Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-15-Speech-3-017"
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"en.20060215.2.3-017"2
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".
Mr President, of all the peremptory judgments expressed so far with regard to the cartoons of Mohammed, there are few I find very convincing. This issue lends itself to all kinds of oversimplification and I believe that this is a trap that we must avoid at all costs. It is urgent that we reflect on the various facets of the problems we are facing calmly and in depth.
First of all, there is the issue of freedom of expression, clearly the touchstone of democracy and also the touchstone of the existence of a secular public space to which we quite rightly attach great importance. In this space, a critical spirit, a personal relationship to one’s faith and tolerance are supposed to prevail. These principles must not be compromised, but at the same time let us agree that the defence of these principles must not allow for insults, generalisations or stigmatisation, let alone justify them. We are constantly saying that we all live in the same world, a world that is getting smaller, in which everything is interdependent and of which neither Europe, the West in general, or any other region, is the centre. We must draw every possible conclusion from this. We are constantly being watched by the whole of humanity. We must therefore strive to create a kind of global public spirit. Everybody must exercise their freedom while respecting everybody else.
On the other hand, what should we make of the entirely disproportionate reactions of certain Arab States to these incidents, which are surely intended above all to restore the rather tarnished reputation of their leaders amongst their populations, resulting from their submission to a great power that is far more blameworthy than peaceful Denmark? Elsewhere, the Islamic radicals compete with the European far right to exploit this kind of issue to galvanise their respective troops and to silence the reasonable, courageous and progressive voices with whom they are battling. The worst thing would therefore be inadvertently to fuel their cause, rather than doing everything possible to break this vicious circle.
We must look beyond this current unrest and the entirely unacceptable excesses that it has generated, and consider the absolutely essential issue that lies behind it, that is to say the heightened expressions of identities wounded by a profound sense of injustice, domination and humiliation, for which the West, from Palestine to Iraq in particular, is responsible.
As the great Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, stresses in a more general sense: 'Arabs and Muslims have the impression of being pushed outside of history'. It is here that I believe Europe could play an essential role: building bridges between civilisations. But in order for that ambition to be credible, it means being fully liberated from those who, while behaving like the masters of the world, are in reality leading it – we see this a little more every day – to the brink of a clash. That also means applying the same international law to all States without exception, in order in particular to put an end to the open wound in the Middle East, which is an endless source of the poison of despair. The unfortunate cartoons affair should serve to illustrate the strategic options that we are facing!"@en1
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