The courage to speak up

Jackie Levy

Why is it not ok to air a documentary, as delusional as it may be, about any kind of connection between Islam and violence? The two main arguments presented by Ahmad Tibi, for example, are as follows: Firstly, this would be playing with fire; secondly, this would be a racist claim by a racist film. There is nothing new about these arguments, and there is nothing new about the amusing contradictions inherent in them. If we translate the first argument to crude language, it will sound something like this: “Hey, are you saying I’m violent? If say it one more time, I’ll break your bones.”


Or in other words, anyone who dares refer to the fact that some of the acts of violence here and abroad are committed by followers of the same religion, encouraged by the religious clerics of that same religion, and are accompanied the central mantra of that same religion, and that all of this is no coincidence – well, anyone who says that risks the possibility of setting off a highly violent response by the masses, who by coincidence just happens to believe in that same religion (which they nonetheless claim is nothing but praise for tolerance, tenderness, restraint, and love for humanity and nature.)


I’m joking, of course, because the only other option except for a little humor is great fear. For years now, the West has refrained from touching the pressure cooker in its backyard. In the name of tolerance and political correctness, but mostly in the name of terrible fears, everyone is tastefully keeping silent, whistling in the darkness, and not saying the obvious.


Ever since Salman Rushdie, the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, and the Muhammad caricatures in Denmark, we have seen that not only artists but also researchers refrain from issuing any kind of criticism against the world’s most influential doctrine. Nobody touches the Koran or Muhammad. We do not hear any new, subversive, or challenging interpretations. Nobody “critiques the Koran.”


World needs moderate Islam
The argument regarding supposed racism is no less bizarre. Seemingly, Islam is a genetic racial characteristic just as much as hair color or sensitivity to beans. In fact, Islam, just like any other religion, is an ideological framework that dictates acts and behavior. Every believer is a free person responsible for the faith he chose to adhere to.


Therefore, there is no difference between criticism of capitalism or fascism and criticism of Islam or Judaism. Does criticism against Islam imply racism? Is anyone who disagrees with Communism an anti-Slavic racist? That’s nonsense.


Nobody in the world was surprised to discover that the last words uttered aboard those planes, on that infamous date, a moment before they crashed into the towers, were “Allahu Akbar.” Yet almost nobody
dared say anything openly.


Courage and clear words have existential importance, not only for Israel or the West. Clear and courageous commentary about Islam is important for Islam itself. History is replete with stories about religious or political civilizations that believed the sword was the most powerful element. Yet all of these civilizations ended up sinking and disappearing off the face of this earth.


The world needs moderate Islam – moreover, Islam needs the same. Yet moderate religiosity requires courage.