17 Feb 2006 |
|
|
"But honestly, I feel that if I were to see the Danish Prime Minister, I might kill him myself without thinking" - Walid el-Sallab, Students Union President, American University in Cairo "IT simply does not make sense to me. Just because of a few cartoons in a local newspaper in Denmark, we are faced with an apocalyptic confrontation between Islam and the West." "But it should make sense to you. You are a journalist. You should know that the biggest form of media censorship is censorship on the grounds of faith. We had our own experience here in Nigeria when a ThisDay journalist said something about the Prophet and hell broke loose. The newspaper had to apologise, the young lady had to run away from Nigeria. I think that was more or less the end of her career. Someone should interview her and seek her views." "Each time religious faith stands in the way of journalism, I am struck by how dangerous our job can be." "Journalism is actually a small part of it." "No. It is a big part of it. The strength of the media is derived from the right to free speech, the freedom to express views and ideas. Any obstacle on the path of that right is a threat to the health of society itself." "No. I disagree. That is where we part ways. In fact, I think each time a religious group rises in protest against the media, it simply tells you that the power exercised by the media is not absolute. It means that the media exists within a sensitive environment and competing realities. It is for journalists to be careful, to be sensitive to the environment." "Censorship of any form should be deplored". "But see what the absolute freedom that you are asking for has caused. A Denmark newspaper published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The Muslim world has taken offence. Young Muslims are out on the streets defending Islam." "Many of those young people on the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, Beirut, Damascus, Cairo and Iran don't even know what they are protesting against. Religious extremism is like wildfire. It just spreads without any strict logic." "You say they don't know what they are fighting against. I would say they know. They are saying that freedom of speech does not grant anyone the right to insult Islam, violate the tenets of the religion or use the Holy Prophet (SAW) for the purpose of artistic representation bordering on ridicule, heresy and abuse." "But Martin Scorsese produced "The Last Temptation of Christ", Christians did not call for a World War. Umberto Eco has done and said Satanic things about Christianity, nobody has murdered him. The Catholic Church is opposed to the use of contraceptives, divorce and abortion, but I have not heard of Catholics slaughtering unbelievers. I guess this is about civilisation, a clash of civilisations" "More like a clash of rights" "What right does a man have to kill just to prove a point? The protests by the Muslim world is just as questionable as the caricatures themselves. I mean really, we can debate this. In Kabul, young men and women including children were going about with posters with the inscriptions: DEATH TO DENMARK and DEATH TO THOSE WHO PUBLISH CARTOONS. Danish and Norwegian embassies have been burnt down. Just because of cartoons? This was how Salman Rushdie was sentenced to death for writing a novel." "For your information, a Taliban leader has already offered 100 grams of gold to anyone who would kill the cartoonists" "Imagine that. You see my point. This is about civilisation." "You keep talking about civilisation, the truth is that the Arab and Oriental civilisation is in fact older than Western civilisation if not more distinguished in terms of history and traditions." "That is not proven." "It is not proven only in the Western press." "But democracy is about allowing freedom" "Has it not occurred to you that what the youths of the Middle East and the Muslim world are doing is in fact a form of democracy too. They are exercising their right to free speech. They are saying they also have a right to protest against what they find offensive. You may quarrel with their method, but you must listen to the message." "I cannot stand any form of violence. They can make their point without being violent." "It is the form that differs. When a man draws a caricature that presents Islam as a violent religion and defames the Prophet, he is also inflicting psychological violence on Muslims. Does he have the right to do that? The Muslim world is saying that American democracy is not the only form of democracy in the world. They are protesting against America's arrogance." "What has this got to do with America? The cartoons were published in Denmark, Norway, Spain and France" "Oh, it has everything to do with America" "There can be no excuse for violence." "I still repeat the point that editors and political leaders should learn the lessons indicated in this matter. There is no point provoking people in the name of journalism. I hope you know that Flemming Rose, the culture editor of the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten was the one who caused all this outrage. He invited 40 cartoonists to draw caricatures of the Prophet. He simply wanted to provoke the Danish Muslim community despite the fact that everyone knows that the Islamic religion forbids all forms of physical representation of the Prophet. The editor was warned about his provocative attempt. But he ignored wise counsel. Then he went ahead and published drawings showing the Prophet as a Bedouin, as a terrorist. Now, editors must learn to be careful" "He was being creative. He was being daring. My ideal editor is the one who can dare". "Fine. Why hasn't any Nigerian newspaper reproduced those cartoons? Look, if any newspaper tries it here in Nigeria, the reaction will be worse than imagined. When leaders of the world's 57 Islamic countries met in Mecca over the Danish caricatures, the message from the imam of the Grand Mosque of Mecca was clear. He said: "he who vilifies the Prophet should be killed". You should bear that in mind before you go and provoke people." "But it is the people who have not even seen the cartoons that have been reacting most. Even here in Nigeria, I hear some people are already protesting. They are kicking against what they have not seen. They want to riot on the basis of hearsay." 'Cultural and religious conflicts don't have to follow any logic. That is why a religious war is the worst type of war known to man. It is not a war of governments, it is a war of the masses. And once the masses decide to fight on the basis of their faith, you cannot control them". "I know what is happening. It is politics. Politicians use the masses to play politics and the masses are made to think that they are fighting for a cause. Look at the Middle East. There is a spread of fundamentalism. Hamas has won a popular election in Palestine. In Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Iran, religious parties are in power. Even Saudi Arabia has organised elections. America likes to talk about democracy. Religious groups are using the same vehicle to tell the entire West off. Denmark is losing billions of money because the Muslim world has turned its back on Danish products and that is an economy that is heavily sustained by foreign trade." "I am not surprised. Religion is life. Faith is its umbrella. It covers everything. This particular issue is beyond governments" "Still religion should not cover extremism and violence." "Well, as you can see - the right to caricature God is a dangerous thing to pursue. One editor at France Soir tried it and published the cartoons, he was fired. Four American journalists have resigned because their newspaper refused to publish the cartoons. In Britain and America, no newspaper has summoned the courage to publish the caricatures, and these are the global headquarters of free speech." "I don't always trust the British and Americans." "Now you get the point. The entire Muslim protest is about the double standards, and the hypocrisy of the West. When a Muslim defends his faith, he is called a terrorist. When a Christian does a similar thing, he is branded a freedom fighter. When America or any Western country builds nuclear weaponry, no eyebrow is raised. But when a Muslim country tries to do the same like Iran or Iraq, it is immediately branded a threat to global peace whereas what is being said is that you cannot trust Muslims with nuclear power. So, when on top of this Danish cartoonists draw caricatures which portray Muslims and their faith in bad light, it is an open invitation to trouble." "You know these days, I feel like the United Nations has failed." "The United Nations will work if America would allow it to work. America' s version of Western culture wears the garb of imperialism, and so, it infuriates other societies. Each time the Muslim world fights the West, it seeks to assert its independence." "But on the question of these caricatures of the Prophet, they have made their point. Moderate muslims should speak up and stop the outrage." "They are already speaking up. Even the OIC has called for restraint. But as I said, this is now a war of the masses." "So, how do we move forward?" "I don't have an answer. The newspapers that have published the cartoons are not planning to apologise. If it were here in Nigeria, the editors would have gone to beg." "No. That is not true. The Nigerian press is about the most courageous in Africa. Under Abacha, media houses in this country refused to be intimidated." "That was the military not religion. They are different. In the face of religious protest arising from faith and cultural conflict, newspapers in Nigeria naturally take fright." "It is the freedom of newspapers that is being endangered. I think it is newspapers all over the world that must take on this fight, let the politicians handle politics but I insist on the right of the media to poke fun at anything. " "Except that what you are asking for is not more important than the right of Muslims to pursue their own religion in their own way. The only way to prevent a clash of civilisations is to respect other people's religion." "You have refused to listen to my own point too. Why must it always be Muslims causing trouble. Traditionalists are always dismissed everyday as backward people, pastors mount the pulpit and preach against them. I have not heard of witches, wizards and herbalists taking offence or threatening to kill" "But why are you dragging witches and wizards into this serious discussion." "Why not?" "I am sorry I don't want to talk about witches and wizards... Do you mind? "
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
# 
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.