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| Europe |
| 'Cartoons reflect Europe's Islamophobia' |
| 2006-02-05 |
| From our friends at Al Jeez. Enjoying, because I get the feeling that the reporter thinks he's dealing with a nutcase. And he is. It's nice to see it so clearly on display in Arab media. By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank Sunday 05 February 2006, 10:34 Makka Time, 7:34 GMT After Hamas's electoral triumph, Palestinians are in the news again, with thousands of them demonstrating against Denmark and European countries for publishing cartoons that they say depicts the Prophet Muhammad in an unfavourable light. Last week armed Palestinian groups briefly surrounded a European Union office in Ram Allah. Aziz Duwaik, professor of urban planning at the Najah University of Nablus, won a parliamentary seat in the recent Palestinian legislative elections. His Change and Reform (Hamas) list won all nine contested seats in the southern West Bank town of Hebron at the district level, defeating the dominant Fatah party. Aljazeera.net spoke with Duwaik at his Hebron home. The following are excerpts from the interview. Aljazeera.net: Why have Palestinians been so strongly protesting against the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad? Duwaik: These cartoons have been insulting to our religion and injurious to our feelings. They were meant to insult, provoke and offend Muslims. And they have succeeded. I call on the government of Denmark and the people of Denmark and the rest of Europe to stop insulting other people in the guise of press freedom. We respect press freedom, but ridiculing and besmirching our religious symbols is not press freedom. There is a conspicuous malicious intent here, and people's right not to be insulted and offended overrides a Danish newspaper's right to insult the prophet of Islam. Besides, we are living in a global village now, and we should respect each other. People in Europe value their liberties ... And we value our religion and our prophet (peace be upon him). Press freedom is a great ideal. However, could one argue that Hitler and the Nazis were practising their freedom prior to the Holocaust? We know the Holocaust started with cartoons like this against Jews, and with books like Mein Kampf, and then came Kristallnacht ... and then we know what happened. These cartoons are a reflection of rampant Islamophobia in Europe, which is very similar and nearly as virulent as the anti-Semitism that existed in Europe, especially in Germany, prior to World War II. This anti-Semitism eventually led to the Holocaust and the deaths of millions of human beings. You see, when you send out thousands of hate messages against a certain ethnic or religious community every day, you make people hate these people, and when mass hatred reaches a certain point, nobody would object to the physical extermination of the hated community when it happens. Do you fear a Holocaust against Muslims similar to what happened to the Jews? Why not? The Holocaust was committed by human beings, not by citizens of another planet, and Germany, where Nazism thrived, was probably the most culturally advanced European country in the 1930s and 1940s. But Europe is now democratic, unlike Nazi Germany? surprise meter jerked a little there. Welcome to our world. Yes, but who told you those democracies don't commit genocide? America is a democracy, but we saw recently how this democracy invaded and destroyed two small and weak countries based on lies, while most Americans were duped into believing that Bush was doing the right thing. Let's talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Do you still want to destroy Israel? You are asking the victims of Israeli oppression, occupation and racism if they are interested in destroying their oppressors and tormentors? This is a tendentious question that should be asked to Israel, which is occupying our country and oppressing our people and carrying out ethnic cleansing against us. In fact, all that we want is to be free. Is freedom for the Palestinian people tantamount to destruction of Israel? Are you not are evading the question? Question, what question? It's not me, it's you. I am not evading anything; it is you who is evading and ignoring reality here. Just take a look and see for yourself who is destroying whom, who is stealing whose land, who is savaging and persecuting and brutalising whose people, and who is practising ethnic cleansing and slow-motion genocide against the other. But the question remains, how can Israel possibly talk with Hamas as long as Hamas refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist? Clear question, clearly put. Startling your interviewee doesn't get it, huh? Why on earth should we recognise Israel while Israel refuses to recognise Palestine? Indeed, we can't understand why the international community, strangely enough including some Arab leaders, is demanding that we recognise Israel but making no similar demands on Israel that it ought to recognise Palestine. But Israel is a reality while Palestine is not. just like dealing with a stupid child, isn't it? Palestine is also a reality. There are nearly five million Palestinians living in Palestine and these people have an inherent right to self-determination. Do you think that we are children of a lesser God or something? Israel has recognised the PLO and said it will accept President Bush's vision which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state that would live in peace alongside Israel? The important thing is not what Israel says but what Israel does. Israel has built hundreds of Jewish-only colonies in the West Bank and transferred hundreds of thousands of its citizen to the occupied territories. This alone shows the mendacity of its claims regarding Palestinian statehood. Are you implying that the creation of a Palestinian state is no longer possible or realistic? look, I think his surpise meter moved Precisely. Israel has effectively killed all prospects of a genuine and viable Palestinian state in the West Bank. In a nutshell, there is no room left for a true and viable Palestinian state in the West Bank. The implanting of so many Jewish colonies has made the creation of such a state utterly impossible. Will you be willing to negotiate with Israel? Negotiation in itself is not the issue. The issue is our rights as human beings and as a nation. If Israel is willing and ready to come to terms with our human, civil and political rights, then we can negotiate, otherwise we will not allow ourselves to repeat the same failed process of the past 10 years all over again. We maybe weak politically, but we certainly are not stupid. the jury is still out on that one The Oslo process was not a peace process. It was a process of deception and cheating and lies which enabled Israel to truncate our homeland with settlements and separation walls and roadblocks and closed military zones. We will not deceive our people as the Palestinian Authority did for 10 years. Will you form a government of national unity, a government of technocrats, or a Hamas government? We certainly prefer a government of national unity which we think would best serve the interests of our people. I believe that eventually Fatah will join the government. But Fatah leaders have ruled out joining a Hamas-led government? These statements by some Fatah leaders are mostly post-election reflexes; we understand how our brothers in Fatah feel after their electoral defeat. But I am sure that eventually some Fatah leaders will join the government. What would you say to Palestinian Christians, some of whom might be worried about the aftermath of Hamas' election victory? I think if these fears are real, and I don't think they are, they must be phobic in nature. The Christians of Palestine are our brothers, compatriots and countrymen. We are languishing under the same occupation and experiencing the same pain and suffering, hence it would be preposterous to even contemplate harming or even hurting these people. at this point, it appears our fearless reporter packs up his stuff, rolls his eyes and leaves the nutbar to stew in his juices. |
| Posted by:Hupomoger Clans9827 |
| #18 Excellent analysis by you. Big mistake by them. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-05 21:18 |
| #17 From Melaniephillips.com: But who wanted or caused the heat to become so turned up and why at that this particular moment? The clue to the answers to this second question lies in a second event almost certain to occur to today, if it has not already happened by the time this blog gets posted. This is the likely decision today in Vienna by the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran to the UN Security Council for continuing with its programme of nuclear research. If that decision should occur, when the UN Security Council gets round to considering what form of sanctions to impose on Iran, guess to whom chairmanship of the Council will have passed. YouÂ’ve got it... plucky little Denmark. Suddenly, the pieces fall into shape. The rumpus suddenly escalated, complete with fabricated offensive cartoons, to so enflame Muslim opinion that Denmark could be intimidated directly through a threatened Muslim boycott of its goods, or indirectly by the EU fearful of a wider boycott, into voting in favour of Iran. |
| Posted by: SC88 2006-02-05 21:05 |
| #16 "I reckon the cartoon explosion is manufactured and organised by Qaida...This is groundwork for their next attack...WOT is a culture war not a military war for them...They will smack us and it will be something unforgivable like Beslan, but the turbans don't want to be unpopular with the street as they've been lately." You have a good point-they are getting more Muslims behind them with this-and your trepidation as well as that of others is certainly well-placed, but that must strengthen our resolve. 'Hearts and minds' was probably doomed from the beginning. We cannot hide from this fight now, folks. We should be at the forefront, but instead we are letting little Denmark do it for us. Yes, that's a first, and it's about time Europe woke up and carried its weight, but it is shameful that we are shirking our responsibility in confronting this HEAD-ON. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-02-05 17:17 |
| #15 Europe's Islamophobia' Phobia: An unreasonable sort of fear that can cause avoidance and panic. Perhaps it's not as unreasonable as some people would like us to think? |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-02-05 15:04 |
| #14 "...and people's right not to be insulted...we are living in a global village now...Americans were duped into believing that Bush was doing the right thing...We maybe weak politically, but we certainly are not stupid..." In a different venue you might think the speaker was...uh nevermind. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-02-05 14:28 |
| #13 'Cartoons reflect Europe's Islamophobia' Damn straight they do. And - as is obvious by the islamos rioting, arson, and threats of murder and terrorism over a cartoon - they're absolutely right. Next question? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-02-05 14:14 |
| #12 IIUC the Danish Islamacists tried to get the government to prevent the cartoons being published, and/or afterwards for an apology. Didn't get what they wanted, at which point they began the campaign to plan the |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-05 12:16 |
| #11 One question on the why now Anon...Wasn't this whole thing sparked when multiple papers in several countries reprinted the cartoons? What was the impetus for doing that? The Imams weren't seething (and eye rolling, can't do one without the other, it just wouldn't do. Why they go together like eggs and bacon, or pork and beans or...well, you get the picture) over something months old, they were seething over the reprints I beleive. But, again, why were they reprinted. Was it because of threats to the Danish paper or the cartoonists? I know it was a statement of solidarity, but I don't know the spark that caused the other papers to do it. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2006-02-05 12:08 |
| #10 anon1 - I share your "bad feeling". |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-02-05 11:51 |
| #9 Anon1, that is an interesting perspective based on thoughtful analysis. Yes, we all better be watching our six at this point. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2006-02-05 11:50 |
| #8 Guys, I reckon the cartoon explosion is manufactured and organised by Qaida. This is groundwork for their next attack. WOT is a culture war not a military war for them. They will smack us and it will be something unforgivable like Beslan, but the turbans don't want to be unpopular with the street as they've been lately. So they have to whip up anti-west blasphemy hatred first to harden the muslim street's hearts and make it harder for us to get co-operation in hunting down the bad guys. Look at it tactically: what have they got to gain from this? everything: make the Muslim masses seethe, get more money, more recruits, more sympathy. Reports were radical imams slipped in 3 offensive cartoons not even published in the Dane paper and put them about to whip up hatred. Be on super red hot high alert. I've got a bad feeling about this. |
| Posted by: anon1 2006-02-05 11:45 |
| #7 Dave D - Here's a reference - not sure how accurate it is regards non-Civil War stats... Where it lists Civil War battles, it's utter and total bullshit, grossly understated. Must've been written by a Russian... I leave it to others to critique for accuracy. |
| Posted by: Chater Glens2769 2006-02-05 11:15 |
| #6 This nut has victimization down to a garment. He wears that garment every day for all to see. And he is correct, Paleos are children of a lesser God. Children of a Greater God get jobs, build a prosperous life style and save for a comfortable retirement. Victimization be damned. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-02-05 11:14 |
| #5 The Oslo process was not a peace process. It was a process of deception and cheating and lies... Well, I agree with him on that point. But our perspective may be a wee bit different. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2006-02-05 11:04 |
| #4 Yeah, but what those Muslims don't understand is that Europeans aren't afraid of what Muslims might do to them; they're afraid of what they might have to do to the Muslims if things continue. No one, but NO ONE, does violence like Europeans do. History has made them the all-time, world-class Grand Masters at profligate, genocidal carnage, and no one is more acutely aware of it than they-- and they do NOT want to repeat that history. And that is where the fear comes from. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-02-05 11:01 |
| #3 The Islamacists are delighted at the thought that Europe is afraid of Islam. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-05 10:48 |
| #2 'Cartoons reflect Europe's Islamophobia' ...and the Muzzies' reaction to them validates it-- in spades. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-02-05 10:42 |
| #1 people's right not to be insulted and offended overrides I hope the 9th Circuit doesn't get wind of this. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-05 10:30 |