Who's Afraid of Norway?
So the following is from the front page of the Sunday Times of London. I know this guy in the article, Evan Nord, from my Arabic courses. I'm not going to go into this issue too much here. Here's a few thoughts, however, just in case you are wondering.
1. Damascus is covered with signs that tell all Syrians to avoid the following Danish companies . . . well, I can't name them because I never heard of any of them except for Legos!!
2. Lately, I've been feeling a bit of Schadenfreude with this whole 'cartoon' upheaval. I tell the kids from the EU: Hey, welcome the American reality in the middle east: most disfavored nation(s) status.
3. Sorry for the lack of posting on the blog . . . I've been busy with school and social stuff and mostly (however) Arabic. . . More to come, I promise.
The Sunday Times - World
The Sunday Times February 05, 2006
Focus: Freedom v faith: the firestorm
Not since the Salman Rushdie affair have secular Europe and Islam traded insults so vehemently. Stuart Wavell on the cartoons that threaten to force us apart
A small child led the religious chanting as the crowd converged on the French embassy in Damascus. They had come from the mosque where a preacher had inveighed against the "blasphemous cartoons" in Europe. It was not a wise place for a Norwegian to be.
By publishing Danish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, a Norwegian newspaper had helped to pitch Europe into the worst cultural clash between Islamic religious beliefs and western freedom of expression since Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses in 1989.
Even Nord, a Norwegian visitor to the local university, was curious to see the demonstration. Reaching the embassy, those in front began to scuffle with a line of police and the crowd's anger grew.
Then, without warning, a Syrian grabbed Nord and addressed the crowd: "This is my friend. He is a Norwegian and a good man."
A pin's drop could have been heard as a menacing silence came over the crowd. The Syrian then hoisted the Norwegian on to his shoulders and commanded: "Speak for your country."
The student surveyed his hostile audience for a moment before addressing them in Arabic. "This is just an embassy," he said in a loud, clear voice. "It is not the country. This incident is the result of lack of understanding. We need to understand each other better and then hopefully we will have the chance to live in togetherness and we can show proper respect for you. Inshallah (God willing)!" The crowd roared in approval. But the goodwill did not last: yesterday they set fire to the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish embassies.
1. Damascus is covered with signs that tell all Syrians to avoid the following Danish companies . . . well, I can't name them because I never heard of any of them except for Legos!!
2. Lately, I've been feeling a bit of Schadenfreude with this whole 'cartoon' upheaval. I tell the kids from the EU: Hey, welcome the American reality in the middle east: most disfavored nation(s) status.
3. Sorry for the lack of posting on the blog . . . I've been busy with school and social stuff and mostly (however) Arabic. . . More to come, I promise.
The Sunday Times - World
The Sunday Times February 05, 2006
Focus: Freedom v faith: the firestorm
Not since the Salman Rushdie affair have secular Europe and Islam traded insults so vehemently. Stuart Wavell on the cartoons that threaten to force us apart
A small child led the religious chanting as the crowd converged on the French embassy in Damascus. They had come from the mosque where a preacher had inveighed against the "blasphemous cartoons" in Europe. It was not a wise place for a Norwegian to be.
By publishing Danish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, a Norwegian newspaper had helped to pitch Europe into the worst cultural clash between Islamic religious beliefs and western freedom of expression since Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses in 1989.
Even Nord, a Norwegian visitor to the local university, was curious to see the demonstration. Reaching the embassy, those in front began to scuffle with a line of police and the crowd's anger grew.
Then, without warning, a Syrian grabbed Nord and addressed the crowd: "This is my friend. He is a Norwegian and a good man."
A pin's drop could have been heard as a menacing silence came over the crowd. The Syrian then hoisted the Norwegian on to his shoulders and commanded: "Speak for your country."
The student surveyed his hostile audience for a moment before addressing them in Arabic. "This is just an embassy," he said in a loud, clear voice. "It is not the country. This incident is the result of lack of understanding. We need to understand each other better and then hopefully we will have the chance to live in togetherness and we can show proper respect for you. Inshallah (God willing)!" The crowd roared in approval. But the goodwill did not last: yesterday they set fire to the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish embassies.
posted by Kicky Sack at 9:11 PM
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