“Burak Arikan, writes from Istanbul that he, the artists, and guests at galleries in the Tophane district of Istanbul were systematically attacked by thugs last week. According to Burak, there was blood “everywhere.” From the press release prepared by the beaten artists:
“In an organized attack on art galleries in the Tophane neighbourhood of Istanbul, guests attending exhibition openings were physically assaulted in a lynch attempt by a gang of 40-50 people. The audience subjected to this atmosphere of total terror featured artists, academicians, students, writers, local and international journalists and cultural attaches from consulates. The attackers used knives, batons, broken bottles and pepper spray. The injured include Polish, Dutch, German and English guests.”
Once again, actions vs. words: the words say, “Islam is peaceful and tolerant” while the actions say, “Islam is violent and intolerant”.
Which carries more weight for you? The words or the actions?
You advocate freedom of expression? How about this kind of expression, assaulting people with knives, batons, broken bottles and pepper spray?
If you value freedom you must resist Islam. The more power Islam gains in a society, the less freedom there is in that society.
When will we start holding Islamic teachers responsible for teaching others to act with violence and to view other religions with disdain and spite?