Discussion continues in Germany too about the reactions of the Islamic world against the satiric cartoons depicting Mahomet. Jacques Schuster comments in Die Welt (8/2): “ In one respect the Islamic world resembles the former Soviet bloc: it fears free and spontaneous demonstrations. Those who took to the streets to protest in Teheran, Sana or in Damascus were pressed to do so. In itself the quantity of Danish flags in Yemen indicates that the “spontaneous” protest was planned by a long hand from above. Anger against the Danes, Germans, Europe and the West is a suitable diversion for many youths to distract their attention from corruption, lack of democracy, economic disaster and isolation in foreign policy. While Ahmadinejad raises himself into a protector of the faithful and acts as the sword of Islam in breaking with Denmark, he seeks to divide the fronts in the debate on Iran’s nuclear programme. The hope is that, in the end, the Islamic world will be obliged to take Teheran’s side also with regard to the nuclear question. But that will be difficult to achieve. The Arabs know with whom they dealing“. A comment in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reads: “ The state boycott on Danish goods indicates an escalation… first, because the Commission in Brussels warned of such a step in the interest of pacification. And second, because Iran is sending the EU a signal of intimidation: look out, this is what happens to those who do something we don’t like. The EU ought to interpret this signal in the right way. It is no longer a question of trade law… What is now needed is a responsible but firm signal of solidarity and no longer gestures of contrition. […] The fact that European politicians invoke moderation and dialogue in view of the ‘protests’ is obviously right… but what will happen if the appeal to moderation is ignored ? “. Matthias Arning writing in the Frankfurter Rundschau observes: “ We are now seeing clearly emerge what was so laboriously averted since 11 September. At the present time, it is said in the West, it’s important to demonstrate self-confidence in the name of the Enlightenment and make it clear that we are proud of the civil liberties we have conquered at the cost of bitter conflicts with the authorities… But the West seems very far from self-confident; the old West seems rather perplexed“. The weekly Der Spiegel (6/2) comments: “ The Christian Churches have long abandoned the battle against a growing society of the irreligious; the sign of this is that the modern State only rarely persecutes blasphemy. But the taboos have remained in all the world religions“. The cartoons of Mahomet, and the episodes of protest and violence unleashed as a consequence of them, are also a focus of attention in the Spanish papers. They especially emphasise the episode of the Spanish flag burnt in Iraq and the six people killed in the protests in Islamic countries. “ The protests about the caricatures of Mahomet cause six deaths in Islamic countries” headlines El Paìs of 7/2. “ Six dead in the protests against the cartoons of Mahomet” echoes La Vanguardia. “ Six dead as a result of the crisis triggered by the cartoons of Mahomet” writes El Periodico. “ The protests against the caricatures of Mahomet have already caused six deaths” ( Avui). In its editorial “A crusade for Europe” the Spanish daily Abc of 8/2 analyses the “ growing violence in the Moslem world as a result of the publication of the caricatures of Mahomet” and argues that, “ if Europe gives in to its guilt complex and its comfort blanket of pacification, while no one demands contrition for the assassination of a Catholic priest in Turkey, the prospects of a relation of mutual respect will evaporate and the certainty grow that the Europeans don’t believe in themselves and that the USA, which doesn’t have this problem, will continue to be the only interlocutor that will have something to say in the concert of nations“. “ Insensate“: that’s how Dominique Quinio, writing in the French Catholic daily “ La Croix” (6/2), describes the Islamic protests against the Danish satirical cartoons and denies their spontaneity. “ In the name of two equally respectable but conflicting principles, namely the right of the individual to have his convictions respected and freedom of the press, spirits have been inflamed, fuelled by those who want to give substance to the idea of a clash between civilizations, between West and East, between West and Islam. Violent and unacceptable, the demonstrations in the Arab countries do not seem spontaneous. They seem to pursue a political rather than religious objective. They are the work of extremists, determined to place their own leaders in difficulty or destabilise the Europeans diplomatically engaged on various fronts: in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan“. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1450 N.ro relativo : 10 Data pubblicazione : 11/02/2006
