caricatures & embassies

maybe the wise thing to do would be not to write about this topic, it seems the more you say, the more can be held against you. still i think that lively debates further our understanding.

you have to keep in mind, throughout all of this, that nothing justifies violence in my book. you also have to keep in mind that i've seen the caricatures, found them distastedful and insulting if only for their lack of intelligent content. you have to know that the muslims oppose to the protrayal of their prophet and that as non-muslims i'm not sure we should take the liberty to contravene to that rule. but, there is also freedom of speech.

there was a peaceful protest yesterday in downtown montreal. the logistics of which have been debated largely in the media because quite a few imams were afraid of the possibility of confrontation. there was also a protest organized, on the margins of this larger event, for freedom of speech.

the media has reported quite a lot more about the violent, extremist point of view recently, evacuating the moderate muslims from most of the public discourse. yet no one questions freedom of speech, in this case. there seems to be a gap between freedom of speech and freedom to report, almost, giving place to uncontrolled emotions and confusion on both sides (and i, myself, am guilty of this) rather than a debate that makes your conception of the question evolve.

just a few weeks ago, the media was plastered with random news about the 4 political parties and their campaign. the momentum as surely died down, but i would have appreciated seeing the heads of the major parties asking for tolerance, getting involved in activities that further their understanding of an important group in the canadian society. but, alas, it's ok to visit mosques when campaigning. once the results are in, who really cares about the muslims and the discrimination quite a few of them have to face?

i originally intended to go to the protest but eventually chickened out. i was afraid, to some extend, to be confused with someone who was there just to create trouble. some imams, instead of participating in the protest, decided to open up the doors of their mosques to non-muslims... which is definitely something to report about.

what we need, though, is to collectively come together. we need to see the offence on muslim people and on all minority people as something we should all individually denounce. we don't need a protest of offended muslims and offended westerners on opposite sides of the street. we need peace and respect for each other.

and i would, personally, walk down the street with a sign that reads: 'caricature this'.