Before you go any further: I am not on either side.. I do not aknowledge the sides. I am not muslim, I believe they hjave the right to believe, like the rest of us. I also believe that the drawings of their prophet are ebign used in a deliberate act of war. But the war is on from all sides, not only against poor little Denmark, which, after all, is a nation at war. So, what's the great surprise?
Go back in the notes of this blog, and you will quite a few warnings about what was about to come. As a resident in Denmark, it was quite obvious that sooner or later, fate would return upon the arrogance that has come to dominate the Danish government and a privileged majority of the population. Gradually, since 2001, a philosophy has made its way into the expressions and actions of many Danes in their everyday, signalling smug self-sufficience, and the embracement of nationalist-capitalist values.
Long before September 2005, when the drawings of Muhammad made their way to the front page of the conservative-liberalist daily paper Jyllands-Posten, there were signs that there would eventually come a confrontation. Most of what has been carried out by the Danes and their government has passed more or less unnoticed - after alle,Denmark is about 42ooo km2, and 5 mio. inhabitants. Not the centre of the world, exactly. Ang gradually, the old motto of the Danish small-time crook: "Går den, så går den" (meaning "If your'e not caught, it's all right") seemed to be valid for the new social philosophy. Keep out the refugees and immigration, claim to be integrating the ones remaining, all while more and more leash is given to a deeply racist and even rather fascistoid rhetorics, backed up by legislation and popular support.
And then, one day, on a seemingly banal story of 12 charicatures, things start growing. in France, the cars are burning, this doesn't really spread, except for 2-3 minor episodes, to a Danish context. Apparently, the muslims in Denmark are weak, noisy, but not too dangerous. It's a matter of time before they will have to give in altogether. So why would the world start burning because of 12 drawings? At first, this doesn't even really seem to bother the always-arrogant attitude of the goverment, choosing to refuse dialogue, as this has happened so many times in domestic affairs over the past 5 years. But these are not quasi-stunned moderate radicals of Danish politics - this is the whole force of Islamist politics, backed up by many more millions of faithful believers, ready to hit the streets if convocated.
So, it is obvious that there is no real reason to defend the drawings themselves. Making yourself noticesd in times of rather high tension, by throwing a cocktail of sarcasm and self-ironic wit on the fire, is by no means a peace-making action. Let's leave them behind - making too much of this action (calling for the freedom of press as the cause for the action, for instance, is absurd - freedom to make more money and sell more papers, yes - would they have done this from an altruist point of view...?) only adds to the ridicule of a cultural editor trying to explain that ridiculing a symbol in which people believe is not the same as ridiculing the people that believe in it.. ehm, what? Hey, there is a war going on between fundamentalists, did you expect that they would love you for this?
Obviously, this is not the first time that Muhammad has been drawn - have a look at zombietime to see the feast of charicatures and drawings. The fire took off, when a delegation of muslim organisations left on a propaganda tour to the Middle East, seeking support against the ridiculisation, and dragging along a few fraudulent drawings, lots of good stories - and quite a few years of bigot rule in the country that first saw the drawings. this was certainly not an act of peace-making, either. This was an act of war.
Are the mulim reactions justified? I'm not sure this is really the issue, here. The people on the streets have no idea where Denmark is, they donøt know the political situation here, they know what they have been told. Exactly like most of the Danes that are frightened and stunned at the sight of the Danish flag being burnt. This is information war, playing with media, and they are doing it well. They know where to push, shich sparks to ignite. There are forces out there seeking war, seeking confrontation. Should we condemn the artists? Hardly. They are being modern, some of them even postmodern. This is their crime. For that, you will have to shoot me, too. And it's not over.
What is needed are actions that cut across the divide, that insist upon the making of common futures or at least commensurable futures, from all parties. Everybody is playing at the guilt-blame-punishment-war game, yet there are voices making their way across the divides. Voices of moderate or liberal muslims, trying to place focus on common measures, not in order to save Danish financial interests, but in order to try to save what is left of Eruopean-Levantese realations, that has not been burnt along the way, after many years of patient mutual infiltration. This may actually be a positive outcome, in a Danish and European setting. Will this be the case in the Middle East? In South Asia? hard to say, I guess you have to go there to know. Anyone who knows about this, let us know..
And then, the reactions of the radical 'left', of the new anarchists? No, not much, I believe. The situation seems to be, on the one hand, so obviously stupid, fuelled by the gap between groups that know have never created together. And on the other, it doesn't seem to be all that relevant - will it influence us more than the hypocrisy of the Danish government in the past 5 years? Maybe, but these events are hardly outstanding, they represent the logic contiuation of a process that has been going on in a decade, with Danish and global ramifications. And the counter-move is not to condemn any of the parties of to try to place the blame. The counter-move is all about daring to break down the monolites of culture and belief. Which party will be the first one to make that move?
Probably, this is not out of hand. This is just another spark - waiting for yet another provocation. And then another one, and another one, will join and really light the fire. A fire that we should not welcome, so far it only adds to the dualisation of culture and politics. It leaves all the more work for the rest of us, breaking down unities and dualities, and encouraging mulitplicity and co-creation. Only consolation: that craks are opened, exposing fractions and disagreements within the monolitic substances. This is what makes new alliances possible, new openings, new cross-movements.
The only way is to fight doxas, all doxas. Break down the monoliths, splinter them with the power of the Kudzu or the rhizome. make connections, make movements, and when someone asks us if we are the enemy, tell them the enemy is dead. I have no enemy. Well, after publishing South Park Muhammad up here, maybe I do. Let them join the ranks. I suspect they won't really bother.
Recent Comments