Facebook Fascism - Part 1

Wherever it is possible to find out the cause of what is happening, one

should not have recourse to the gods. ------ Polybius
The recent controversy generated by a Europe based group’s attempts to draw
cartoons of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) on the Facebook made me do a little research as I
was not convinced of their claims about Freedom of speech. Neither was I ready to
believe that it was a well planned conspiracy against the Muslims by the usual suspects.

The recent attempt in complete disregard of Muslim opinion is different from the last
one. In 2005 it was a journalist, this time its ordinary people who have joined together to
defend their freedom to do whatever they like. Having worked and lived in the Western
society for a considerable period now, I perfectly understand and appreciate its social
etiquette. In private conversations in the West it’s against social etiquette to discuss
personal choices such as religion, sexuality and so on. Any sort of bias against personal
belief is frowned upon and considered archaic and at the work place even punished by
disciplinary action. Harassment is not tolerated in any form or under any pretext. So
how is it possible that something that is a taboo in private conversation is being brought
out to the public domain in the most divisive manner possible and is generating such
intense emotions? Another question that comes up is that why is it always in liberal
Europe, the birthplace of Enlightenment that the most offensive attempts of modernizing
and sanitizing Islam originate?

I read the interview which the Facebook group’s moderator gave to Radio Mashaal, a
sister organization of Radio Free Europe. Upon being asked to explain the reason
behind drawing cartoons which are so offensive to all Muslim he replied that because
the death threats were hurled by Muslims therefore it was their right to counter it with
offensive cartoons. From this I can only infer that it is not so much a defense of freedom
of speech as an angry reaction against the threats and murders. The groups’ moderator
enumerated the murder of Dutch politician and the recent physical attacks and threats
made on the lives of Danish cartoonists and used it as a justification for his decision to
anger Muslims around the world by caricaturing the person of the Prophet. He was
oblivious or indifferent to the fact it is traumatizing Muslims around the world.

I want to know if there is any law that will hold me responsible and convict me for a
murder that was committed many years back by someone thousands of miles away
from where I was, who was not known to me and whose actions I have never condoned
or appreciated or even heard about. The answer should be NO but some people have
started thinking otherwise.

Islam and Muslims are being held directly responsible for the threats made and murders
committed in different parts of the world by people who happen to be Muslims. If other
Muslims try to prove their innocence and say that they are not involved and have no
association with those who committed the murders or hurled the threats they are
brushed away with disbelief and sometimes even arrogance. Islam and Muslims have
been found guilty and condemned without a fair trial and the benefit of doubt. Collective
punishment, is it not?

Welcome to a new era of fascism under the garb of freedom of speech. Freedom of
speech can now be twisted, distorted and used to denigrate, desecrate and humiliate
sacred beliefs on flimsy and unsubstantiated pretexts. This is a warped negation of the
very secular law and human rights that Europe holds so dear and which now some
deluded zealots are using as a justification for trying to force a change in Muslim beliefs
by making all sorts of insinuations about person of the Prophet (PBUH) and expecting
Muslims to remain nonchalant.

Let’s not get carried away though. These spiteful insinuations are actually not an end in
themselves. These are simply a conduit to express anger and vent frustration with a
much deeper underlying issue with which millions of Muslims around the world have
nothing to do and cannot help in its resolution in any possible way.

The fact is that some parts of Western European society are now in the grip of a severe
and debilitating fear. It’s so strong and visceral that it is making all those who are
afflicted by it react in a very bizarre way. It is the fear of Europe’s becoming Eurabia.
The fear of being outnumbered in their own homeland by alien migrants of non
European descent with completely different cultural and historic traditions. The recent
immigration fear is not directed solely against people of Islamic back grounds but
because they are the ones who stand out the most from the rest therefore it is much
easier to target them.

The recent scare campaign in the garb of Freedom of Speech is also not a new one. As
far back as 1950 when Algeria was still a colony of France, prominent French author
and one time cabinet minister Andre Malraux had warned Europe to treat Islam as a
threat and had predicted that Europe will unite against Islam. It is looking like a self
fulfilling prophecy now. But at least Andre Malraux was honest and had the courage to
state clearly and openly what he thought without hiding behind clichés and platitudes.

It is only fear that makes some in the European Union stonewall Turkeys accession to
the European Union by citing differences between Secular Europe and secular since
1920s (but Muslim) Turkey. More than 80 years of a secular constitution cannot be
enough if all you are up against is fear.

It is fear once again when conservative French politicians legislate to ban Burqa which
is worn in France by only a handful of women, the Swiss, out of the blue, vote to ban
minarets on mosques, there are calls for a similar ban in Germany, and similar anguish
and anger is behind rise of Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician who has denounced the
Koran.

If one really wants to gauge the strength of this fear then a good way to do that is by
going to the web site of any well known European news paper, type Islam in search and
then once the article comes up read through the comments. You will be surprised with
the intensity of views expressed there. One commentator event went as far as to
announce that Muslims were demanding home rule in England.

Fear may take different forms and wear different masks but beneath it all lies a simple
but powerful emotion embedded deep into the human psyche since prehistoric ages.
Fear can make people behave in unpredictable and strange ways. This is exactly what
some people in Europe have started doing and the reason why they have resorted to
holding 1.2 Billion Muslims and Islam collectively responsible for the violent crimes
committed by a few individuals. Thankfully it’s not a mainstream phenomenon yet and
the voices of reason have not been drowned in a sea of vitriol and hate but the speed
with which it is gathering momentum is deeply disturbing.
Facebook Fascism - Part 2
For too long Europe had soft immigration policies and people crossed into it and in all
fairness to Europe have been welcomed and given full citizenships rights along with all
the benefits. Europe and the Western nations are still the preferred destination for every
one because of the opportunity, rule of law and fair treatment available to all regardless
of cast, creed or religion and social status. However not everyone in these countries is
enamored of European ideals. There have been many movements within the capitalist
liberal democratic system that have railed against it and extremist Islam is only a recent
addition to that long list. Before it was Communism, Leftist anarchists and other small
splinter groups that had their own grievances against the state. But never has since the
end of World War II a religion or a complete group of people been vilified and presented
as a threat the way Islam is being defamed now. Once, in the not too distant past, Islam
was heralded as the savior and its practitioners were equated with the moral equivalent
of the Founding father of US but then those were the days when Islam was badly
needed to be pressed in to service in the fight against Soviet Communism.

The IRA was involved in a long, bitter and armed struggle with the British in recent
times. Irish Catholics around the world morally supported the fight for Irish cause but not
once was the Roman Catholic religion itself brought into question. The Roman Catholic
Church has been embroiled in all kinds of scandals the most recent one being that of
the abuse of children by members of the clergy. However will it be right for anyone to
say that it is embedded in Christianity? There are doomsday cults in all religions and
some of them surface in the media for their bizarre activities or for falling afoul of the law
but no one can insinuate that the religions are to be blamed. Why should then 1.2 Billion
Muslims be traumatized and the person of Prophet (PBUH) is ridiculed?

The current economic and financial crises has not helped either and Europe’s relative
decline as a world power with regards to new and emerging economies collectively
called The Second World is putting strain on social fabric and creating uncertainty. This
has made parts of Europe ripe for anti immigration and xenophobic tendencies because
it is in times like these when people lose all reason and look for a scapegoat to take out
their frustrations.

Taken into context, fear is driving parts of European society towards a new sort of
xenophobia against Islam similar to one that was experience d by the Jews in Nazi
Germany and it has been aided and abetted by the extremist Muslims and the silent
moderate Muslims who have watched this whole debate from the side lines.

Saner Europeans need to take stock of the situation themselves and ask whether Islam
and Muslims are indeed fundamentally opposed to their way of life or not? In recent
past there have been events with a clear bias against Islam but that have not been
answered with any threats or violence because these cannot be equated with the attack
on the person of the Prophet (PBUH). To my knowledge there are no fatwas or threats
that have been issued when the French decided to legislate on banning the burqa and
when Switzerland banned minarets on mosques, puerile measures in themselves but to
which the French and Swiss have a right.

Similar to the scare mongering Industry in Muslim world there is a similar industry in the
West also that thrives on demonizing others and running scare campaigns. The motive
in both instances is mostly the same. Personal and political advancement of otherwise
mediocre people who have no chance to succeed in the mainstream life or those want
to take shortcuts to fame and fortune.

The Islam phobia industry after 9/11 has definitely proved a huge and roaring success
for few unscrupulous individuals. One of the most famous cases is that of Norma
Khouri, a US citizen of Jordanian origin and author of the book Forbidden Love
published by Random House in 2003. She concocted a completely baseless story to
write a novel about an honor crime in Jordan that was never committed. A few western
journalists were not convinced though and upon deeper investigation it was finally
revealed that Norma Khouri was actually a con artist and wanted by the FBI for fraud
and impersonation. For further details one can always watch the movie Forbidden Lies.
Ultimately Forbidden Loved turned out to be the most famous literary hoax of our time.

The dominant Muslim reaction to the blasphemous cartoons has been that of shooting
the messenger. The violent demonstrations that followed in 2005 may have shocked
and scared some but it has also won over many thousand adherents to the fear
monger’s cause in Europe. They laid bait and the Muslims walked right into the trap.

According to a report by Radio Mashaal before the May 19 ruling by a court in Lahore,
during the three weeks of its existence, the Facebook page had gathered 40,000
supporters and some 2,000 depictions of Prophet-- many of them clearly designed to be
offensive to Muslims. Within one hour of the Lahore court's ruling, 10,000 more people
joined the Facebook group around the world – submitting more than 1,000 more
depictions of Muhammad. Within six hours, the number of members had grown from
40,000 to nearly 80,000 and the total number of depictions to more than 4,000. Did
banning Facebook do any good?

The onus here is on the Muslims in Europe and Western world to explain their point of
view to their non Muslim community members and engage with them in a fruitful and pro
active dialogue. The OIC needs to employ more soft power and skills because this
obviously is a media and public relations issue based on the distortion of Free speech.
We are failing badly at the challenge by burying our heads in the sand and not
connecting well with the communities we live in.

Most importantly Muslim countries will have to improve their human rights records and
ensure the rights of non Muslim populations and minorities. We cannot keep on
pretending that all is fine with us because it is not. Harsh treatment of minorities and
limited right for non Muslims in Muslim majority countries is one of the biggest
arguments that the cartoon makers always bring up in their defense. In today’s world it
is hard to run with the hare and hunt with the hound and there can be no taking without
giving. It is not enough to only have a big mouth; one must have a big heart to go with it.
There have been many surveys on the impact of Muslim immigration by numerous
people and not all have come out against the Muslims in Europe. John Bowen in his
book Can Islam Be French? Pluralism and Pragmatism in a Secularist identifies a
new generation of imams, teachers and intellectuals, none of them household names,
with the possible exception of Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss-born Arab Muslim scholar and
academic. This new generation is trying to open up the debate about how to be both a
good Muslim and a good citizen in a modern secular society

He suggests in his book that Muslims are probably getting a rawer deal than the
Catholics, Protestants and Jews who have also had to make their historic compromises
with secular republicanism. If the onslaught against the person of the Prophet (PBUH)
continues the only losers will be the very moderates European Muslims who are so
desired by the Europe’s secular societies.

Those in Europe who want to vent their anger and frustrations against all sorts of social
issues by insulting the person of Holy Prophet (PBUH) are actually suffering from a very
bad case of Neurosis that will ultimately only consume them because a Neurotic is his
own worst enemy.