De manera recurrente, siempre que ocurren atentados graves, surgen las mismas preguntas: ¿es compatible el islam con la democracia? ¿Qué incita a un musulmán nacido y crecido en Europa a atentar contra la sociedad? Y ya, en el extremo de la cretinez masoquista, «¿Qué hemos hecho mal [nosotros]?». Tras dejar sentado que negar la capacidad de los musulmanes para adaptarse a la democracia es arrebatarles su condición humana –lo que nosotros no haremos– y que los problemas de adaptación psicosocial los viven diversas minorías y no por ello reaccionan acuchillando, atropellando o poniendo bombas, a esos interrogantes podrían sumarse otros, que de ordinario se suelen escamotear: ¿Qué están haciendo mal esos inmigrantes musulmanes?… Seguir leyendo »
Primo Levi no esperaba de sus oyentes compasión sino justicia. Y tanto él como los demás sobrevivientes de los campos de exterminio en Polonia, liberados en enero de 1945 y que cada año recordamos por estas fechas, ligaban la justicia a la frágil figura de la memoria elevada por ellos mismos a la categoría de deber. El deber de memoria como instrumento de un tiempo justo no sólo para las víctimas sino para la sociedad por venir.
Es todo menos evidente que la memoria tenga ese poder casi taumatúrgico. De hecho los Aliados, tan interesados como las víctimas en evitar la repetición de la barbarie, propusieron medios más efectivos: el Plan Marshall, imponer a los alemanes una constitución democrática, incidir en las escuelas o controlar la cultura.… Seguir leyendo »
El 01 de julio de 2014, la Gran Sala del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos emitió su sentencia sobre la prohibición francesa del uso del burka (caso S.A.S. v. France [GC], 07/01/2014). En pocas palabras, la Corte decidió que la ley francesa que prohíbe el ocultamiento del rostro en lugares públicos (ley 2010-1192 del 11 de octubre de 2010) no era contraria al Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos.
Esta no era la primera vez que el alto Tribunal abordaba la cuestión. Ya se había pronunciado sobre prohibiciones de uso de símbolos religiosos en las escuelas públicas, impuestas al personal docente (Dahlab v.… Seguir leyendo »
How fitting it would be if the latest return visit to Asia by America’s top diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on behalf of America’s first African-American president, also helped to push the region, including China, to move beyond stereotypes. This is critical if Asia is to move forward toward greater peace and prosperity.
Whether it’s China with its large Uighur and Tibetan populations or Myanmar, aka Burma, with more than 130 distinct ethnic groups, Asia is facing growing protests and unrest among minority communities who feel poorly served by national government policies and attitudes.
Use of ethnicity, race or religion to divide or define one’s own citizens should have no place in the Asia of today, whether in giant India under newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the smallest Pacific island nation.… Seguir leyendo »
Al acabar la guerra fría, un oficial soviético fingió que se compadecía de sus vencedores: "Acabáis de perder a vuestro Adversario Absoluto, ¡ya podéis estar preocupados!". Como si los gobernantes y los diplomáticos no hubieran perseguido siempre varios objetivos a la vez. Desde luego, las movilizaciones totalitarias, si son verdaderamente absolutas, adoptan un blanco único: el imperialismo de Estados Unidos, el judeobolchevismo, el sionismo, los infieles, o cualquier otro Enemigo presuntamente hereditario. Por el contrario, los movimientos democráticos huyen de las restricciones de la idea única. Entre 1945 y 1989, un occidental, aun a riesgo de molestar a los simplistas y los sectarios, podía oponerse al mismo tiempo a los dictadores comunistas, las guerras coloniales, la corrupción de los privilegiados, el machismo de los conservadores, etcétera.… Seguir leyendo »
As my flight approached America last weekend, my mind circled back to the furor that has broken out over plans to build Cordoba House, a community center in Lower Manhattan.I have been away from home for two months, speaking abroad about cooperation among people from different religions. Every day, including the past two weeks spent representing my country on a State Department tour in the Middle East, I have been struck by how the controversy has riveted the attention of Americans, as well as nearly everyone I met in my travels.
We have all been awed by how inflamed and emotional the issue of the proposed community center has become.… Seguir leyendo »
Lost in the furor over the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero is a simple fact: The opposition to the center is the strongest argument in favor of it going right where it is planned. By most accounts, much of the opposition is based on an inaccurate conflation of Islam with terrorism, stemming from ignorance about the Muslim religion, culture and people. While troubling, this is hardly surprising in a nation in which a significant minority of Americans believe that our Christian president is Muslim (and so what if he were?).
Exiling the center to another part of Manhattan will expand and deepen the gulf between the Islamic community and its neighbors.… Seguir leyendo »
A week after the Archbishop of Canterbury dared to float the idea that some role for Islamic arbitration could be recognised in British law, the anti-Muslim backlash grinds on. Never mind that Rowan Williams's proposal was hedged with qualifications, that elements of sharia already have legal status, that he used the existing practice of orthodox Jewish courts as a model, and insisted such an accommodation could not override equal legal rights for all, notably women. The media and political reaction has been hysterical and ugly: from the Sun's declaration that Williams had "handed al-Qaida a victory", to the Express claim that he had "surrendered to fanatics", to the endless replays of floggings in western-backed states like Saudi Arabia.… Seguir leyendo »
Is this a storm in a teacup, as the archbishop now claims? Was the "feeding frenzy" biased and unfair? Certainly it is true that, since Thursday, when Rowan Williams -- the archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Church of England, symbolic leader of the international Anglican Communion -- called for "constructive accommodation" with some aspects of sharia law, and declared the incorporation of Muslim religious law into the British legal system "unavoidable," practically no insult has been left unsaid.
One Daily Telegraph columnist called the archbishop's statement a " disgraceful act of appeasement"; another called it a " craven counsel of despair."… Seguir leyendo »
My text for today is “Hold fast that which is good”: 1 Thessalonians 5:21. These are words I heard so regularly in prayers at my Anglican girls’ school that I have been unable to forget them. I draw them to the attention of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who seems to have forgotten them. At least, he seems to be losing his grip on what is good in this country and, indeed, to be throwing it away with both hands in his curious suggestion that aspects of sharia should be recognised in English law.
In an interview on Radio 4 last Thursday, Rowan Williams said that the introduction of parts of Islamic law here would help to maintain social cohesion and seems unavoidable.… Seguir leyendo »
You say,” said Lord Napier (confronted as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India by locals protesting against the suppression of suttee) “that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”
The present Archbishop of Canterbury is no Napier. He was not, however, proposing tolerance for the wilder excesses of Sharia, let alone suttee, in his speech on Thursday.… Seguir leyendo »
Here's the recipe for a perfect media storm: take one deeply thoughtful intellectual, put him into a high-profile position, ask him to give a speech on an injustice, add one of the most toxic issues in British life, then mix with large quantities of feral media. The result, spread across the media (shockingly, even the BBC's 10 O'Clock News succumbed) was a combination of dotty bishops, hand chopping and the Sun's ludicrous claim that it was a "victory for terrorism".
Strip away all the hysterical reaction, and what have you got? The Archbishop of Canterbury is raising a perfectly legitimate issue.… Seguir leyendo »
Sea bienvenida la intención de este periódico de abrir un debate sobre el islam en Catalunya. Debatir sobre el islam es necesario. Conversar sobre él en Catalunya es bueno si ello ayuda a romper tópicos, clarificar conceptos y crear puentes de comprensión para la convivencia entre los catalanes de tradición no musulmana y los catalanes de confesión islámica.
Otra condición para dialogar es usar criterios ciertos; comprender la verdad contenida en los argumentos del otro; evitar las generalizaciones, y procurar educar a quienes son meros espectadores del debate.
Este es el trasfondo que debía haber presidido el debate entre Pilar Rahola y Ndeye Andújar.… Seguir leyendo »
Jueves a primera hora de la tarde. Pilar y Ndeye, cara a cara en la sala del consejo de redacción de EL PERIÓDICO DE CATALUNYA. Sentadas una junto a la otra, se lanzan a un debate descarnado, nada diplomático, donde el caudal de ideas fluye y donde divergencias y acuerdos se entrelazan.
FEMINISMO E ISLAM --Ndeye Andújar. Siendo musulmana, teóricamente solo se puede ser feminista. La supeditación al hombre es un montaje patriarcal que se justifica a través de la religión. Pero, ¿qué es estar liberada? La escala de valores no es la misma. Liberarse es sobre todo tener una independencia económica.… Seguir leyendo »
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