Okay, let me get this straight. Two Muslims murder twelve people and injure eleven others because of cartoons of Muhammad that they consider blasphemous. In response, the French government organizes Islamic art exhibitions so that the French people can “learn how [to] celebrate cultural differences [and] to coexist peacefully.” Apparently the French are expected to look at this marvelous Islamic art and forget all about the violent jihad.
But wait: it was Muslims who killed non-Muslims in the Charlie Hebdo offices. Yet this exhibition is designed to compel non-Muslims to be more tolerant of Muslims. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the French government to finance exhibitions of non-Islamic art in Muslim areas, and to exhort Muslims to learn how to celebrate cultural differences and to coexist peacefully? These exhibitions are like going to someone who has just been violently assaulted and explaining to him why he should be peaceful. Typical of today’s madness.
“French govt organizes Islamic exhibitions across France,” Global Village Space, November 30, 2021:
Following the rise in Islamophobia after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, France saw an increase in separatism and identity politics. The French government has turned to the unifying power of art to deal with the wave of separatism. The government of France is organizing numerous exhibitions over the period of four months to showcase the cultural and traditional diversity in the Islamic world and break stereotypes associated with Islamic culture and tradition.
It is especially important at this time where France hasn’t had the best track record in recent years when it comes to combating Islamophobia. When recently, Algerian Muslim women were stabbed near the Eiffel Tower for being Muslims and two Jordanian nationals were assaulted for speaking Arabic in the city of Angers.
A Past For Present,” is organized by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais, and led by the head of the Louvre’s Islamic art department Yannick Lintz. The idea of the exhibitions was first suggested by the French President Emmanuel Macron to showcase the true face of Islamic tradition rather than the prevailing dogmatic side of it, perpetuated mainly by the militant organizations working under the banner of Islam.
The exhibitions would display works from 19 artists from different parts of the Islamic world. The artists would showcase their cultural affinity with the past and the heritage they draw from cultures and how it affects their lives to this day.
The exhibition displays around 210 art pieces borrowed from national museums, 60 of which have been loaned from the Louvre. It is especially important for France to promote diversity as it hosts one of the largest Muslim and Jew population inside Europe and where the wave of resentment against the Muslim community is rising. Lintz believes “it’s important, as curators specialized in Islamic civilization and Islamic art, to give another message about what is the historical reality of Islam, through 13 centuries of art, civilization, and intellectual life.”…
This exhibition is an attempt to curb the rising Islamophobia and separatism in France. With such diverse population it is important for the French to learn how celebrate cultural differences to coexist peacefully….
