Islamic freedom 20.02.06
The recent events over caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed published in Scandinavian press once again raised concerns about Islam as a threat to the Occident and our freedom of speech. I usually say and write what I think, I do not hide feelings and thoughts. However I believe that we should use diplomacy and that freedom of speech needs to be flexible enough not to offense people. Islam does not allow pictorial representation of their prophets, while Christians enjoy drawings and paintings of their holy characters. Surely the Muslim world over-reacted, using this incident as a basis for public meetings, to raise hate against the Occident and to motivate one (small) portion of their faithful ones to continue the jihad. For some people religion is everything, nothing else than religion is important. While I do not share this concept, I agree that we should be tolerant with the intolerants and comply with their rules. What I believe this event shows is that Islam is one key parameter of this century’s geopolitical order. From Indonesia to Libya, from UK to Somalia, the call from the prophets managed to gather people together against a few countries. This is scary. Islam is about peace, but maybe we should all convert to keep it this way. This photograph is the one of a major Mosque in UAE. I feel this is a very powerful, colorful shoot. Dusk, just before the sunset. Quality is not great, I pointed my EOS 1 and shot, I believe I was at 800 ISO unfortunately.
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The comparison between the mosque that reflects the setting sun and the blue sky is beautiful.
To that topic, I copy/paste here a comment from John Taylor, an economist and fund manager with whom I/we used to work:
"There is little evidence of extremism in the
wealthy Arab countries like Dubai or Malaysia.
India is the second largest Muslim country,
and yet demonstrations have been peaceful
as India’s economy is booming and
opportunity to improve one’s lot is available.
On the other hand, the highest unemployment
in the world is in the Middle East and North
Africa as a result of low productivity growth,
exploding populations, and repressive political
systems. In these countries, education is
generally focused on religious instruction and
less on the sciences and technology. Career
opportunities are poor, which leads to anger,
frustration, and the casting of blame. Even
the petrodollars flowing into a number of
these countries have failed to trickle down to
the lower skilled workers. In Dubai 93% of
the workforce are foreigners who perform both
menial and highly skilled tasks, and all are
drawn there to improve their lot. The
optimistic answer is that the enormous wealth
in a place like Dubai will flow to the poorer
areas through remittances, and these
countries will turn their attention to the
livelihood of their people. Unfortunately,
things seem to be going the other way. The
focus on religious differences rather than
similarities and the rise of intolerance
threatens to isolate the modern Islamic states
in a no man’s land as the world splits apart.
Bringing these religions together will help
world growth while giving hope to those who
have so little. Without progress in this area,
the world economy will falter."
I'm enjoying your photoblog! I love it when photographers comment on the circumstances and choices they have to make for each photo. You were brave on this one! But it is a wonderful, wonderful shot -- your photos are so alive!