web: The New York…

Simon Plosker
June 18, 2013
12:00 am

Reading time: 2 minutes

Cast your minds back to the year 2000 when Bashar al-Assad became president of Syria. Headlines such as this from the AP:

According to CNN, Assad Jr liked windsurfing and the web:

The New York Times referred to the “shy young doctor,” a “soft-spoken, gangly bachelor and computer buff.”

Today we know better.

So maybe the international media should give some thought to the widespread descriptions of Iranian president-elect Rowhani as a “moderate” or “reformer” such as this from PBS:

Sadly, in the Middle East, being a moderate or a centrist is very much a relative term.

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Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020. Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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