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AmirTaheri debates Tareq Ramadan - -

AMIR TAHERI DEBATES TARIQ RAMADAN: MUHAMMAD CARTOON FALLOUT
by Amir Taheri and Andy Clark et al.
Amsterdam Forum, Radio Netherlands
March 11, 2006

"Jyllands
The Danish newspaper that spurred the row
"If we don't tackle it as it should be tackled this very simple cartoons issue could have, in the long run, a more damaging impact than September 11," Tariq Ramadan.

This week, Amsterdam Forum focuses on the fallout of the row which engulfed the world after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Two of the world's leading commentators on Islamic affairs join the programme.

They are Islamic scholar and author Tariq Ramadan and journalist and author Amir Taheri.

Some categorised the riots that followed the publication of the cartoons as a sign of a "clash of civilisations". For these analysts, the unrest exposed a deep ideological rift between the Muslim and non-Muslim world.

And with both sides in the debate defending absolute positions - freedom of speech on one hand and freedom of religious belief on the other - it did indeed seem as though there was a gulf of misunderstanding and mistrust.

wma-1.jpg real-k1.jpg
Click to listen to the programme
But can this really be called a clash of civilisations?

Key quotes from the discussion:

Amir Taheri on whether the row has exposed deep distrust between the Muslim and non-Muslim world:

"I don't think so - this is quite a sweeping statement - we have had this kind of thing before over Salman Rushdie's novel and there are always political forces behind it."

"'For example, in the case of the cartoons, these were published in September and the row started after the Organisation of the Islamic Conference considered it and then the Iranian government became involved, the Syrian government became involved and the Muslim Brotherhood - a political movement - became involved."

"The demonstrations were all taking place in countries where no spontaneous demonstrations are allowed - if you demonstrate in Damascus on your own, you go to jail and here all of a sudden you have people attacking the Danish and Norwegian embassies in the name of cartoons."

"Danish
Angry protesters burn the Danish flag
Amir Taheri on the "clash of civilisations" question:

"Civilisations don't clash, political powers do, countries and political parties and so on. Civilisations learn from each other and exchange and co-operate."

Tariq Ramadan on the "clash of civilisation" question:

"No, I don't think we can talk about a clash of civilisations but we have to be aware and look at the situation as it is on both sides - not only with extremists - the far right parties on one side and the radicals on the other side. There is a mistrust and there is a great deal of misunderstanding and the perception is of 'us' and 'them.'"

"You have people in the West saying 'what is going on there' - they feel there is something coming from the Islamic world, which they do not understand. For Muslims, the feeling is that 'they are insulting us in the name of their freedom of speech.' The perception that it's two worlds is wrong, but what could be the consequence if we don't manage, control and speak from within and just try to be more vocal as to the fact that we have common values, that we are all for freedom of speech - if these voices are not heard then we are giving the floor to the people who want this kind of polarisation and who are instrumentalising the whole story with a specific political agenda."

"If we don't tackle the issue as it should be tackled, the consequence of this very simple cartoons issue could have, in the long run, a more damaging impact than September 11."

Amir Taheri on whether or not portraying the Prophet Muhammad is banned:

"There are lots of images of the Prophet Muhammad - we are talking in London [the discussion was recorded in London] and we could take Mr Ramadan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to the British Library and to many other places where there are hundreds of images of the Prophet Muhammad in books written and illustrated by Muslims and there are many thousands more in museums and libraries in Muslim countries."

"This absolute ban on images of Muhammad is wrong - it doesn't exist."

Tariq Ramadan on whether or not portraying the Prophet Muhammad is banned:

"If you ask the Muslim scholars - among the Sunni scholars - the consensus is that we are not allowed to portray the Prophets - not only the Prophet Muhammad. This is for two reasons, the first is out of respect and the second is to avoid idolatry. The fact is that 99 percent of the average Muslims are saying we can't do it [portray Muhammad] so for me it's not only a theological question."

Tariq Ramadan on the politics behind the escalation of the row:

"I was in Denmark in October and it was clear it was not going to be a story - it was clear that the Muslims understood there that they had to be quiet and just say to the government that they were not happy with it. What happened was a group went to Islamic majority countries and some governments and they wanted to present themselves as representatives of Muslims and they went with other pictures and cartoons [more inflammatory than the ones actually published] and we know that some governments, the Saudi government, the Syrian government and the Iranian government started using it and were saying 'okay, we are now the champions of the Islamic cause,' and this is how it was instrumentalised. In this way, many of the people's frustrations were directed against the West and not against their own countries."

"On the other side when I was in Denmark I spoke to some journalists and they told me how they wanted to provoke, how they wanted it to happen - so it is clear, you have far right parties, you have conservatives who are happy to show &apos



    
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