Closing the week 8 – A need to read list of the uprisings in the Middle East
Most popular on Closer this week:
- De Marokkaanse Uitzondering? door Nina ter Laan
- Tunisia: From Paradise to Hell and Back? by Miriam Gazzah
- Egypts Revolution 2.0 – The Facebook Factor by Linda Herrera
Previous updates: : Tunisia Uprising I – Tunisia Uprising II – Tunisia / Egypt Uprising Essential Reading I – The Egypt Revolution. See also the section Society and Politics in the Middle East (Dutch and English guest contributions).
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Essential readings again
Religioscope: Egypt: Islam in the insurrection
“Arab anger” in Egypt was no more Islamist than it had been in Tunisia a few weeks earlier. Islam was an ingredient, but no more than that. The various religious groups played a role that was politically very conservative. Few supported the protest movement, some were obliged to show some solidarity, many were frankly opposed. And this went for Copts as much as Muslims.
This revolt is not just against the tyrants but also against the ‘system’ and, as I will explain below, against how the “civilized” West feels entitled to manage the “civilizable” East. To understand this process, we need to make sense of how Arabs, Muslims (and in this case the Middle East) has been conceptualized. As we shall see, anthropology since the 1970s has had lots to say about it and, as some may be surprised to come to know, has directly – but even more so indirectly (nearly subconsciously) -deeply influenced political scientists and then politicians and policies.
Egypt and the global economic order – Opinion – Al Jazeera English
The strikers were responding to the fast-track imposition of neo-liberal economic policies by a cabinet led by Ahmed Nazif, the then prime minister who relentlessly implemented the demands of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). These measures included the privatisation of public factories, the liberalisation of markets, decreasing tariffs and import taxes and the introduction of subsidies for agri-businesses in place of those for small farmers with the aim of increasing agricultural exports.
‘Volcano of Rage’ by Max Rodenbeck | The New York Review of Books
Despite wide variations in the nominal forms of government in all these countries, as well as contrasting levels of wealth and education and urbanization, the pattern and shape of the unrest, and the grievances that provoked it, looked everywhere much the same. Arab rulers had grown too isolated, too inflated with pretense and hypocrisy, and too complacently confident in the power of their police. Their overwhelmingly youthful populations suffered perpetual humiliation at the hands of government officials, faced dim work prospects, and had little means of influencing politics. They felt, in the famous words of the Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous, that they were “sentenced to hope.” More sophisticated and exposed to the world than the generation that ruled them, they had lost faith in the whole patriarchal construct that seemed to hem in their lives.
The Revolution Against Neoliberalism
To describe blatant exploitation of the political system for personal gain as corruption misses the forest for the trees. Such exploitation is surely an outrage against Egyptian citizens, but calling it corruption suggests that the problem amounts to aberrant behavior from a system that would otherwise function smoothly. If this were the case then the crimes of the Mubarak regime could be attributed simply to bad character: change the people and the problems go away. But the real problem with the regime was not necessarily that high-ranking members of the government were thieves in an ordinary sense. They did not necessarily steal directly from the treasury. Rather they were enriched through a conflation of politics and business under the guise of privatization. This was less a violation of the system than business as usual. Mubarak’s Egypt, in a nutshell, was a quintessential neoliberal state.
Women of the revolution – Features – Al Jazeera English
Egyptian women, just like men, took up the call to ‘hope’. Here they describe the spirit of Tahrir – the camaraderie and equality they experienced – and their hope that the model of democracy established there will be carried forward as Egyptians shape a new political and social landscape.
The Architects of the Egyptian Revolution | The Nation
While a new democratic regime might ensure civil and political rights within the framework of a liberal democracy, it is unclear whether the reforms necessary for addressing economic injustice and inequality can be implemented within this framework. Since the 1970s, the Egyptian economy has been increasingly subject to neoliberal economic reforms by the World Bank, the IMF and USAID at the behest of the United States government. Egyptian elites have been beneficiaries of, and partners in, these American-driven reforms. Will this sector of Egyptian society accommodate the demands of the poor, the unemployed and the workers who have so far been equal partners in their struggle against political corruption and autocracy? Will the protestors in Tahrir Square continue to fight for economic justice even as they gain political and civil rights in the months to come?
A private estate called Egypt | Salwa Ismail | Comment is free | The Guardian
There is a lot more behind Hosni Mubarak digging in his heels and setting his thugs on the peaceful protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square than pure politics. This is also about money. Mubarak and the clique surrounding him have long treated Egypt as their fiefdom and its resources as spoils to be divided among them.
The Struggle to Define the Egyptian Revolution | The Middle East Channel
It is not that the old regime still remains (though it does; the junta and the cabinet are both still staffed by pre-revolutionary appointees and only vague hints of a cabinet reshuffle have been floated). It is clear that real change of some kind will take place. But the shape of the transition has not yet been defined. A more democratic, pluralistic, participatory, public-spirited, and responsive political system is a real possibility. But so is a kinder, gentler, presidentially-dominated, liberalized authoritarianism. In this post, I will discuss the state of play in Egypt; in future writings I hope to explore the implications for other regimes in the region.
Guernica / Nomi Prins: The Egyptian Uprising Is a Direct Response to Ruthless Global Capitalism
The revolution in Egypt is as much a rebellion against the painful deterioration of economic conditions as it is about opposing a dictator, though they are linked. That’s why President Hosni Mubarak’s announcement that he intends to stick around until September was met with an outpouring of rage.
Arab and American revolutions in history « The Immanent Frame
In this post, I will attempt to clarify my position by offering a historical view of how our celebration of what we now call the American Revolution requires us to support the maturation of what are now “mass protests” into the Arab Revolutions. The primary role in that process must be that of Arabs themselves, with each society acting in its own context. But the role of citizens of the United States is a matter of individual personal responsibility, because it is immediately connected to our attitudes and behavior. To the question posed in Thomas Farr’s title—“Where lies wisdom, where folly?”—I say that the universal measure is always the Golden Rule: Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. My strong opposition to the IRFA reflects my opposition to the United States’ failure to uphold the Golden Rule in its foreign policies. If the United States wishes to preach to others the imperative of protecting human rights, it must first apply that injunction to itself. My point is not that civil rights are violated in the United States, though there is sufficient reason for concern on that count; rather, the point is that domestic respect for the civil rights of citizens is not the same as the protection of human rights for all human beings equally, by virtue of their humanity and not their status as citizens. The United States does not have the moral standing and political legitimacy to uphold human rights anywhere in the world, unless it is willing to be judged by the same standards that it claims to apply to others.
Islam and the compulsion of the political « The Immanent Frame
My theoretical point concerns the compulsion of the political in discussing Islam more generally. What are the foreclosures of understanding Islam solely in political terms? Whether in Turkey, Egypt, or elsewhere, why does the analysis and assessment of Islam privilege, presuppose, and entail political argument? As Talal Asad has persuasively argued, the politicization of religion is a definitive feature of ‘the secular.’ From the secular perspective Asad describes, the supposedly fraught relationship between religion and politics (which secularism posits as necessarily problematic) exhausts the interest and importance of religion itself. My final point follows directly from this observation—the compulsion to discuss and comprehend Islam in solely political terms is a political fact in its own right. The compulsion of the political is a self-fulfilling prophecy, one that compels Muslims to account for themselves and their faith in strictly political language, because it assumes that Islam is inherently political. Rather than continue to ask how Islam relates to politics—rather than repeat the compulsion—I suggest that we begin to interrogate the difficulty of thinking of Islam non-politically. It is this question that urgently demands attention and address. The goal of this interrogation should not be to demonstrate, in antithetical fashion, that Islam is essentially non-political—to do so would be to remain within the binary logic that essentializes both Islam and politics. Rather, we should endeavor to speak truth to the powers that insist that Islam is necessarily, monolithically political, and that thereby render Islam itself monolithic and homogeneous.
The power of a new political imagination « The Immanent Frame
However, another wall is still standing: the widely perceived threat of the “Islamic state.” Observers in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East worry that these revolutions could morph into “religious revolutions” and lead to “Islamic states.” They invariably ask: “What is the role of the Islamists?” “Will they take over the state?” These fears are based on a misunderstanding of the nature of the popular mobilizations in Tunisia and Egypt, of the relation between Islam and politics in the modern Arab Middle East, and on a narrow political imagination. These observers believe that Tunisia and Egypt can be one of only two things: a “secular” dictatorship or an Islamic republic on the Iranian model. This paradigm is plain wrong.
A Muslim revolution in Egypt « The Immanent Frame
Underlying the continuing utility of this trope is the presumption that Muslims as political actors face a stark choice. Secular, liberal democracy vs. Islamist, religious theocracy. There is no middle ground. It is for this reason that the AKP in Turkey continues to be called “mildly Islamist” by The Economist and other publications, while the GOP (which in many ways is far more Christian than the AKP is Islamic) needs no such qualifier. It is this same trope that Hosni Mubarak has used to great effect over the last three decades to justify his repressive regime to his friends in the West. In fact, when James Clapper, the Director of National intelligence, recently tried to make the case to Congress that the Muslim Brotherhood had disavowed violence for participation in democratic politics, he could find no other language to describe it except to call the group “largely secular”! Although he was immediately assailed by folks from the left and the right for this supposed faux pas, he was only giving voice to the internal contradiction built into the dualistic trope through which the West continues to miscomprehend both Islam and Muslims. Recent events in Egypt and elsewhere are unequivocal signs that Muslims will no longer be held hostage to this artificial and corrupt dualism. They are democratic and Muslim. Deal with it.
Five reasons why Arab regimes are falling – CSMonitor.com
Public protests in Egypt are not about minor changes or grievances. President Hosni Mubarak’s regime faces a deep process of legitimacy erosion – the same pattern of legitimacy erosion that exists across much of the Arab region. This erosion won’t simply go away with more protests or new governments, and it will be with us in the years to come. Understanding the larger societal and demographic factors eroding these regimes is vital to understanding the unrest in the Middle East and how the Arab world can move forward.
Egypt’s uprising: different media ensembles at different stages « media/anthropology
In the contemporary era when political actors (rulers, politicians, activists, journalists, citizens, etc.) have access to multiple media, when analysing a struggle it is crucial that we establish which media ensembles – or media mixes – came to the fore at which particular stages of the conflict. Although it is still early days to reconstruct the Egyptian uprising, it is already clear that indeed different stages have seen different constellations of media-related activity in Cairo and other sites of conflict. To illustrate this point, let us retrace the steps of the still unresolved dispute by means of a timeline drawn from Al Jazeera, the BBC, Wikipedia, and other sources.
Benhabib | Public Sphere Forum
What no commentator foresaw is the emergence of a movement of mass democratic resistance that is thoroughly modern in its understanding of politics and sometimes “pious,” but not fanatical – an important distinction that is permanently blurred over. Just as followers of Martin Luther King were educated in the black churches in the American South and gained their spiritual strength from these communities, so the crowds in Tunis, Egypt and elsewhere draw upon Islamic traditions of Shahada – being a martyr and witness of God at once! There is no necessary incompatibility between the religious faith of many who participated in these movements and their modern aspirations!
Chrystia Freeland | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters.com
They are being called the Facebook revolutions, but a better term for the uprisings sweeping through the Middle East might be the Groupon effect. That is because one of the most powerful consequences satellite television and the Internet have had for the protest movements is to help them overcome the problem of collective action, in the same way that Groupon has harnessed the Web for retailers.
The End of the Arab Dream – By James Traub | Foreign Policy
If Muammar al-Qaddafi falls, as seems increasingly likely, he will land with the rending crash of an immense, rigid object, like the statue of Saddam Hussein pulled down in Baghdad’s Firdos Square. This is not because, despite his own delusions, Qaddafi mattered to the world remotely as much as Saddam did. Rather, it’s because the Jamahiriya, or stateless society, he fostered in Libya constitutes the last of the revolutionary fantasies with which Arab leaders have mesmerized their citizens and justified their ruthless acts of repression since the establishment of the modern Arab world in the years after World War II.
Egypt
“I Saw God in Tahrir” « American Anthropological Association
while the Brotherhood will certainly play a formative role in post-revolutionary politics and governance in Egypt, it does not have a monopoly on Islamic discourse in the country.
Other important Islamic actors are Islamic televangelists, the most famous being Amr Khaled.
Jihadis Debate Egypt (3) — jihadica
What I find most interesting in the communiqué is the emphasis on the post-revolutionary phase and the character of the new regime. This is different from Abu Mundhir al-Shanqiti’s fatwa (see my earlier post) and Abu Sa’d al-Amili’s epistle (see below). The Mas’adat al-Mujahidin communiqué stresses the need for “preserving the fruits of your jihad”, not allowing the opportunists “to steal it”: “Any other rule but Islam will not protect you”. Furthermore, it states that “there is no excuse to delay the efforts to achieve this hope.” Failing to do so, it warns, the Egyptian brothers will face a new regime that “will be worse” and many times more corrupt than Mubarak’s. The international dimension of the post-revolutionary phase is not ignored: “you have not only broken your own shackles, but you will liberate the peoples of the other Arab countries from the tyrants of corruption and oppression. The hopes of the Islamic nations depend upon you.” The communiqué ends with a call to Egyptian clerics to forcefully declare their support for the Uprising and remove any doubt about its religious legitimacy.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood faces prospect of democracy amid internal discord
With President Hosni Mubarak gone, the Muslim Brotherhood is finding the prospect of democracy here a mixed blessing.
hawgblawg: More on Ahmed Basiony, Martyr of the Egyptian Revolution
AfricanColours has published Ahmed Basiony’s impressive Artistic C.V. with a few photos of some of his artwork. Basiony (or Bassiouni) died on January 28 at Tahrir, at the hands of Egypt’s security forces. Above is a sample of his artwork.
Muslim television preacher returns to Egypt – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs
As Egyptians returned to Tahrir Square to push for the realization of more political demands, one of the world’s most influential Muslim television preachers delivered his first address in Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak left office.
“I don’t have a stronger message than this: Kill yourself working for Egypt,” Amr Khaled told a crowd of thousands.
Libya
On Libya: Why We Need Nuance « ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY
WARNING: Contains satire, mockery and travesty. Suitable for mature audiences only.
Reported events in Libya are very intriguing, to some extent. While one hopes that the following statements do not go too far over the top, we might say that unconfirmed allegations of loss of life may give one reason for pause. It is possible that some of us may entertain certain misgivings about the multifaceted and complex comments offered by the Libyan leader. While some may wish to argue that Col. Gaddafi is a “dictator,” a less tendentious characterization should suggest itself as the situation is neither black nor white, but grey.
It is important that the tone of discussion be kept serious, civil, and reasoned.
The Ancient Past of Libya and Libyans
Ancient Libya was defined as the rather large area in North Africa west of Egypt and west of the Nile River Valley, an area belonging to the afterlife.
Libya: Past and future? – Opinion – Al Jazeera English
Many believed that Colonel Gaddafi’s regime in Libya would withstand the gale of change sweeping the Arab world because of its reputation for brutality which had fragmented the six million-strong population over the past 42 years.
Its likely disappearance now, after a few days of protest by unarmed demonstrators is all-the-more surprising because it has systematically destroyed even the slightest pretence of dissidence and has atomised Libyan society to ensure that no organisation – formal or spontaneous – could ever consolidate sufficiently to oppose it.
Libya repression and protest: Long repressed, Libyans take a brave step toward freedom – latimes.com
Libyans thus had little opportunity to assemble components of civil society. Political associations, human rights organizations, independent professional associations or trade unions were all strictly proscribed, and organized opposition to the “ideology of the 1969 revolution” was punishable by death. On my first visit to Libya in 2005, the specially selected “civil society representatives” permitted to talk with us, and even government officials we met, displayed anxiety about expressing any opinions outside their sanctioned talking points. They literally recited chapter and verse of the Green Book, Kadafi’s small manuscript on governance. The performance was unmatched by anything I had seen in Syria and Iraq.
While dark humour has never been a strong quality in Libyans, there was one moment at Tripoli airport yesterday which proved it does exist. An incoming passenger from a Libyan Arab Airlines flight at the front of an immigration queue bellowed out: “And long life to our great leader Muammar Gaddafi.” Then he burst into laughter – and the immigration officers did the same.
Exclusive Update from Benghazi: Inside Information on the Opposition Movement
This morning, I spoke to Mohammed Fannoush, an active dissident in Benghazi, who informed me that the liberated cities, in both the East and West, have come together and organized a committee which will serve as a collective organ from which they will continue to unwaveringly fight for the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Fannoush has been put in charge of communication and urged me and other Arab-Americans to be active in clarifying the situation of the anti-Gaddafi movement in Libya as being nationalist, as opposed to Gaddafi’s manipulative accusations of a radical Islamist, specifically Al-Qaeda, led opposition. This movement is one based in a struggle for freedom, social justice, civil rights, education, health, and human dignity, of which Gaddafi has deprived them for over 40 years.
tabsir.net » Gaddafi: odd and daffy to the end
The irony is that as much as Gaddafi is hated in the West, thus far little has been done to stop him. Perhaps Berlusconi will send a plane to spirit his friend out, but Gaddafi seems crazy enough to try and hold on to power no matter how many people are killed. The U.N. Security Council is meeting, but thus far only words have been hurled in Gaddafi’s direction. Swiss banks have frozen his assets. The oil fields have been taken over by protesters, supported by the army. The days of Colonel Gaddafi are nearing an end, but probably not before many more lives are taken.
Is Gaddafi just defending his own interests? Is there something more than just a struggle to maintain power?
To understand this we have to move our attention from Libya to a European country: Italy, the gate to Europe for thousands of illegal migrants from Africa and in particular Libya.
More to the point in the present context, Libyans have almost unanimously rejected the prospects of foreign intervention during or after their revolution, on the grounds that its objective will be to keep Libya and its oil safe from the Libyan people. Should they succeed in safeguarding their sovereignty, this may prove their best insurance against a “democratic transition” Iraqi-style.
Bahrain
Bahrain Then and Now: Reflections on the Future of the Arab Monarchies
But today, as authoritarian “republics” across the Arab world tremble and sometimes tumble, little Bahrain is the first kingdom to be challenged by the wave of popular democratic protest. It is bad enough when it has to cancel the Formula One racing event. But you know matters are getting really serious when the king’s police open fire on peaceful demonstrators, prompting protesters to escalate their demands and call for the abolition of the monarchy itself. That hasn’t happened before. Does the present king—and especially his entourage—still possess sufficient legitimacy to face the present crisis?
Notes from the Bahraini Field [Update 2]
The following constitutes a series of email reports (to be updated regularly) from Jadaliyya affiliates in Manama. They will be updated in the next few days to reflect the latest developments in Bahrain. For some important differences between Bahrain and Egypt/Tunisia, see our Jadaliyya article entitled “Is Bahrain Next.”
The Canadian Press: Protest marches fill Bahrain capital as pressure mounts on rulers
MANAMA, Bahrain — Thousands of protesters streamed through Bahrain’s diplomatic area and other sites Sunday, chanting against the country’s king and rejecting his appeals for talks to end the tiny Gulf nation’s nearly two-week-old crisis.
Misc.
Saba Mahmood: Democracy is not enough – Anthropologists on the Arab revolution part II
While the revolutions in Northern Africa and the Middle East are spreading and the Libyan people managed to get rid of another dictator, anthropologists continue to comment the recent events. Here is a short overview.
From fear to fury: how the Arab world found its voice | Music | Music | The Observer
Before the revolution, Egypt’s metal heads lived in fear of arrest. Bullet belts, Iron Maiden T-shirts, horn gestures and headbanging were closet pastimes for foolhardy freaks. Bands such as Bliss, Wyvern, Hate Suffocation, Scarab, Brutus and Massive Scar Era rocked their fans like the priests of a persecuted sect who lived in constant wariness of the ghastly Mukhabarat, Mubarak’s secret police.
Soundtrack to the Arab revolutions | Music | The Observer
Rapper El Général helped spark the uprising in Tunisia, and in Egypt musicians bravely played their part in their nation’s transformation with these impassioned and incendiary tracks
Egypt; The Unexpected (and Unfinished) Revolution « Fifp
I wanted to understand why we did not see in Egypt the kind of collective action we saw in Iran. As an insight as to my line of thought, here’s a section of my conclusion:
“The key factors in explaining the absence of collective action in the Egyptian context and the absence of an Egyptian protest movement lies in an appreciation of the difference trajectory that the country has and continues to develop in, as compared to Iran. Egyptian revolutionary zeal was at its prime under the British occupation and took on an anti-imperialist, nationalist character and is yet to embrace an ideology in the modern context enabling it to unite under a general banner in defiance to the country’s existing authoritarian regime. The Egyptians, unlike the Iranians, lack a history of a united collective successful movement. In addition, the Egyptian state has been much more consistent in its approach towards the masses than its Iranian counterpart. This has meant a long history of repression, blocking of avenues of participation and the undermining of Islam as a revolutionary force.”
The Syrian Style of Repression: Thugs and Lectures – TIME
It was a formidable show of force, clearly meant to intimidate. The security personnel easily outnumbered the small crowd of less than 200 that was prevented — by a human barricade of uniformed men — from gathering anywhere near the embassy to denounce violence against anti-government protesters in Libya. Instead, the demonstration moved to a nearby park some 100 meters away.
Lebanese youth demonstrated against the government, calling for an end to sectarian politics in Lebanon. The protesters marched from the Mar Mikhael church intersection to the Adliyeh area of Beirut on Sunday, called for a secular state. Initial reports indicate that as many as 4,000 protesters took part despite the poor wether conditions.
The docile, supine, unregenerative, cringing Arabs of Orientalism have transformed themselves into fighters for the freedom, liberty and dignity which we Westerners have always assumed it was our unique role to play in the world. One after another, our satraps are falling, and the people we paid them to control are making their own history – our right to meddle in their affairs (which we will, of course, continue to exercise) has been diminished for ever.
After Iraq’s Day of Rage, a Crackdown on Intellectuals
BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces detained about 300 people, including prominent journalists, artists and lawyers who took part in nationwide demonstrations Friday, in what some of them described as an operation to intimidate Baghdad intellectuals who hold sway over popular opinion.
Obama Is Helping Iran – By Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett | Foreign Policy
We take billionaire financier George Soros up on the bet he proffered to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria this week that “the Iranian regime will not be there in a year’s time.” In fact, we want to up the ante and wager that not only will the Islamic Republic still be Iran’s government in a year’s time, but that a year from now, the balance of influence and power in the Middle East will be tilted more decisively in Iran’s favor than it ever has been.
Agency and Its Discontents: Between Al Saud’s Paternalism and the Awakening of Saudi Youth
Public life has been calmer than usual in Saudi Arabia for the last month. Invigorated by the people’s revolutionary movements in Tunisia and Egypt and anxious about the increasing violence in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, Saudis have been following the news obsessively, perhaps for the first time in a decade. Salon talk has also shifted to serious discussions of the less than ideal role the Saudi government has played in the historic regional developments we are witnessing today. Within these discussions, predictions of what will happen next in Saudi Arabia vary, but all agree that the future course of events rests on what King Abdullah will do upon his return. In this context, two days ago, dubbed “Bright Wednesday” by Saudi media, marked a turning point in shaping the course that local movements for change will adopt.
Sacrifice and the Ripple Effect of Tunisian Self-immolation « American Anthropological Association
The years to come will certainly shed more light on the different local activities around Tunisia that served to turn Bouazizi’s act into a catalyst for national revolt rather than a localized incident. In the wake of Tunisia’s success, there were several cases of self-immolation across the Arab world, mainly in places like Egypt and Algeria. It is important to understand the Bouazizi sacrifice and the copycat cases, and to then reflect on the role of sacrifice to bring about change, the use of sacrifice in Egypt in particular, and why the other self-immolation cases did not engender the same reactions.
Dutch
Quote van de Dag: Elke islam-democratie is fake – GeenCommentaar
Volgens Wilders gaan islam en democratie niet samen, maar democratie en moslims wel. Maar dan wel moslims die soort van de islam niet meer aanhangen.
PVV, islam en vrijheid: De moslim als dhimmi | www.dagelijksestandaard.nl
Concluderend: de PVV, die met de aanval op de multikul opkwam voor de individuele vrijheid van de Nederlander, beschadigt met haar voorgestelde beleid de individuele vrijheid en daarmee verantwoordelijkheid van allochtonen en moslims. Is ze de partij van de individuele vrijheid van alle Nederlanders, of alleen van de communale vrijheid van autochtonen? Wordt het multikul, monokul, of liberalisme?
Onbedwelmd slachten III, de islamitische dhabihah « Kandigols Weblog
Het is me al vaker opgevallen dat vooral degenen met uitgesproken standpunten over moslims en islam, nooit met moslims verkeren, of zelfs maar eens in een islamitische slagerij komen. Men baseert zijn hele sociologische totaaltheorie op achterhaalde noties, halve verzinsels en angstvisioenen.
Henk Vroom schrijft beleidsadvies ‘Dialogue with Islam’ : Nieuwemoskee
Het research rapport Dialogue with Islam: Facing the Challenge of Muslim Integration in France, Netherlands, Germany bevat beleidsadviezen voor overheidsbeleid ten aanzien van moslims en moskee-organisaties. Het is geschreven op verzoek van het Centre for European Studies, het wetenschappelijk bureau van de Europese Volkspartij, te Brussel.
Mirjam Shatanawi, Islam in beeld. Kunst en cultuur van moslims wereldwijd | Eutopia Institute
Mirjam Shatanawi stelt heel wat pregnante vragen bij termen als ‘islamitisch’; ‘kunst’ en ‘cultuur’ en bij het verzamelen en exposeren ervan, zonder daar altijd duidelijke antwoorden op te kunnen of te willen geven. Het belangrijkste is dat de vragen een nieuwe discussieruimte openen, een aantal vastgeroeste betekenissen weer vlot maken, en doen nadenken over bewuste en onbewuste beeldvorming en over de ideologieën die onze manier van kijken bepalen. Wie dit soort studies ernstig neemt, kan het woord ‘islam’ niet meer gebruiken op de normatieve en eenduidige manier waarop dat op dit ogenblik in het Nederlandse islamdebat nog steeds gebeurt.
Volhoudbaar: Gekke koeien. Het moet niet dommer worden.
ChristenUnie is bondgenoot geworden in de strijd tegen de islam en door voor een verbod op de sharia te pleiten feitelijk nu ook tegen de moslims zelf.
Het is inmiddels nogal flauw om nog een spook door Europa te laten waren, maar de sharia zou je anders met een gerust hart een dergelijke verschijningsvorm toe kunnen dichten. Het is in ieder geval een mysterieus ding, die sharia, net zo geschikt voor een gesprek als het weer. Je hoeft er geen verstand van te hebben om er toch over mee te kunnen praten. Het verschil is slechts dat je het weer aan den lijve voelt en dus, ook als je geen meteoroloog bent, op zijn minst op enige eigen waarneming kunt bogen, terwijl het aardige van de sharia is dat het echt een Gespenst is, om de term van Marx en Engels maar aan te halen: werkelijk zien doe je het ding niet, maar je kunt er wel lekker voor griezelen.
Rouvoet en Kuiper: Anti-sharia-bepaling geeft duidelijkheid – Opinie – TROUW
opinie Een preambule in de Grondwet snijdt ook het pad af van populisten die de vrijheden van moslims teniet willen doen. Vrijheid en waardigheid worden niet per stemming bepaald.
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