Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai Politics Talk

[rayznack]

The author makes the impressive argument the film, "Innocence of Muslims", by an apparently Coptic filmmaker, is blowback from the way Copts and Christians in the larger Muslim world are treated:

Blowback of the ugliest kind: The lessons no one will learn from Benghazi

Unless you know Egyptian Copts personally have listened to their stories of abuse and violence at the hands of their Muslim Egyptian neighbours, it's hard to understand why an expatriate community member would waste time and money in producing such a cheap polemic guaranteed to lead to even more violence against his community back home, not to mention the global blowback that was equally inevitable.

The reality is that Egypt's Copts are one of the more systematically abused and discriminated against minorities anywhere. And aside from half-hearted paeans to inter-religious fraternity and peaceful resolutions of communal disputes, Muslim leaders in Egypt and across the Muslim majority world - in Pakistan, Palestine, Indonesia in particular - have done far too little not merely forcefully to condemn such violence, but to educate and demand their adherents to treat Christians as equal citizens.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinio ... 58863.html

Perhaps Muslims should start asking themselves what they need to do to prevent such films in the future?

[shafique]

Thanks eh - that is an interesting article indeed. He speaks a lot of sense and makes his points well - the whole piece should be read, as it does not only talk about Copts. There is room for disagreement over the causes and implications of some of the points raised, but overall it was a good article.

(However, it is premised on the Libyan attack being done in reaction to the film - but as we've seen in other threads, the attack is now looking more likely to be a pre-meditated revenge attack that used the demos as a cover.. so some of the points made are weakened.)

I thought he summed up this particular episode very well:

In this particular case, decades of oppression and abuse of Egypt's Coptic minority has led some members of the community living in exile to join forces with some of the most chauvinist, hate-filled and Islamophobic groups in the American evangelical community and (posing as an Israeli Jew, no less), to produce a work that according to his associates was expected, and likely designed, to provoke precisely the kind of anger and even bloodshed it succeeded in producing.

The positive thing is that the hate-filled people who support this film are in the minority. The actors in the film didn't know it was going to be dubbed and used as propaganda and denounce the film. The Copts in America are denouncing the film. The Israelis have denounced the film. Pretty much it is only eh and his blogger friends that have are still showing any support for the guy.

Sad that.

I also agree with him that there are indeed Muslim leaders/Mullahs who are indeed stoking inter-religious hatred. That is indeed something that needs to be tackled.

Cheers,
Shafique

[rayznack]

It's pretty callous to condemn YouTube videos without trying to understand why they're made.

[shafique]

Thanks for your opinion. It is interesting that you seem to be the only one making excuses for the film.

But for the record, the condemnation by the Copts, Israelis, US etc etc is about the hate film that was made under false pretenses - and the youtube video is actually just the trailer for the film.

As for understanding - I guess you're saying that only the

the most chauvinist, hate-filled and Islamophobic groups in the American evangelical community

understand the hatred of this Copt film-maker.

Hmm.

Cheers,
Shafique

[rayznack]

As for understanding - I guess you're saying that only the

Strange conclusion - did you not read the article where the author explains this films is the result of Christian oppression in Muslim lands?

Or perhaps you're claiming the author is really a "chauvinistic Islamophobe" since he writes an article understanding the actions of the filmmaker.

Not too bright, are you?

[kanelli]

There is no excuse for that film. Period.

[rayznack]

There is no excuse for that film. Period.

I would have thought there'd be no excuse for cold blooded murder and beheading a corpse.

[evitav]

I would have thought there'd be no excuse for cold blooded murder and beheading a corpse.

You're one of the few members that actually makes sense.