C L O S E R

Creating the moral panic: Join the Caravan of Wilders

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

Wilders film Fitna has once again focused our attention on the significance of religious beliefs and practices in conflict. Conflicts, has been shown abundantly in all kinds of studies, rarely only have an ethnic or religious origin alone. The religious and ethnic ties vary infinitely and have to be considered together with other potential bases for collective origins such as neighbourliness, national origins, and race, religion, and financial and political interest. The potential for mobilisation is therefore usually not only ethnicity or religion but the underlying processes are common to many other kinds of mobilisation. The appearance of a conflict that is primarily religiously or ethnically determined is based upon the interplay between those other relations and ethnic sentiment in a cause-and-effect-relationship. The importance of political entrepreneurs with regard to the relation between Muslims and non-Muslims is shown in various researches.

A political entrepreneur such as Wilders can call upon people to transcend their individual interests and instead move for a more shared interest based upon group solidarity. What happens is that people like Wilders but also others try to reduce the multidimensionality of relations by making one dimension (for example religion or ethnicity) appear all-important (and all-encompassing). Wilders does this for example in Fitna by claiming to expose the fascist nature of this book (and therefore of Islam).

Once us vs. them dichotomies are formed they usually reproduce themselves since their are costs in terms of vulnerability, loss of strength, loss of sense of belonging, anomie, weakness, when leaving the ingroup while staying provides a sense of safety and belonging, and social capital. People who have defined their group as civilized, free and superior will not easily blur the boundaries with the outgroup by attributing value to other qualities. Even successful attempts to minimize communal conflict may as a byproduct reproduce community solidarity.

(more…)

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The surprising truth about Rage Boy, America’s hated poster-boy of Islamic radicalism | the Daily Mail

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

The surprising truth about Rage Boy, America’s hated poster-boy of Islamic radicalism | the Daily Mail

By PATRICK FRENCH

Don’t you hate Islamic Rage Boy? ‘MoBlows’, writing on the Jihad Watch website, certainly does.

“I just want to put my fist down his throat,” he says. The ‘boy’ in question rose to prominence earlier this year when he was photographed at a demonstration in Srinagar, capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Later, he was spotted waving his fist at another camera during a protest against the awarding of a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie.

With his straggly beard and big shouting mouth, Rage Boy certainly looks like a threat.

His scary face now appears on boxer shorts and bumper stickers, and he scores more than a million results on Google.

Crazed: But the poster boy of Islamic radicalism has a very different story to tell when he’s at home with his mother

A regular spoof diary appears online in his name and he has come to stand for all that is most frightening about radical Islam.

But who is the real person behind the cartoon and what does he believe in? I travelled to Kashmir in search of the poster-boy of fundamentalism. (more…)

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The surprising truth about Rage Boy, America's hated poster-boy of Islamic radicalism | the Daily Mail

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

The surprising truth about Rage Boy, America’s hated poster-boy of Islamic radicalism | the Daily Mail

By PATRICK FRENCH

Don’t you hate Islamic Rage Boy? ‘MoBlows’, writing on the Jihad Watch website, certainly does.

“I just want to put my fist down his throat,” he says. The ‘boy’ in question rose to prominence earlier this year when he was photographed at a demonstration in Srinagar, capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Later, he was spotted waving his fist at another camera during a protest against the awarding of a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie.

With his straggly beard and big shouting mouth, Rage Boy certainly looks like a threat.

His scary face now appears on boxer shorts and bumper stickers, and he scores more than a million results on Google.

Crazed: But the poster boy of Islamic radicalism has a very different story to tell when he’s at home with his mother

A regular spoof diary appears online in his name and he has come to stand for all that is most frightening about radical Islam.

But who is the real person behind the cartoon and what does he believe in? I travelled to Kashmir in search of the poster-boy of fundamentalism. (more…)

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Washington Times – Dutch film to slam Islam

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Public Islam.

Dutch film to slam Islam
February 29, 2008

By Leander Schaerlaeckens – BRUSSELS — Europe’s uneasy relationship with its Muslim minority faces another blow next month, when Dutch politician Geert Wilders releases a 15-minute film that compares Islam to Nazism and communism.

The film is called “Fitna,” an Arabic term for “discord.” It intersperses verses of the Koran with footage of terrorist attacks and other Islamist-inspired violence.

“The film will show that the Koran isn’t a dead work, but the face of Islam — a tremendous hazard,” Mr. Wilders told the daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad.

He said the film calls the Koran “the latest test to Western democracies since Nazism and communism.”

Mr. Wilders said the film will be finished tomorrow and will be posted on a Web site, www.fitnathemovie.com, when it airs on television.

Several Pakistani Internet providers tried this week to block YouTube on the orders of the government because it carried a movie trailer for the film. The effort caused a worldwide crash of the popular online site for sharing videos.

In recent years, other perceived insults to Islam in Europe have turned deadly.

Worldwide riots after the 2005 publication of editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad left more than 100 people dead.

In 2004, a terrorist killed Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in broad daylight over another short film titled “Submission,” which told the tale of abused women in the Muslim community.

The assassin called Mr. van Gogh, a descendent of the 19th-century artist, an “enemy of Islam” in a note that threatened the life of then-Dutch lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who wrote the script for the film.

Ms. Hirsi Ali now lives in the United States under tight security.

About 1 million Muslims live in the Netherlands, with a population of about 16 million.

The Iranian justice minister requested his Dutch counterpart to ban the latest film, calling it “satanical and undermining,” according to Iranian press agency IRNA.

The Dutch government has thus far refused to act, citing the principle of free speech.

Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, director of the Washington-based Center for Islamic Pluralism, said it was “strange” and “ahistorical” to think that a 1,400-year-old text could become a threat to the West.

“My advice to Muslims is to ignore such trivial provocations, maintain their dignity and faith and work to improve their communities,” Mr. Schwartz said. “Mr. Wilders has a right to make whatever films he wants and Muslims have a right to ignore them.”

Mr. Wilders and his movie reflect what many fear is a shift in values in the Netherlands, historically a haven for religious tolerance and free speech.

Although his popularity has grown along with his rhetoric, public opinion polls show that the vast majority of Dutch citizens are still proponents of free speech, religious freedom and tolerance.

“Geert Wilders spreads hatred. We want to be an open, tolerant and democratic society and he preaches the opposite,” said Michael van der Vlis, a former city councilman of Amsterdam who is one of Mr. Wilders’ fiercest critics.

Mr. van der Vlis began his own Web site, “Don’t spread hatred,” to counter Mr. Wilders.

Within a few weeks of opening the site last year, he received thousands of supportive e-mails but eventually abandoned the effort when faced with a never-ending stream of hate mail.

“Yes, we have a problem with a part of the Muslim community and you can’t ignore that, but you should solve it very differently than the way Wilders tries to,” Mr. van der Vlis told The Washington Times.

“You should attract people, not make them outcasts. [Mr. Wilders] preaches ripping up half the Koran and the fight against Islam. This shows extremely little respect for those with a different religious opinion. He does not contribute to a tolerant Netherlands.”

Mr. Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament since 1998, has proposed closing the country to all non-Western immigrants for at least five years and banning construction of Islamic schools and mosques for the same period.

He has also proposed a law that would prevent foreign imams from preaching in the Netherlands and forbid preaching by anyone in any language other than Dutch.

In addition, he has sought to ban the Koran, calling it the Islamic answer to Hitler’s manifesto “Mein Kampf.”

Dutch authorities fear that Mr. Wilders, already the recipient of numerous death threats, faces similar dangers to the assassinated Mr. van Gogh.

Mr. Wilders, who leads a nationalist party with nine of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament, was not immediately available for comment.

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AAJ Television – Taliban warn of attacks if Dutch 'anti-Islamic' film shown

Posted on February 28th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

NEWS : AAJ Television: Pakistan’s Premier Channel
Taliban warn of attacks if Dutch ‘anti-Islamic’ film shown

KABUL Afghanistan’s Taliban movement warned on Thursday it would step up attacks against soldiers from The Netherlands if an ‘insulting’ anti-Islamic film by a Dutch parliamentarian is broadcast.

There are around 1,500 Dutch troops in Afghanistan as part of a 40-nation Nato-led force that is helping the government battle an insurgency led by the Taliban.

The film by far-right Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, is ‘an insult to Islam,’ a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told AFP.

“We in Afghanistan will increase our attacks against Dutch forces if the film is broadcast,” he said in a telephone call from an unknown location.

“We call on the United Nations to step in and stop any such acts which creates drifts between Muslims and the rest of the world.”

The Dutch government on Wednesday warned Wilders about the dangers of broadcasting the film entitled “Fitna,” an Arabic word used to describe all things that can test faith and sometimes synonymous with evil.

1 comment.

AAJ Television – Taliban warn of attacks if Dutch ‘anti-Islamic’ film shown

Posted on February 28th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

NEWS : AAJ Television: Pakistan’s Premier Channel
Taliban warn of attacks if Dutch ‘anti-Islamic’ film shown

KABUL Afghanistan’s Taliban movement warned on Thursday it would step up attacks against soldiers from The Netherlands if an ‘insulting’ anti-Islamic film by a Dutch parliamentarian is broadcast.

There are around 1,500 Dutch troops in Afghanistan as part of a 40-nation Nato-led force that is helping the government battle an insurgency led by the Taliban.

The film by far-right Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, is ‘an insult to Islam,’ a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told AFP.

“We in Afghanistan will increase our attacks against Dutch forces if the film is broadcast,” he said in a telephone call from an unknown location.

“We call on the United Nations to step in and stop any such acts which creates drifts between Muslims and the rest of the world.”

The Dutch government on Wednesday warned Wilders about the dangers of broadcasting the film entitled “Fitna,” an Arabic word used to describe all things that can test faith and sometimes synonymous with evil.

1 comment.

Protected: Jihad tegen Wilders – Binnenland – Telegraaf.nl

Posted on February 27th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

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Protected: nu.nl/internet | Aparte website voor Koranfilm Wilders

Posted on February 27th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

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Protected: nu.nl/internet | Aparte website voor Koranfilm Wilders

Posted on February 27th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

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AFP: Egypt ‘monitoring attacks on Islam ahead of Dutch TV film’

Posted on February 24th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

AFP: Egypt ‘monitoring attacks on Islam ahead of Dutch TV film’

CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt on Friday deplored what it called gratuitous attacks on Islam and said it was closely monitoring plans by a Dutch filmmaker to release an anti-Koran film.”It is regrettable that European lawmakers and politicians use gratuitous methods to gain electoral votes by attacking the sacred values and religions of others,” foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement.

Dutch far-right deputy Geert Wilders has said he will be airing on television in the Netherlands in March a controversial anti-Islam film called “Fitna” (Ordeal), which accuses the Koran of inciting people to murder.

Such politicians, Zaki said in reference to Wilders, “focus their hatred on Islam” and plan to broadcast a film undermining Islamic symbols.

These acts “feed hatred against Muslims and encourage extremism and confrontation instead of opting for dialogue based on mutual respect,” Zaki said.

Egypt is monitoring the situation “very closely,” he added, but also noted the “comprehension” of the Dutch authorities over Cairo’s concerns.

Wilders said in November that the film will show his view that the Koran is “a horrible and fascist book” that inspires people to commit “awful acts.”

“I hope that it will open people’s eyes to the fact that the Koran should be banned like ‘Mein Kampf'” by Adolf Hitler, he told the Dutch news agency ANP.

This month Egypt banned the sale of four European newspapers for printing pictures deemed offensive to Islam and summoned the ambassador of Denmark, where the press published cartoons that have enraged the Muslim world.

At least 17 Danish newspapers republished a controversial cartoon earlier this month, featuring the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.

The cartoon was one of 12 drawings first published in September 2005 by the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper that sparked bloody riots across the Islamic world.

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AFP: Egypt 'monitoring attacks on Islam ahead of Dutch TV film'

Posted on February 24th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

AFP: Egypt ‘monitoring attacks on Islam ahead of Dutch TV film’

CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt on Friday deplored what it called gratuitous attacks on Islam and said it was closely monitoring plans by a Dutch filmmaker to release an anti-Koran film.”It is regrettable that European lawmakers and politicians use gratuitous methods to gain electoral votes by attacking the sacred values and religions of others,” foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement.

Dutch far-right deputy Geert Wilders has said he will be airing on television in the Netherlands in March a controversial anti-Islam film called “Fitna” (Ordeal), which accuses the Koran of inciting people to murder.

Such politicians, Zaki said in reference to Wilders, “focus their hatred on Islam” and plan to broadcast a film undermining Islamic symbols.

These acts “feed hatred against Muslims and encourage extremism and confrontation instead of opting for dialogue based on mutual respect,” Zaki said.

Egypt is monitoring the situation “very closely,” he added, but also noted the “comprehension” of the Dutch authorities over Cairo’s concerns.

Wilders said in November that the film will show his view that the Koran is “a horrible and fascist book” that inspires people to commit “awful acts.”

“I hope that it will open people’s eyes to the fact that the Koran should be banned like ‘Mein Kampf'” by Adolf Hitler, he told the Dutch news agency ANP.

This month Egypt banned the sale of four European newspapers for printing pictures deemed offensive to Islam and summoned the ambassador of Denmark, where the press published cartoons that have enraged the Muslim world.

At least 17 Danish newspapers republished a controversial cartoon earlier this month, featuring the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.

The cartoon was one of 12 drawings first published in September 2005 by the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper that sparked bloody riots across the Islamic world.

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Protected: AD.nl – Buitenland – Protest bij Nederlandse ambassade

Posted on February 20th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

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Wilders discloses more information about film – Expatica

Posted on February 11th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

Wilders discloses more information about film – Expatica
Freedom Party PVV faction leader Geert Wilders has disclosed more information out about his controversial anti-Islam film.

11 February 2008

AMSTERDAM – Freedom Party PVV faction leader Geert Wilders has disclosed more information out about his controversial anti-Islam film, the Volkskrant reports. The film will be titled Fitna Arabic for ‘trial, ordeal, it will be 15 minutes long, and end with a print of the prophet Mohammed. “Something happens with the print, but I dont want to say what,” Wilders said in an interview with the GPD Associated Press Services.

In the interview Wilders says he wanted to take the films title from the Koran. He says that ‘fitna refers to situations in which the faith of Muslims is tested. He uses the term ‘reflectively. Wilders: ‘Islam and the Koran are my ordeal. For me the corrupting Islam is fitna.”

Wilders reiterated that the film will be released in March. It is still not clear where it will be broadcast. He says he is still in talks with Dutch channels.

The governments attitude, which has put the Dutch embassies and police forces on edge, and the commotion that has arisen in the Islamic world in advance of the film have already proved his view right, Wilders says. In an opinion piece in the Volkskrant he reported that the panicked reactions demonstrate that Islam is “an intolerant ideology.”

Since his point has been proven, the film does not even have to be made. But it will be, Wilders told the Telegraaf in late January. In the GPD interview he explains that he will illustrate excerpts and verses from the Koran with documentary footage. In doing so he wants to demonstrate that the Koran “is not a dead letter, but the face of Islam: a life-sized threat.”

The film gives international examples of “Islamic evil” and then zooms in on the Netherlands. It is unclear what he will show of the Netherlands. Nor did Wilders want to comment further on whether the Koran will be torn or burned in his film.

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Protected: ‘Islam is mijn ‘Fitna’, mijn beproeving’ | Brabants Dagblad

Posted on February 9th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

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Protected: 'Islam is mijn 'Fitna', mijn beproeving' | Brabants Dagblad

Posted on February 9th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

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Heiligschennis III – Kunst hoor!

Posted on December 13th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: Arts & culture, Public Islam.

Sooreh Hera en haar foto’s van homo’s met de maskers van de profeet Mohammed en Ali blijven de gemoederen behoorlijk bezighouden. En diverse websites die zich druk maken over het behoud van het typisch Nederlandse cultuurgoed Vrijheid van meningsuiting hebben het er maar druk mee. Vrijheid van meningsuiting van de Nederlanders tegenover de mening van een minderheid, het geweld en dreiging waarmee moslims hun gewetstheid kenbaar maken, disrespectvolle moslims die respect eisen van volgens hen disrespectvolle ongelovigen en mensen met een ander godsbegrip (dan joden en christenen zonder ook maar enig besef van hoe het christelijke en joodse godsbegrip is beinvloed door islamitische denkers).

Een hele mooie en eenvoudige dichotomie die daardoor alleen al de waarheid lijkt te zijn. De enige die deze dichotomie een beetje doorbreekt is de directeur van het Haagse Gemeentemuseum en die kunnen we dan ook wegzetten als collaborateur van Allah.

Wat jammer nou dat deze dichotomie zo versluierend is, slechts een deel van de sociale werkelijkheid weergeeft en eigenlijk ook nogal hypocriet is.

Het is versluierend en eenzijdig omdat het de ‘schuld’ eenzijdig bij de gewetste moslims neerlegt. Waar de kunstenares een vorm van heiligschennis pleegt door de profeet Mohammed in verband te brengen met homoseksualiteit, plegen de Islamdemocraten heiligschennis (of vooruit dan: profanatieschennis) door de vrijheid van meningsuiting in twijfel te trekken. Alsof dat alleen al niet genoeg is overtreden ze met hun actie ook nog eens de scheiding tussen het sacrale en het profane. Het sacrale behoort toe aan religie en dat behoort in het privédomein, terwijl het profane toegestaan is in het publieke domein. Met hun argumenten brengen zij religie in het publieke domein en dan ook nog eens een religie die bij sommigen onder ons niet bepaald het beeld van vredelievendheid en tolerantie oproept. Waar de Islamdemocraten gekwetst zijn door het gebruik van heilige religieuze symbolen door ongelovigen, zijn de gelinkte (muv de laatste) sites gekwetst door de aantasting van de heilige vrijheid van meningsuiting door gelovigen.

Toch is ook dat maar een deel van het verhaal. Waar het hier om gaat is kunst en de vrijheid die kunst wel of niet heeft om rekening te houden met wat anderen dierbaar is zoals de scheiding tussen het sacrale en profane, publiek en privé en heilig geachte symbolen. Dat is (ondanks wat ik eerder betoogde) niet persé een strijd tussen seculieren en religieuzen. Wat denken we bijvoorbeeld hiervan:

De vlaggen hierboven zijn gemaakt door Chrissy Meijns in het kader van het kunstproject Triptiek. Bij het jaarlijkse Gogbot-festival hingen deze jihad-vlaggen buiten in de open lucht en riepen een dermate afkeer op bij een 23-jarige student dat hij ze verwijderde.

In een galerie kan zoiets, maar als mensen op straat zoiets ongevraagd krijgen voorgeschoteld, ligt dat anders. Ik vroeg me ‘s middags al af: Waarom shockeert me dit zo, waarom krijg ik hier zo’n naar gevoel bij? Voor mij staat de Nederlandse vlag voor vrijheid. Op deze manier roep je alleen maar angstgevoelens en haat op.

Het was overigens niet het eerste incident en na nog een incident werd het kunstwerk op last van de politie verwijderd. In Rotterdam mocht het werk van haar alleen in gewijzigde vorm vertoont worden. De student kreeg daarvoor een boete, maar weigerde die te betalen waardoor hij moest voorkomen bij de rechtbank. De afkeurende commentaren in de kranten waren niet van de lucht; gericht tegen de kunstenares dan. De Oranjevereniging toonde zich bereid een eventuele boete (tegen baldadigheid) te betalen. Op Klein Verzet was te lezen dat het ging om ‘desecration’ (ontheiliging, ontwijding) van de Nederlandse vlag. En hij werd vrijgesproken (hoger beroep volgt). De rechtzaak leidde tot kamervragen waarbij de vraag vooral was of Justitie geen andere prioriteit heeft. De teneur in veel reacties was vooral erg negatief voor de kunstenares en positief voor de dader op enkele kunstlogs na, een echt vrijheid van meningsuiting log Free Flow of Information en nog een verdwaalde blogger.

En kent u deze nog:

Afbeelding: Kwetsendekunst.nl

Deze afbeelding is van een kunstwerk van Jonas Staal, De Kunst van het Wantrouwen / Geert Wilders Werken. Staal was al eerder in de problemen ook met Triptiek, maar ik dit kunstwerk van Wilders leidde tot nogal wat controverse. Een rechtzaak (gewonnen door Staal) wegens bedreiging van Geert Wilders die aangifte daartegen had gedaan(Staal had ook andere op deze manier geportretteerd zoals Balkenende). (hoger beroep volgt). Er moet wel bij vermeld worden dat dit gebeurde in 2005 toen Wilders ondergedoken leefde vanwege de bedreigingen.

Beide gebeurtenissen genereerden redelijk wat publiciteit maar nauwelijks vergelijkbaar met de Sooreh Hera case en geen enkele van de in de eerste alinea’s gelinkte weblogs (of schrijvers daarop) maakten zich er heel erg druk om.(voor de volledigheid, in een eerdere posting refereerde ik ook aan Bbrussen.nl die echter deze laatste affaire wel vermeldde).

Met andere woorden degenen die voortdurend refereren naar de lange tenen van moslims of meer in het algemeen de lange tenen van gelovigen, hebben ongelijk. Mensen kunnen zich ook druk maken om seculiere en anti-religieuze symbolen zodra die fel en provocerend (zoals kunst dat kan zijn) worden aangevallen. Dat negeren is hypocriet en nogal vals; het schept tegenstellingen die er niet noodzakelijkerwijze zijn. Weliswaar is er een tegenstelling in de Sooreh Hera case tussen religieuzen en niet-religieuzen, maar dat is maar de helft van het verhaal. Het gaat erom hoever we kunst kunst laten zijn en in hoeverre politieke en maatschappelijke issues en omstandigheden daar een rol bij kunnen spelen. En eigenlijk is dat een discussie die we vooral moeten voeren, maar geen oplossing bedenken door vaste protocollen en wetten. Het is een discussie die gevoerd moet worden omdat kunst ook discussie moet oproepen (soms althans) en waarin iedereen het recht heeft op vrijheid van meningsuiting en gekwetst zijn. Dit in wetten en protocollen gieten is de dood voor de kunst en ook voor het debat over kunst. En verder lijkt me ook minister Plasterks reactie aan Sooreh Hera zeer behartenswaardig!

7 comments.

Terrorize your lyrics – Suspended sentence for Samina Malik

Posted on December 7th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, ISIM/RU Research, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Suspended sentence for the ‘lyrical terrorist’ – Independent Online Edition > Crime

The Crown Prosecution Service said: “Samina Malik was not prosecuted for writing poetry. She was convicted of collecting information, without reasonable excuse, of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

“She claimed in her defence that she was ‘a lyrical terrorist’ who wrote poetry which ‘did not mean anything’, but this was rejected by the jury.”

Another blow for civil liberties

This case shows the increasing encroachment of the criminal law on civil liberties since 9/11 and 7/7.

Salima Malik’s conviction was secured under the widely drawn Terrorism Act 2000 which makes it an offence to be in possession of written material likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

But in describing her actions as on the margin of the criminal law the judge appeared to be signalling that Labour’s anti-terror laws trod a very fine line between protecting the public from terrorism and curbing the right to freedom of expression.

Her conviction has been seized on by civil libertarians, who have complained that Labour has brought in a number of offences that amount to a threat to the rights of free expression.

Liberty, the human rights group, says free speech is a victim of the war on terror, with offences of “encouragement” and “glorification” of terrorism threatening to make careless talk a crime.

Robert Verkaik, Law Editor

Today several weblogs have the Samina Malik day in order to stand up for free speech in general and her case in particular. See here and here and also here for an earlier post of mine on this issue.

1 comment.

Heiligschennis II – ‘Goudse toestanden’

Posted on December 5th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: Gouda Issues, Misc. News, Public Islam.

Gouda als vrijhaven voor de vrijheid van meningsuiting en als exemplarisch voor het huidige debat over religie ic islam.

nrc.nl – Binnenland – ‘Abjecte brief van een gevaarlijke man’

Vindt u dat Terpstra oproept tot geweld tegen u?

„Hij zegt dat niet letterlijk, dus dat kan ik hem niet aanwrijven. Maar hij zou zo wel mensen op ideeën kunnen brengen. Ik kreeg een e-mail van iemand uit Gouda, dat er iemand met een spuitbus ‘Wilders moet dood’ op muren heeft geschreven. Dat bedoel ik.”

Mag Terpstra uw politieke stijl en boodschap niet bekritiseren?

„Natuurlijk heeft hij het zelfde recht om te spreken als ik. Maar wat hij zegt is ver onder de gordel. Hij zet aan tot Goudse toestanden. Hij gaat het debat niet aan, hij is een beetje aan het ophitsen. Hij doet zelf wat hij mij verwijt.”

Geert Wilders spreekt over Goudse toestanden: de graffiti met Wilders moet dood naar aanleiding van de uitlatingen van Terpstra. Het gaat om deze graffiti:

(foto: RTV West)

De graffiti is te lezen op het gebouw van de voormalige Jan Ligthartschool in de wijk Korte Akkeren in Gouda. Deze school, of liever gezegd de hele wijk, is één van de belangrijkste plekken van mijn onderzoek naar de religieuze identiteit van Marokkaans-Nederlandse jongeren dat volgend jaar uitkomt. Opmerkelijk genoeg staat deze graffiti te lezen onder een bord waarop staat:

het schoolplein is voor iedereen, respecteer elkaar en discrimineer niet

(more…)

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Heiligschennis II – 'Goudse toestanden'

Posted on December 5th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: Gouda Issues, Misc. News, Public Islam.

Gouda als vrijhaven voor de vrijheid van meningsuiting en als exemplarisch voor het huidige debat over religie ic islam.

nrc.nl – Binnenland – ‘Abjecte brief van een gevaarlijke man’

Vindt u dat Terpstra oproept tot geweld tegen u?

„Hij zegt dat niet letterlijk, dus dat kan ik hem niet aanwrijven. Maar hij zou zo wel mensen op ideeën kunnen brengen. Ik kreeg een e-mail van iemand uit Gouda, dat er iemand met een spuitbus ‘Wilders moet dood’ op muren heeft geschreven. Dat bedoel ik.”

Mag Terpstra uw politieke stijl en boodschap niet bekritiseren?

„Natuurlijk heeft hij het zelfde recht om te spreken als ik. Maar wat hij zegt is ver onder de gordel. Hij zet aan tot Goudse toestanden. Hij gaat het debat niet aan, hij is een beetje aan het ophitsen. Hij doet zelf wat hij mij verwijt.”

Geert Wilders spreekt over Goudse toestanden: de graffiti met Wilders moet dood naar aanleiding van de uitlatingen van Terpstra. Het gaat om deze graffiti:

(foto: RTV West)

De graffiti is te lezen op het gebouw van de voormalige Jan Ligthartschool in de wijk Korte Akkeren in Gouda. Deze school, of liever gezegd de hele wijk, is één van de belangrijkste plekken van mijn onderzoek naar de religieuze identiteit van Marokkaans-Nederlandse jongeren dat volgend jaar uitkomt. Opmerkelijk genoeg staat deze graffiti te lezen onder een bord waarop staat:

het schoolplein is voor iedereen, respecteer elkaar en discrimineer niet

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1 comment.

Heiligschennis: Vrijheid van expressie vs. moslimwoede

Posted on December 3rd, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues, Public Islam.

Sooreh Hera wilde discussie losmaken:

Rond homoseksualiteit blijkt het duidelijkst de hypocriete houding in de islamitische wereld tegenover seks. Homo’s worden in landen als Iran en Saoedi-Arabië keihard aangepakt, terwijl het daar heel gewoon is voor getrouwde mannen om seks te hebben met andere mannen. Maar dat blijft verborgen.
[…]
Zij (twee van de mannelijke partners, MdK) wilden niet herkenbaar in beeld en dragen dus maskers. Om de hypocrisie in de moslimwereld aan de kaak te stellen, heb ik de gezichten van Mohammed en Ali gebruikt. De foto’s van Mohammed en Ali worden normaal gebruikt in processies van sjiitische moslims.

En discussie heeft ze gekregen. De museumdirecteur weigerde bij nader inzien toch maar de foto’s voor de tentoonstelling terwijl hij ze wel goed van kwaliteit vond. En dus wordt onze vrijheid aangetast zo weet Geenstijl.nl te melden. Vervolgens is de stap naar het aanwijzen van de ‘usual suspects’ niet zo moeilijk: moslims die zich beledigd voelen, tirannen en religieuzen van vrede, familie langteen en moslims. De conclusie is vervolgens ook vrij simpel: de islam is de baas, de zoveelste knieval voor religie en dhimmitude.

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4 comments.

Poetic (in)justice?

Posted on November 10th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, ISIM/RU Research, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization, Youth culture (as a practice).

Poetic Justice is a literary device which virtue or the good is ultimately rewarded and/or vice punished and is related to Aristotle’s Poetics. According to Aristotle poetry is superior to history in that it shows what should or must happen, rather than merely what does occur. Poetic justice is also used to describe how a work should inspire proper moral behavior in its audience by illustrating the triumph of good over evil.

In 2006 I received an email with a .pdf file that contained an article called Raising Mujahideen Children from a Moroccan-Dutch Muslim woman. Around the same time the article was posted on a Dutch webforum Marokko.nl by someone else which triggered a small discussion. The piece was originally written by Umm Musab al-Gharib; a nickname that I came across several times. Umm Musab al-Gharib aka LyricalTerrorist aka Bint al Shaheed aka Stranger awaiting Martyrdom posted several messages on different websites, mostly poems. Many of those were send to me by the woman I mentioned earlier.

Busy with other things I did not gave it much thought until I read an article at the BBC website about Samina Malik: (more…)

5 comments.

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam: Tariq Ramadan argues for an intensive debate on citizenship and identity

Posted on November 10th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam: Tariq Ramadan argues for an intensive debate on citizenship and identity

Ramadan is visiting Professor in Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Yesterday, Tariq Ramadan has held his inaugural lecture at the Erasmus University Rotterdam: Citizenship and Identity: old terminology and new challenges’.. In this lecture he argues for an intensive debate on citizenship and identity.

The European societies are facing new and very complex challenges. The presence of millions of new citizens mainly with a Muslim background is perceived as a potential threat: what about our roots, our legacy, our identity and our future? What do they want? To adapt themselves, to integrate or to silently colonised the European countries? Far from being driven by some negative perceptions, mistrust and fears, it is necessary to come back to a deep, rational and reasonable debate, argues Ramadan. This is where the academic can – and must – help to shape the debate with in-depth, more rationality but also with no compromise as to the essential principles or overwhelming optimism.

According to Ramadan we need a clear and realistic approach: to be able to achieve that, it is important to return to the old concepts – such as citizenship and national identity – and to try to study their past and current meanings (or uses) in order to try to draw the outlines of renewed understandings while setting a clear framework related to the conditions of citizenship. This is the first step helping us to talk about the commonalities and, from there, to tackle the issues of identities, diversity and multiculturalism. Between the worst case scenarios and the idealistic projections, what approach can we propose from an academic viewpoint tacking into account what has already been said while trying to open new channels and to propose creative ways to deal with these issues.

Prof.dr. Tariq Ramadan is Visiting Professor in Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam, with effect from 1 January 2007. Prof. dr Ramadan will hold the post at least for a period of two years. The chair is shared by the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of History and Arts of Erasmus University Rotterdam, and was created for four years on the initiative of Rotterdam city council.

Prof. dr Tariq Ramadan (45) is a philosopher and theologist. He is particularly well known for his work in philosophy and Islamic studies, where he has made a special study of the recent growth of Islamic communities in Europe. Prof. dr Ramadan is a strong advocate of full participation by Muslims in European society and is known for his critical stance towards Muslims and non-Muslims alike. His message that Muslims can and must be good, fully-participating European citizens has made him one of the leading voices of contemporary Islam and an example to many young people wrestling with questions of identity and citizenship.

The new Visiting Professor is a Swiss citizen with an Egyptian background. He took a doctorate from the University of Genève in 1998. Between 1997 and 2004, he was attached to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Dr Ramadan holds numerous academic posts, including that of Visiting Fellow at St Anthony’s College, Oxford, which he has held since 2005.

You can read the summary of his lecture (in English and published in the NRC Handelsblad) here:

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0 comments.

The Blessed Balance Between Reason and Religion – part 5: Two learned men

Posted on September 19th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Public Islam, Religion Other.

The whole Pope-affair still receives a lot of attention and I can hardly keep up with all the debates in the blogosphere and newspapers. Therefore I’m not trying to but refer you to some of the blogs that give a an overview from a Christian/Catholic perspective. What we miss in all the overviews is the views of the two learned men: prof. Khoury who’s book was used by the Pope and the Persian man from the citations.

First the professor. What does he have to say about the whole thing. Well I read this very interesting interview in the Frankfurter Algemeine and translated the most important parts into English (so my translation; if you see any errors just let me know): (more…)

0 comments.

The Blessed Balance Between Reason and Religion – part 4: Where are the 'Monsters of Loch Ness' and why are they apparently invisible?

Posted on September 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religion Other.

Meanwhile in the Muslim blogosphere many people have blogged about the Pope–issue and its consequences and also outside. One of the questions that frequently comes up in the debates where I am or at my blog, is where are the moderate Muslims?

The real losers here might be those Muslims who, although they might feel offended, hate the use of violence and prefer the fellow Muslims to tackle other painful and pertitent cases such as Darfur or the Hudud laws or the Andijan massacre.

You mean those Muslims we hear many stories about but who are somehow extremely difficult to capture on film or tape, like the Monster of Loch Ness? THOSE Muslims?

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11 comments.

The Blessed Balance Between Reason and Religion – part 4: Where are the ‘Monsters of Loch Ness’ and why are they apparently invisible?

Posted on September 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religion Other.

Meanwhile in the Muslim blogosphere many people have blogged about the Pope–issue and its consequences and also outside. One of the questions that frequently comes up in the debates where I am or at my blog, is where are the moderate Muslims?

The real losers here might be those Muslims who, although they might feel offended, hate the use of violence and prefer the fellow Muslims to tackle other painful and pertitent cases such as Darfur or the Hudud laws or the Andijan massacre.

You mean those Muslims we hear many stories about but who are somehow extremely difficult to capture on film or tape, like the Monster of Loch Ness? THOSE Muslims?

(more…)

11 comments.

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