SaudiSphere

Valley of the Hypocrites (2)

I bet by now, most of you have already heard about the new Turkish blockbuster Valley of the Wolves. I haven’t seen it yet, therefore my judgment about it is definitely lacking. The movie might actually be awful in the sense that it plays on the feelings of honor and dignity and stigmatizes a whole group of peoples. However, the funny thing is that the same group who hysterically defended the publication of the Muhammad cartoons are the same ones who are criticizing the production of the movie and calling on the US to punish Turkey for it. Some, more so, went as far as asking for the American actors who participated in the movie to be tried for treason.

Oh, well, maybe then I should too, run all over the place as chicken that lost its head and start creating icons that read: Support Turkey. Buy Turkish. Or how about this one: Watch the Valley!

Then, these icons should be pasted on every corner of my blog (here is one for the spirit of support). Or, maybe it is a better idea to reprint every photo of the victims of US torture in Iraq and slam them everywhere. Ideas are flowing in my head I can’t stop them now, its ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, though, I am not trying to be inflammatory. I, whole heartedly, want to support freedom of speech. (Especially after the whole lesson and big speech about freedom- I am a good student after all).

On a more serious note though, let’s try to shift perspective. It might be difficult in the beginning, especially if you are a person who surrounds himself/herself with people who agree with you all the time, but hay, we sure can try. So, start by saying loudly the following sentences:

1-      The movie is selective and expresses half-truths.

2-      The movie is exaggerated and overdramatized.

3-      The movie is racist and anti-Semitic.

4-      The movie will stir animosity and won’t foster integration between Islam and the West.

Now, in each of the previous senescence’s replace “the movie is” with “the cartoons are” and read them again. Repeat 5 times.

That wasn’t extremely difficult. Right? And if what we stand for is solid then a mere movie (or a cartoon) will not shake it. And if you don’t like it and feel offended: you need to learn how to be more accepting, end of story.

So who can tell me what is the true principle of free speech? Who defines what’s racist? Who can say what is inflammatory? And who decides where to stop? I think those are the real questions that we should be asking ourselves.

Valley of the Hypocrites (1)

A few weeks ago, Muslims were told by the West, that they should come to grasp with and respect a concept that is totally foreign to them: freedom of speech.

Good enough, I am all ears. I would like to know more about this glorious tradition of the advanced and free world. So here how it works: Anyone is free to speak their minds, publish whatever they want, and if it is considered racist or offensive by some, the answer is simply that it is not our taboo, so the offended has to learn  how to suck it up.

Muslims were informed that “racist” is such a relative term and that a prophet represented as the forefront of terrorism is just a cartoon, so move on people!

Ok, although I am not personally convinced about real intentions, I will actually suck it up in honor for the right of freedom of speech, after all, Muslim Arabs do actually lack this right in their societies and need an alarm clock with no snooze button installed in it. Off course radical Muslims and power clerics took it as a chance to cause irreparable damage and made the situation much worse.

For many Western bloggers (especially the neo-cons and radical right-wingers), it was party time. It was the occasion for performing their best hate fest ever. They thought that 12 cartoons were not enough, so they created cartoon contests to show who can better insult and represent hatred. To me, it seemed as if those dim-witted creatures are actually hungry beasts devouring a dead animal. Seriously, some of the stuff out there was quite ugly and repugnant. But who cares, really. Go ahead and enjoy your ignorance. It would only hurt you.

So, is this the end of story? I have been taught what freedom of speech really means. Everything fine and dandy?

No. Not really.

There is always a catch.