Thursday 25 August 2011

Why do we hate them if we actually love them? My fellowamerican anti-islamophobia campaign

Today just a quick link to the nice US campaign that aims at fighting islamophobia in the US. It's brilliantly interactive and brilliantly straightforward. Based on a simple insight about 'othering' the spot unravels how those terrible, hated, evil Muslims that we hate so much happen to be our neighbours, our doctors and our friends that we love.

The western narrative about Islam keeps reinforcing its image as a force of evil, radicalism and hatred.

This is wrong.

And this campaign proves it.






PS On the footnote , I would love to see this campaign running in Poland with a twist though .... MyfellowPolishJew?


Monday 8 August 2011

Welcome to your broken society, Mr. Cameron

The wave of unrest on the London streets might be nothing else than just uncorked vandalism and furious anger. Still, it does tell something about a society, even if, at the margins - as you would say, prime minister. Damaging own backyard and looting own high-street is a sign of a complete alienation - from state, from community, from space these people inhibit. There might not be a great cause engaged, but there is a great lesson to take about people fears and anxieties.

Welcome, Mr Cameron to your broken society. You wanted to see Britain as broken. So it is indeed becoming broken. Aggression bursts out not when people are poor and lazy. It bursts out when people are hopeless, when they no longer feel part, when they no longer belong, when they no longer see that there is a future.

You divided Britain, you disconnected people them from the government, you made them torn apart from state. Not by introducing the cuts, increasing taxes and university fees. But by refusing to bother you to explain, refusing to bother engage people, refusing to recognize large parts of society as needed and wanted. You said that 'we are all in this together'.. and than you you left many British people for themselves.

No, I am not saying that the wave of violence is your fault, prime minster. What I am saying is that you cannot just sum up what is going on in London as 'criminality' and leave it to the police. If you want to go on with business as usual, you need to open up your business not to Murdoch family but those who looted the shops and to the frightened Londoners.