When Michelle Obama tweeted the picture, above, about the girls kidnapped in Nigeria the internet went into overdrive.

There were two types of responses:

1. “OMG Michelle cares as well! Yay!”
2. “What a bloody hypocrite. Her, and the political elite don’t really care.”

I’m firmly in the second group of people.

And when MPACUK saw her picture we just had to respond:

The response we got was crazy— everything from people supporting us, to others saying that they can’t believe we’re OK with Boko Haram kidnapping the girls.

Because of how polarising the response has been I decided to not post anything else up for a while, but I think now is the right time to explain myself.

Let’s make this clear — no one supports Boko Haram’s kidnapping or mistreating anyone, especially children, but I don’t support #BringBackOurGirls being hijacked by the political elite because they don’t really care. The support is for their own political gain.

We all support the families in getting their children back. The nerve of the political elite to show concern about these young girls just annoyed me, and many others, so much.

I refuse to be associated with the political elite. I don’t want their crocodile tears —they only talk about ethics & human rights when it is politically expedient. When it’s their wars that are responsible for killing Muslim children they are silent

We all want the girls to be able to safely return to their loved ones but we don’t want Michelle Obama and her ilk to give us their support.

But there is another, more important, reason why I am angry at people like Michelle Obama supporting the campaign.

For the elites, supporting #BringBackOurGirls isn’t about showing solidarity with the girls. It is about war.

The political elites only support this campaign because it fits in with the narrative they use to justify their wars.

The dominant narrative that currently drives public discourse is that Muslims are uncivilised and extreme, and they hate the West because it is civilised and liberal.

Boko Haram are a perfect fit for their narrative. They are the boogeyman that the political elites, and their “experts” warn people about.

The group is so fanatical that no one can understand their barbarity. They seemed to have no goal at all except to kidnap girls and kill people. The Western elites saw their chance.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying that Boko Haram are a nice bunch of people, but I am saying that the only reason why the political elite choose to support #BringBackOurGirls is because it fits in with their narrative.

Their narrative, in which Muslims are a threat to the West, gives legitimacy to the war crimes they have committed, are committing and will commit

Just think about it — the only way that the ‘War On Terror’ (aka ‘War OF Terror’) can continue is if the boogeyman is still at large.

Only if there is the constant danger of fanatical Muslims coming to kill Westerners can drone strikes, wars and torture be justified and never challenged by the general public.

They jumped onto a legitimate, genuine campaign and hijacked it.

Now the shocking kidnapping of poor black girls became a part of theirnarrative — it became a story of fanatical backward Muslim terrorists that hated women and were a threat to us all.

The Western propagandists had what they needed — another incident to advance their narrative & legitimise their violence in the name of “peace”.

Their support for #BringBackOurGirls was never about the girls — it was about furthering their own narrative. The narrative that justifies their wars.

Don’t believe me?

Then ask yourself — why are Obama, Cameron et al., silent about Muslims being ethnically cleansed in Central African Republic?

They’re black too.

Why are the political elite silent about the constant atrocities committed against the Muslims in Palestine?

They’re suffering too.

Where is their support for campaigns for the Rohingya Muslims persecuted in Burma?

They’re suffering at the hands of fanatics (Buddhist ones) too.

I’ll tell you where their support is — nowhere to be seen. They don’t speak out on those issues because it does not fit in with their narrative.

If they genuinely cared about human rights they would be speaking up for oppressed Muslims who have seen a systematic degradation of their human rights.

They don’t support those causes because having Muslims seen as the victim doesn’t fit into their narrative. It works against their interests. They only speak out or act when Muslims can be painted as the aggressors.

Consider this — when a Muslim does a bad thing it is used as proof of their narrative that Muslims are a threat. Yet when Muslims are the ones suffering they’re referred to by their ethnicity or country — never by their religious identity.

When it’s a crime, we’re all criminals. When we’re the victims, only the people of that area are the victims, their being Muslim is largely ignored.

Why? Because it fits into the message they want to get across.

‘Evil Muslims’ sells war better than ‘poor, oppressed Muslims’ does.

We cannot allow the campaign to be hijacked by the political elite. We must expose their hypocrisy and confront their propaganda.

That is why MPACUK has been putting up these images.

I’ve been able to separate my anger at the political elite’s hypocrisy from my support for the original campaign — the campaigners must do the same. We don’t need their support because it is tainted.

It is tainted by their hypocrisy, tainted by the agenda they seek to further, and tainted by their deafening silence at the atrocities being committed against Muslim children every single day.

We don’t need their support. Neither do the girls.

#BringBackOurGirls?

Of course, we all support the families who want their daughters back, but they’ll come back without the hypocritical support of Western political elites.

Final thoughts

I’ve seen a lot of the arguments out there against MPACUK posting the pictures and I thought I’d condense my responses into the following below:

“But Michelle is doing some good — we should support that!”

If she was a regular person who may never have heard of other geopolitical issues then yes, I would support her. However, she is the wife of the President of the United States. She isn’t politically unaware. Her, and the political elite’s, “good work” is tainted by their hypocrisy and silence in the face of oppression around the world.

“Michelle can’t be expected to support EVERY campaign now, can she?”

Well actually she can. It’s not like she’s got bills to worry about — she could use her position to do good all the time. She doesn’t. And that’s something she chooses to do.

“You’re only doing this to score political points”

Damn right I am. The political elite are doing the same. I’m just exposing their agenda and hypocrisy. Are you going to take it up with them and distance yourself from their hollow support?

“As Muslims we should be against all acts, and should condemn Boko Haram”

No shit, Sherlock. Of course Muslims are against any form of oppression — I just refuse to allow the political elite to hijack the campaign. That’s why I highlight their hypocrisy and their agenda. That doesn’t mean I condone Boko Haram — it just means that I’m not politically naive, like you.

“You’re accusing the political elite of hijacking #BringBackOurGirls?! You’re the one hijacking it!”

No, hijacking the campaign would be to completely ignore the plight of the girls. I’m only looking to highlight the political elite’s hypocrisy. They jumped on the bandwagon for their own gain and I want to knock them off it. That’s all.

I don’t want their crocodile tears, I don’t want them to further their propaganda-filled narrative, and I don’t want them to think they can get away with this.

Neither should you.

This article was written by Raza Nadim and first appeared on his personal blog