Sowing seeds of hatred

Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders has insulted the Muslim world with his anti-Islam film “Fitna”. The film, which can be seen on You Tube and other internet sites, clearly links images of extremist attacks to verses from the Al Qur’an and equates Islam with violence. Wilders, a far-right Freedom Party lawmaker, has also called for the Al Qur’an to be banned in the Netherlands. While most Muslims and the rest of the world are angry, Wilders is just as happy as he can get. He’s challenging the world to debate whether he’s wrong and he’s been invited to the US for a lecture (what will President Bush say?). The intense publicity of the broadcast has made many more people in the West to believe that Islam is violent and evil. Muslims reject that. Indonesia has condemned Wilders and banned him. The Dutch must be careful in regard to its ties with Indonesia. Malaysia’s former leader Mahathir Mohamad suggested a boycott on Dutch products (what if the world’s Muslims unite and boycott Dutch products and Dutch companies in the Muslim world such as Shell, Philips and Unilever). Although the Dutch government has already condemned Wilders, it’s not enough. Egypt, Jordan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Singapore, 27 European Union foreign ministers and the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have condemned the Dutch MP. Wilders wants to curb what he says is Islamization of Europe and the West (doesn’t he realize that there are many followers of different faiths as well living in the Muslim world?). At a time when the world is seeking peace and understanding among nations, cultures and religions, Wilders is disrupting the process. He is a modern day fascist and as crazy as Adolf Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan. He has incited racial and religious hatred. He is spreading the phobic that Islam is dangerous to a far wider extent. He is sowing seeds of hatred under the pretext of freedom of expression. Beware, the situation is dangerous and Wilders must be stopped!

No such thing as Islamophobia

There’s no such thing as Islamophobia. Is there such thing as Jewophobia or Christianophobia? No such thing either. Islamophobia is only a term created by the West. Islamophobia had been discussed as a major topic at the recent Organization of Islamic Conference in Senegal. What’s the point? We should not be victims of such propaganda. Islam is moderate, tolerant and democratic. Its values are just as universal as other faiths. Who says Islam is not democratic? It’s a pity fellow Indonesians are saying a lot of things they don’t really understand. There’s no such thing as Islam searching for a new paradigm. Or Islam compliments to democracy or so forth. Islam is Islam as it is in Indonesia. What should be discussed at the OIC is Arab unity. It’s the Arabs who are not united. Not Islam. Islam doesn’t teach extremism or hurting other people. The Arabs should show solidarity to the Palestinians and help them (firecrackers vs smart bombs in Gaza). They have to do something not just yakking around calling for Arab unity or fighting Islamophobia. Why not fight to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 instead? Indonesia can’t help. It has too many problems at home. East and West are far apart. West can dictate East but East can’t dictate West. Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world and has the largest Muslim population in the world. And Islam is Islam as it is in Indonesia. We have lived peacefully with Islam for hundreds of years in Indonesia and we don’t want to be part of a problem caused by a terminology fabricated by the West.