Some Unrecognizable Forbidden Image of Some Unknown Somebody or Other

Sowing Seeds of Light
(Not Really Mohammad)

Memri
Mohammad Sabaaneh's Cartoon
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, PA
February 1, 2015

I'm ever again surprised when the editors of a Muslim news source publish an image even purported to be of Muhammad - as though they don't realize that Islam forbids images of Muhammad! The Shia branch of Islam has often depicted images of Muhammad, of course, but I thought that Sunni Muslims didn't and that they would even avoid even seeming to, so I was surprised to see the Memri report for February 3, 2015 (Inquiry and Analysis Series, Report No. 1142), by R. Green, "In Palestinian Authority, Outrage Follows PA Daily's Publication Of Muhammad Cartoon," even if the image is merely interpreted to be of Muhammad. I was not alone in my surprise:

On February 1, 2015, the Palestinian daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published a cartoon by illustrator Mohammad Sabaaneh of a man with a heart-shaped shoulder bag standing in an aura of light atop the Earth and scattering droplets of light. The cartoon is titled "Our Master Muhammad" in Arabic and "Prophet Muhammad" in English.

As is well-known, Islamic law forbids any depiction whatsoever of the Prophet Muhammad or of any other prophet.

But apparently not known well enough for even Sunni Muslims to avoid even seeming to depict Muhammad!

The publication of the cartoon in a newspaper belonging to the Palestinian Authority (PA) sparked an uproar. The daily quickly removed the cartoon from its website and deleted the page from the PDF version. Two days after its publication, on February 3, the daily issued an apology:

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida apologizes to readers for a cartoon published Sunday, February 1, 2015, and completely rejects any suspicion or interpretation that the illustration is a depiction of the Prophets and Messengers. In its respect for the sanctity of the exalted divine religions and its professionalism, the newspaper has established a board of inquiry to investigate the published cartoon, whose interpretation is in doubt. This is in addition to [the newspaper's] announcement that its intent in publishing [the cartoon] was to defend religions and the message of love and peace.

It should be mentioned that the cartoon appears neither on Sabaaneh's social media accounts nor on websites that publish cartoons from Arab publications. Since February 1, Saba'aneh's personal website has been offline.

The rest can be read on your own, and those who do read further will see that radical groups are already calling for Sabaaneh's execution!

But Sabaaneh is dealing with a religion expressing a "message of love and peace," so nothing barbaric will happen to him. After all, the cartoon's "interpretation is in doubt." It might not really be an image of Mohammad at all!

Imagine that! But not too clearly . . .

Reasons not to jump the gun . . .

Gaza Flotilla Blocked?

Illustration by Anthony Russo

(Image from New York Times)

As is sometimes observed, "Truth is the first casualty of news." When the news about Israel's attack on the Gaza Flotilla was first reported, I knew that the story would eventually get more complex, that it would not be a simple black-and-white incident, that the peace activists would soon appear not so peaceful. Here's what Michael B. Oren had to say recently in the New York Times:

Millions have already seen the Al Jazeera broadcast showing these "activists" chanting "Khaibar! Khaibar!" -- a reference to a Muslim massacre of Jews in the Arabian peninsula in the seventh century. YouTube viewers saw Israeli troops, armed with crowd-dispersing paintball guns and side arms for emergency protection, being beaten and hurled over the railings of the ship by attackers wielding iron bars.

What the videos don't show, however, are several curious aspects Israeli authorities are now investigating. First, about 100 of those detained from the boats were carrying immense sums in their pockets -- nearly a million euros in total. Second, Israel discovered spent bullet cartridges on the Mavi Marmara that are of a caliber not used by the Israeli commandos, some of whom suffered gunshot wounds. Also found on the boat were propaganda clips showing passengers "injured" by Israeli forces; these videos, however, were filmed during daylight, hours before the nighttime operation occurred.

I have, in fact, seen the You Tube videos cited by Mr. Oren, particularly the one made available by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) showing the activists very actively attacking the IDF commandos as the board one of the ships, the Mavi Marmara. These particular peace activists were not especially peaceful, and I have also seen the other photos and videos at a website maintained by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And, of course, there's the continually updated account at Wikipedia.

What's missing for me so far is a clear account of the sequence in which the events transpired. The videos show the IDF commandos being attacked, but still unclear to me is precisely why the activists attacked.

Mr. Oren's account of "propaganda clips showing passengers 'injured' by Israeli forces . . . [as having been] filmed during daylight, hours before the nighttime operation occurred," will need to be confirmed, but if true, these imply that the violence on the activists' part was premeditated.

Mr. Oren, of course, is hardly a neutral source of information, given that he is Israel's ambassador to the United States and is writing an op-ed piece titled "An Assault, Cloaked in Peace," so I'm still waiting for a more authoritative account.

I've seen no evidence, incidentally, that the flotilla was carrying any missiles, whatever the image above might otherwise imply.

At any rate, such cases as this one offer reasons for treating initial reports with a grain of salt and thus explain why Gypsy Scholar never jumps the gun and therefore never officialy reacts to news.

Saint-Saëns's Samson and Dalia?

Camille Saint-Saëns, Samson and Dalia

Marianna Tarasova and Torsten Kerl

Flanders Opera Production

(Image from New York Times)

As with religion and politics, art and politics are intertwined -- as are all three, for that matter. Yesterday, I blogged about a Milton List discussion of Samson as a 'suicide bomber', and I discovered today that the impetus for that discussion came from a current production of Saint-Saëns's opera Samson and Dalia.

Michael Kimmelman tells us that "In Belgium, Samson Gets a Makeover" (New York Times, May 6, 2009), for Saint-Saëns's "Samson et Dalila" had its premiere recently in a production directed by the Israeli Omri Nitzan and the Palestinian Amir Nizar Zuabi, a partnership bound to raise eyebrows -- and expectations that this production might be overtly political. Of course, there always was a political aspect to the story of conflict between Hebrews and Philistines:

Ordinarily, Saint-Saëns's "Samson et Dalila" is a harmless, second-rate melodrama with a couple of crowd-pleasing numbers. It tells the biblical tale of the Hebrews under Philistine occupation in Gaza, who, thanks to Samson, rise up, only to be enslaved again after Dalila, Samson's Philistine lover, betrays him.

The opera ends when the Philistines celebrate their victory in the pagan temple of Dagon by mocking Samson, now blinded and shorn of the hair that gave him his strength. He calls on God one last time to help him topple the pillars that bring the temple down on his enemies and himself.

As noted by the reviewer, Mr. Kimmelman, little imagination is required to find a parable for today's Middle East, so there's no need to belabor the point. This production, however, feels the need to do so:

Mr. Nitzan and Mr. Zuabi . . . turn the Hebrews into Palestinians, the Philistines into Israelis, and Samson into a suicide bomber, donning a dynamite-loaded vest when the curtain falls.

So that's where the image of Samson as 'suicide bomber' came from! I had thought that the Milton List was simply using a metaphor, but the image was borrowed from this final view of Samson as the curtain falls.

Since the Israeli-Palestinian issue is so highly charged, reviews will often follow the reviewer's political position. Obviously, I've not seen this production, and it'll never come to Seoul, but even Kimmelman -- who seems to sympathize with Palestinians (e.g., "Rage is a perfectly sane response to the Israeli occupation.") -- hints that the production is terrible:

Jews, in fancy dress, dance atop a shiny, black, two-tiered set, oblivious to the swarm of robed Palestinians under their feet. In another scene Dalila's Jewish handmaidens, in red underpants, sprawl on their backs, legs spread in the air, helping to seduce Samson. Samson and Dalila court by pointing a pistol at each other. Young Israeli soldiers clad in black humiliate blindfolded Palestinians and shoot a Palestinian child, who reappears as a kind of leitmotif during the opera like the holy spear in "Parsifal." Then, for the appalling bacchanal in the last act, a disaster in most productions, Israeli soldiers dance orgiastically with their phallic rifles.

That scene was too much even for the polite Belgian crowd on opening night. A smattering of boos sprinkled down on the dancers. Otherwise the performance, dully sung, received several rounds of generous applause. This is Western Europe.

Generous applause for a "dully sung" opera, but even for the 'Western Europeans', the didacticism was sometimes too much. Hence the boos.

The production was controversial even before it opened in Antwerp, for posters advertising the opera showed a Palestinian boy preparing to throw a stone, a political message not lost on the local Orthodox Jewish community, whose neighborhood is literally "a stone's throw" from the opera house itself. Kimmelman reports that at the public round table discussion just prior to the production's opening, a fight nearly broke out between a local Jewish businessman and the director of the Flanders Opera, Aviel Cahn (himself Jewish):

Red faced, spewing insults and standing nose to nose with the Flanders Opera’s general director, the businessman predicted the production would stir up anti-Semitism, which festers just below the surface here, he said, to which the flustered impresario blurted out that if the situation for Jews were really so precarious here, they should leave.

That retort was way too much for Kimmelman, who remarks "Oy" and observes that Cahn "would have done better to thank the man [not only] for believing that opera matters so much," but also "for not punching his lights out."

Agreed. After all, where are Antwerp's Jews supposed to go?

To Israel?