The year 2006 marks the beginning of the Festival of Muslim Cultures that takes place in the UK for the next 18 months. The festival is mainly a celebration of arts and literature from the Muslim world. It began with a large exhibition, opened by the Prince of Wales, entitled “Palace and Mosque” which featured Islamic artifacts from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The festival also includes films, plays, art exhibitions, poetry evenings and Qur’an recitation. The organizers of the festival have said that they lack the necessary funding to carry out all these activities. Surely it is obvious that a festival of this nature will improve the public’s idea and image of Islam. It should be a powerful counter to the many forces seeking to tarnish our religion. Such events as the festival should be highlighted and written extensively about in our press — especially at a time when our relations with the West could certainly be better. Our press, however, is concerned with other things. One wonders how that can be. We complain all the time about distortions of our image in the West and we jump to attack when something like the Danish cartoons happen, but we seldom realize that we have done nothing to create our image or uphold it.
Of course we should protest against the cartoons — but I do think that we always miss the point and avoid being positive.
The reaction of European countries to Muslim protests indeed points up a double standard in dealing with Arab and Muslim issues. There are in fact many laws in Europe that forbid anti-Semitism and questioning of the Holocaust. No similar laws prevent attacks on Arabs and Muslims — but dare I say that the absence of laws is our mistake for the simple reason that we do not know how to present our case or how to work diligently to defend it. The reaction to the Danish cartoons in Saudi Arabia has two sides to it. We have the reasonable articles and commentaries and also the boycott as it certainly conveys people’s opinions. I have to admit I have my doubts on the effectiveness of a boycott since it may become a war between rival companies selling the same product and it might also hurt Saudis who work in the Danish companies in the Kingdom. Unfortunately, the whole idea of making a point has turned in the wrong direction.
A friend told me he went to a pharmacy and the pharmacist advised him not to buy a certain medicine since it was Danish. He suggested another medicine instead of the Danish one. My friend returned to her doctor whose comment was, “It is a medicine and you need it and you should use it since it is available in the market.” At this point, I became confused about how far anyone should go in order to prove a point. At the same time, what surprises me even more is that those same people who cry for a boycott do not try to prove their point in any other way. On the contrary, they approve demonstrations outside Danish embassies without realizing that these demonstrations, with all their violent chantings and posters advocating violence will do more harm than good. At a time when reasonable actions are needed, we support irrational behavior. For example, we did not hear many supporting voices when Amr Moussa suggested discussing the matter with Danish authorities.
To return to my opening remarks about the festival and the image of Islam, the way to achieve what we want is through intellectual dedication and seriousness. There are peaceful marches that do not include burning flags, torching embassies and throwing stones; such acts will solve nothing and will fail utterly to convince anyone of the rightness or justice of our cause. There is much work to be done but it requires cool heads and clear visions.
