Barking Episode

I was walking back home two days ago and decided to take the longer road, which had a nice park in the middle. I thought it would be a good occasion to relax and enjoy the tranquillity of a Spanish suburb.  A group of old ladies were sitting on a bench, side by side, probably enjoying a typical evening with neighbours, whilst observing the pedestrians. A minute later, I spotted two veiled women walking the opposite direction; in spite of the veil, the women’s attire was perfectly normal to Spanish standards. They were wearing jumpsuits, and were most probably exercising – if strolling down a street is considered as such.  When these two ladies approached the bench on which the old ladies were sitting, a tiny – yet boisterous - dog started barking its heart out. The dog hurdled off its master’s lap, and circulated the two veiled women, making it impossible for them to carry on walking without stepping over the dog (which I secretly hoped they would). In the dog's defence, the loyal pet was probably only defending its owner’s territory. Not being summoned by one of the old ladies, the only instinctive reaction that the dog could harbour was to chase these two women and bark them away.

I expected the pet’s owner to whistle the dog back to her, or to fetch him. However, the old women just sat there staring at the scene before them in silence. They did not summon the dog nor shush it; they just sat there.

There might be many reasons why no action was taken by these old ladies; perhaps the size of the dog and his amiability - to which they grew accustomed- made it unnecessary to do anything. However, it was quite obvious that the dog was being aggressive and offensive; his barking was no music to anybody’s ears. The question that immediately popped onto my mind was this sinister one: did these old ladies deliberately not act? Was their silence a statement towards the undesired class of immigrants who follow a certain faith?

An article I published a few weeks earlier addressed the issue of Spanish media’s depiction of the Muslim community, and its obsession with the Hijab. A couple of weeks later, a renowned conservative Spanish newspaper covered the story of the assassination of the Jordanian political activist and journalist Nahed Hattar on September 25^th. Nahed Hattar, like many other Jordanian activists and thinkers, was critical of the notorious Islamic State and shared a caricature that made fun of the fundamentalists' interpretation of heaven. The story should have been depicted as such, but Spanish media decided otherwise. The newspaper highlighted the religious affiliation of the journalist (Christian), while a left-oriented Spanish newspaper went so far as to point to the radical Sunni interpretation of the Islamic doctrine which was the subject of the journalist's caricature. 

What the Spanish media is doing is not only diffusing inaccurate, erroneaous, and unnecessary details that can easily manipulate and influence public opinion (who cares if the interpretation is Sunni, Shiaa or Alawi), but it is also forcing ideological motives into an issue that is void of one. Mr Hattar's Christianity had nothing to do with his death. Depicting a Christian martyr being killed in a Muslim dominated Amman, does not – in any shape or form – add substance to the story. Whether Mr Hattar was Christian or Muslim, the fact is, he was assassinated by a radical and demented fundamentalist. The picture that the newspaper itself posted on the news item reveals a veiled Muslim woman trying desperately to resuscitate Mr Hattar; subsequently, the story is not about Muslim vs Christian, but rather about the dangers of radical tendencies. It is radical to kill someone because of supposed blasphemy, and it is also radical to blame an entire religious doctrine for the act.

Now an old Spanish lady who is sipping coffee with her neighbours will not go into the details of the story: what she saw was the brutal assassination of a Christian by the hands of a Muslim. What she saw is the dark and gloomy side of a young Spanish woman who decided to convert to Islam and turned into a bag of misery (please see ‘Oh My Veil’). What she saw was that the mere criticism of Islam can cost one’s life. This old lady was not provided with an objective news item of a man who was politically and socially active, and his activity led to his assassination. Period.

Had this been the case, the old ladies might not have stayed silent while the dog was chasing the two Muslim women. These old ladies might have had every reason to suspect and reject the Muslim faith and its followers: they manifested such a rejection with silence and disinterest.

One can only imagine the dangers facing the European society in light of this islamophobia. The media must become more responsible and reasonable: creating an ambience of scepticism will only alienate a society whose vast majority is pacific, moderate, and peaceful. Europeans cannot celebrate multiculturalism and reject it at the same time. Se-Hyoung Yi* says it best when he explained that:

‘Multiculturalism deprives minorities of their cultural and moral claims in an ironic way: minority cultures may be able to exist, but they will also be separated and isolated’.

On a positive note, one of the veiled women who was being barked upon refused to be bullied by the dog – and its owner. Instead of addressing the ladies and asking them to curb the dog’s enthusiastic defence, she simply stood firm, stared at the dog and barked back at him. It was a good two minute barking competition between the two, and the veiled lady managed to shove him away and to continue jogging. I wish I saw the look on her face, and that of the ladies, but I can only imagine it.

 

*Democratic Inclusion and ‘Suffering Together’ in the Eumenides: Duality of Immigrants, Political Theory, 2015, Vol. 43(I) 30-53