Humph. And I'm not alluding to a BEP song.

Why is the world the way it is? (Rhetorical question)

Tragic, really.

Sorry if I'm speaking in codes at the moment; it's just that this whole business about the Muhammad caricatures have gone way out of line. Not that one can expect another reaction from the Muslims in the Middle East. I mean, I can only imagine that they've had these tensions and frustrations building up within themselves due to their circumstances in life, and this series of caricatures was just the final drop of water to the cup which clearly overflowed. I can understand their reaction - just as the Norwegian gov't seems to do at the moment as well. I fully support their judgement in handling the case as they do.

However, the slightly scary - yet inevitable - thing that's happening is that information and images of the caricatures are spreading all across the Muslim world. Demonstrations have spread to Asia, including the Philippines (though the demonstrations there are perhaps not as serious as those in countries such as Indonesia; only 5% of the pop'n are Muslims, whereas there is a considerably larger percentage in Indonesia and perhaps also Thailand.) I've got a friend staying in Thailand at the moment, so I can't help but wonder if she's in any way affected by the instabilities in her country.

I also can't help wonder how my family is doing, since their island is kinda close to Mindanao (the largest island in the south) where most of the Muslims live. Not that there has been any problem elsewhere in the country aside from that particular island... But you never know...

Nah, nothing will happen. The Muslims there tend to keep their "activities" in Mindanao, and it really hasn't spread, so there's nothing to fear, really. Still, I wonder how they're coping with all these happenings.

Hm, now it seems as if I'm holding a grudge against Muslims... Which I am NOT at all! The people I refer to are - of course, if you're enlightened enough in this issue - the extremists. Mind you, I consider myself as a tolerant person, yet when it comes to behavior such as this... I dunno, that just seems to cross one of my limits. As I said, I understand their behavior, yet if they are in such a need for democracy and freedom, they are moving in the wrong direction. But of course, even though they're aware of this, they have to relieve their frustrations one way or another.

What I don't understand about this case is that the original drawings were published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005... WHY ARE THEY REACTING NOW?!?!?!? It seems a bit strange that the newspaper published it 5 months ago, and that the reactions towards those drawings appear now. Of all times. I mean, it would seem more logical that the reaction came, like, a few weeks after the publishing, but NOW?!?!?!?!?!?!? The Norwegian publishing of it (in the Christian periodical Magazinet, FYI) could not have sparked the debate, now could it? Seems a bit unreal to me that even though we're known around the world as being a pacifistic nation (and perhaps nothing more than that...), we could have the power to actually cause this debate.

The Danes are equally as pacifistic as us, in my opinion. Besides, our influence in the world can hardly be as grand as we suppose it to be; as we all know, Norway tends to regard itself as the center of the world at times...

But maybe it's just my ignorance of the matter... I'm not an expert on these issues.

But still, the pace of the spreading of the drawings around the world shows how scarily fast news can travel. Just in a matter of days the French, Spanish, New Zealand, German, Indonesian, Afghan, Thai, Palestinian and Israeli press got their hands on the caricatures. And the spreading continues. As well as the demonstrations. It really is terrifying.

What I also fear is that this issue will turn out to be a battle between the two extremes. I hope and pray that my fears won't turn out to be a fact in the future.

But the most immediate consequence is perhaps that disturbances between e.g. the Israelis and the Palestinians might escalate to new hights. Ever so slightly, at the very least. On the other hand, if these people are sensible enough (which I'm willing to think), they won't use these drawings as a foundation for more violence.

Never mind.

Enough of these gloomy contemplations already.

Stay tuned for more...



Elise