MIDDLE EAST: Another cartoon controversy in the making
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A satirical painting of Islam’s holiest shrine, the Kaaba, in an art exhibition in Germany, has angered Muslims around the world. Threats of violence forced Galerie Nord in central Berlin last week to temporarily close down the show of works by Danish artists.
In February, the reprinting of Danish cartoons depicting derisively Islam’s prophet Muhammad sparked protests in Denmark and other countries, a reminder of the massive deadly demonstrations of angry bearded men protesting the same caricatures across the Muslim world in 2006.
This time protesters objected to a poster showing Muslim devotees walking around the Muslim holy shrine with speech bubbles saying, ‘Zionist occupied government.’
The poster, one out of 22, is titled ‘Stupid Stone.’
The artists are Jan Egesborg and Pia Bertelsen of the group Surrend. Their stated aim is ‘to make fun of the world’s powerful men and crazy ideological conflicts.’
The Kaaba is an ancient shrine in Mecca’s Grand Mosque that Muslims face to pray and the holy site of pilgrimage for Muslims around the world.
The artists said they were satirizing a recurrent conspiracy theory in the Arab world that Jews dominate global politics.
The gallery reopened its doors to visitors after beefing up its security.
Islamonline, a Dubai-based website that aims to promote a ‘positive’ image of Islam, said the artists were ignorant of Islam’s true spirit:
What they fail to understand is that Muslims respect heavenly religions; Christianity and Judaism, and have nothing against their followers. Most Muslims in the Middle East oppose the Israeli occupation, not Jewish people who lived with them for centuries in peace and harmony.
— Raed Rafei in Beirut
Art: A work from an exhibition in Berlin that aims to make fun of political ideologies, including the dogma popular in the Middle East that Israel controls everything. Credit: Galerie Nord website