No Lego No More?
Now this is getting very bad, it's getting really ridiculous, and very pathetic. Burning the flag of Denmark, raiding and destroying her embassies, and now cutting diplomatic relationships with Scandinavian countries! why? just because a couple of newspapers over there published a cartoon of the holiest person in one of the religions? I'm going to be very biased, politically careless and straight to the point here. I really don't like this ongoing madness in the middle east and north Africa.
1) It seems to me that many Muslims, including many Arabs, do not have a clue what a cartoon is. They don't understand the difference between "joke" and "reality". Maybe this is a cultural thing, they're simply not familiar with it. Can't blame them for that! Once in a student group in Manchester I translated some popular Iranian religious jokes for my friends including some Iranians, a few Europeans, and a few others from Kuwait, Saudi and Oman. You know, the typical God and Prophet jokes (joke-e khoda peyghambari) you hear in the streets in Iran or receive on a FWDed email.
Of course I chose the ones that were translatable, i.e. my audience could understand them without having lived in Iran. Everyone laughed, because the jokes were indeed very funny, but those few Arab guys left the room, with faces as red as a tomato, of anger! I had insulted their saints!! What? "insulted"?? They simply didn't understand that I was "joking", they probably thought I'm an evil person who wants to "insult" God and... and then what? feel very good by insulting God?? we just looked at each other, and continued with some Catholic jokes... I have heard stories of similar experiences from a couple of my other Iranian friends.
They just don't get it...
Now I seriously think Iranians are much more tolerant to religious jokes. They produce a lot of it, localise some foreign ones, and you can hear them everywhere: in taxis, in the queues for cinema, in parties, on your mobile phone in form of SMS, etc. And while people in Lebanon and Syria were burning the Danish embassy down, nothing happened in Iran. Silence. Until after the Friday prayers when a group of well-known paramilitia and their gang of chavs and trouble-makers initiated a demonstration and created trouble for some embassies. A typical crafted scene, which is normally ignored by the majority of Iranians.
Now whether we are tolerant or not, we've scared the Danes and we're part of the trouble as well.
2) These people have lived under oppressive and totalitarian regimes-- kings, Emirs or life-time presidents (aka kings again) -- for so long that they cannot understand the independence of newspapers from the government in a democratic society. In their own countries, media is controlled by the government and they can easily take every published item as part of the government propaganda. So, there's a big misunderstanding here... they probably thought "Ah, the Danish Queen wants to ridicule us, and it was she who 'ordered' this insulting cartoon to be drawn and published in the Danish paper, so let's teach her a lesson and break her embassy's windows"!!
I think there's a big misunderstanding here...
3) Those ignorant people are probably unaware that many Muslims live in Scandinavia, and enjoy more human (including religious) rights than their counterparts in Muslim countries. For Thor's sake, do you know any place in the world that is more peaceful and peace-seeking that Scandinavia?
4) The cartoon story aside, according to many religious texts the Prophet himself has repeatedly said that he's just a normal human like others, neither an angel nor an extraterrestrial creature nor the son of God. He insisted on this point several times perhaps to get rid of the bootlickers of his time. Now if you truly believe in every word he says, then what's all this thing about drawing his portrait being a sin? Ok maybe some people are perfectionists and they wouldn't want to draw something they don't know about, but why would drawing the portrait of an ordinary human (who's incidentally an important one) be a sin and cause for trouble??
5) I smell conspiracy here. I think there are groups who are taking advantage of this event to steer the situation for the sake of their own interests.
Finally, a country that created Lego and has mermaids on her harbour cannot be bad!! OK that was a joke, did you get it???
Dear writer,
Have you ever seen a cartoon of Moses around? one that iconises Jews with something bad like Muslims and bombs or terror? Please post a cartoon on Moses or why not a cartoon of Nazi's killing Jews? then we can try out democracy and free speech :-)
(at February 8, 2006 09:02 PM)
Saman,
Just go to google and type "moses cartoon" and see what it finds for you. Then type "muhammad cartoons"! And needless to point out all the jokes and cartoons and plays, etc. that address jesus.
I see your point and I don't think that the danish newspaper published those cartoons just to challenge freedom of speech but the reaction to it by muslims is ridiculous. Who said that muhammad is so special that no one is good enough to draw him or play him in a movie? (as much for the calim that he was an ordinary guy!). And do you remember that in Iran no one had the right to draw a caricature of a mullah?! why?
(at February 8, 2006 10:44 PM)
Saman, first of all I have seen many cartoons of Moses, Jesus, Noah, Adam, Eve, David, you name it, every saint you can imagine. Now Mohammad was added to it.
Secondly, I don't think cartoonist or caricaturists draw those cartoons just to ridicule the subject. They have an idea in mind which is best expressed by using well-known characters. I mean just "Because we know those characters" we understand the point of the cartoon, which is sometimes political, sometimes social, sometimes (most of the times) satirical.
If you want to draw a cartoon about the subject of islam, what would you choose? probably a mosque, or the crescent, or a clergyman. The funny thing is clergymen look very different across the muslem world, so choosing the prophet himself is the most expressing way.
I'm not supporting the Danish cartoon (neither am condemning it), but I assure you, had any other islamic symbol been used, the reaction would have had been the same, provided there was someone who wanted to take advantage of the situation or steer public's feelings.
(at February 8, 2006 11:44 PM)
I agree with west-ender and pishik. Don't forget that the problem for embassy-burners is "insulting the prophet by drawing his picture", not the message of the cartoon!!
This exactly supports Partisan's opinion that they are unable to get the message, possibly a cultural difference. Never probably even thought there was a message in the first place.
(at February 9, 2006 12:08 AM)
Dear all :-)
I have nothing against cartoons! But I cant stand cartoons degrading any prophet. A personal limit I guess. Thanks for the comments :-)
(at February 9, 2006 11:40 AM)
Good job that we weren't really muslims,as we just changed our religion because we were attacked by arabs.Now we are one of the nations that won't leave this subject alone!!!
(at February 9, 2006 03:06 PM)
Saman, yes I think that's a personal limit and is fine. But you wouldn't go and kill or burn down the house of a cartoonist who draws such photos.
We all have personal limits, but I guess we all try to be tolerant and ignore things we don't like. Especially if it doesn't harm us directly.
(at February 9, 2006 05:38 PM)
'Til I finally died, which started the whole world living
Oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me
Oh no, that the joke was on me
the fact is the joke is not on the prophet at all! Its actually on those who don't see its about them!
(at February 10, 2006 05:01 AM)
Exactly, Shauheen.
Let me say that the cartoon was actually very true!! Just look what happened!!! Some violant people attacked, burnt, killed and so on.
What was the cartoon all about? exactly about THIS.
Good point.
(at February 10, 2006 01:29 PM)
Yes. Very true, Pirzad.
But was it worth it? I think that right to expression also comes with a certain responsibility. If you can expect that your words/drawings etc. cause violence or loss of lives - you might want to rethink publishing it.
(at February 16, 2006 03:23 PM)
we don't like to kill or burn. I'm an Egyptian Muslim. Egypt is in north Africa in case you don't know where it is. Islam doesn't allow us to paint or picture our prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and we as Arab Muslims love all the world with all people and races and we don't like to kill or burn
Isalam demand loving all other religions and we respect and love Jesus (PBUH) and his mother as Qura'an mentioned them and we believe in them and with the religion that Jesus (PBUH) told us about it
the main problem is in the national media that always try to make Islam looks bad and we can't create a media to show you all our reaility and our real religion and real people. we always try but in vain cause we are somehow aren't as good as you in media but for sure we don't hate Eurpian or Western people
for me I like Europe and it's civilization also like America, Mixico and South America and I hope one day I can visit them. also I hope that Europe knows our good civilization well and study our religion and knows it well
I'm sorry for what happened in the embassy but for sure there are bad gangs in each religion and each country but we are as Muslims aren't responsible for such gangs as they don't know what Islam is. by all their crazy and foolish actions. talked too long as I want to make the two civilizations meet or even get nearer. but please try to reach the truth of Arabian people even by reading just to know
thanks
Esmail Mohamed
Egypt , Alexandria
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