– fordi tiden kræver et MODSPIL

05. Feb 2006

Det handler ikke om ytringsfrihed

 
... det handler om hykleri. En vred araber har en del at sige om den nuværende ballade:
The cartoonists knew what they were doing, for sure, even though they did not anticipate the reactions. The offense got worse, when European publications began reprinting them in the name of “freedom of speech.” Really? Would those same publications dare to reprint the grotesque anti-Semitism of, say the Nazi "historian" David Irving (who sits in an Austrian jail for violating the law there which bans anti-Semitic speech, and we don't see people defending his right of freedom of speech--I would not either), in the name of “free speech”? This is something that is at the heart of the controversy. The double and triple standards of Western governments are quite clear, even if you take “freedom of expression” as a criterion of analysis.
Nej, naturligvis forsvarer Jyllands-Posten ikke David Irving - selvom det kan argumenteres for, at det også her kan siges at handle om ytringsfrihed (jeg har i øvrigt ingen sympati overhovedet for Irving eller andre holocaust-benægtere).

Om Journalister Uden Grænser og især deres leder hedder det:
I don’t remember him ever speaking about the lack of press freedoms in Saudi Arabia, for example, or the harassment of journalists by Israeli occupiers? If this was a matter of freedom of speech in a fair world, I would understand, and I would have been one to express solidarity too. But the hypocrisy is only increasing, and angering even me—somebody who refused, and still refuses, to be more outraged at the cartoons than I am about poverty, occupation, and oppression.
Om de nuværende reaktioner i Mellem-Østen:
People in the Middle East, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, do read, and do follow closely international developments. They know what we know: that you have to also analyze the cartoons in the context of Danish politics, and the rise of racist, xenophobic movements in Europe, and especially in Denmark which has one of the largest percentage of foreign-born populations in the world. Having said that, there is also much about the Arab/Muslim reactions that are either outrageous or hypocritical, or both, or worse.
(...)
Today, in Syria, demonstrators set fire to the Danish and Swedish embassies. Now, we know that demonstrations in Syria are never spontaneous, and if they are, they often are met with brute force. In this case, the regime was hoping to let people let off steam, and just like the case in Amman yesterday, Syrian mukhabarat men were atypically restrained and even polite. Who are they kidding.
Og mange flere interessante observationer - go read. Men han måtte nu gerne bruge nogle flere linjeskift ...

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