SENSE & MUSLIM SENSIBILITY

So now we have a remorseful wannabe suicide bomber from the Home Counties called Omar Khayam. (Any bank robbers out there called Percy Bysshe Shelley?)

Well, we needed some light relief, didn't we?

Three cheers for David Aaronovitch, writing in today's Times. I don't agree with his argument that the London demonstrators shouldn't have been arrested, but the rest elegantly sums up what's been rattling around inside my head for a few days. Sorry for the length of the extracts. Best to read the whole thing, in fact:

There’s so much to annoy. Take the constant false parallel between representing Jesus and representing Muhammad. We don’t mind, say unthinking seculo-Christians (to whom images of Jesus are ever-present), so why should you? Or the other side’s complaint that anti-Semitism is strictly verboten by the West, but Islamophobia is practically encouraged. Well, if there were 1.6 billion Jews and they were to take action against every country that permitted grotesque anti-Semitic imagery to be published, then there wouldn’t be an Iranian or Syrian embassy left untorched anywhere.

...I don’t know Danish politics very well, but I do know that an anti-immigrant strand has taken hold there in recent years, that Danish citizenship laws are some of the most discriminatory in Western Europe, and I would guess that this right-wing newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, has something invested in the idea that the cultures might be unassimilable.

And here's the best part of all:

...I believe in civility and sometimes in restraint. Even so, there are freedoms and values that I wish my society and country to defend. It was right to publish and sell The Satanic Verses, and one day we will almost certainly be called upon to defend a play, probably written by a Muslim, that features the Prophet and that raises questions about belief. The impulse that created The Grand Inquisitor, currently being performed in London, will have an Islamic equivalent, and the row will be huge. When that happens there will be a lot of explaining and listening to do. We can all get through it, if we’re prepared to avoid switching to a default mode that declares that they’re bad and we’re good. I think democracy, liberty and Islam can coexist. I think good manners and civility can be a part of "Western civilisation". Look at the apologies by the Danish Government for any offence offered to Muslims. Look at the condemnation of Omar and the barmy brigade by the Muslim Council of Britain.

Incidentally, if you want more on the anti-Semitic rubbish washing around the Muslim world,  Tom Gross fills in the details.

Comments

[Mike Doughty]

A couple of points: There's a large difference between all Muslims and the Islamofascists, as there was between all Germans and the Nazis. Unfortunately, when the vast majority sit silent (for whatever reason) they get lumped in with and co-opted by, the vocal minority, because the vocal minority actually set the direction of the entire group. The fact is, when you compare Western society as a whole to the Islamofacists, we ARE the good and they ARE the bad. We ignore this fact at our peril. Democracy, liberty and Islam can indeed coexist. Democracy, liberty and Islamofacism cannot.

[Clive D]

Agreed. If the majority aren't able or willing to speak up, there's trouble ahead. But at least moderate voices have finally been raised this time.

[Frank]

"Respect international law & stop supporting Danish newspaper"

To: The Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, European Union Heads of State, Members of the European Parliament
ENGLISH VERSION:

1- On September 30th, 2005, 12 caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad were published in a Danish newspaper (Jyllands Posten). These caricatures were then republished in other magazines in Germany, Austria and France.

2- However, according to the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights that was ratified by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 and entered into force 23 March 1976, these actions are considered crimes and in violation of international law.
The 2nd paragraph of article No. 20 of this covenant states: "Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law."

3- Therefore, both as Muslims and 1.5 billion of the 6 billion citizens of the global community, we ask the United Nations Organization and the leaders of the world, in particular the European politicians who supported the Danish newspaper paper and delayed enforcement of international law, including the International Covent on Civil and Political Rights, Declaration of Principles on Tolerance and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to investigate our complaint and judge those who committed this crime in a proper international legal tribunal.

4- We Muslims do not seek violence. According to our religious beliefs, the humanity of a person remains incomplete unless he is free and we hold the conviction that according to this saying of Imam Ali we are obliged to: “Be kind to people! Because if they are not your brothers and sisters in religion, they surely are your brothers and sisters in creation."
In a world increasingly moving toward hatred and division, wherein ideas like peace, tolerance and friendship among nations seems quite fragile, it is your duty to keep your sworn commitments that you believe in the shaping of an equal world, free of war and discrimination. We hope you prove to us that you respect us as we respect you as equal, intelligent and civilized humans. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Please sign This Petition and show in your blogg

http://www.petitiononline.com/islamic/