« "Muslim Extremists Preach Violence in Europe." Coming to America or already here? | Main | Hyscience Joins Spirit of America's Blogger Challenge »

November 30, 2004

Where is the outcry from Hollywood over the van Gogh murder by an Islamic Morrocan-Dutch citizen?

Topics: War on Terror - the issues.

It is about time that someone asked Hollywood about the lack of outcry over the van Gogh murder. From Pat Sajak at human eventsonline comes this article that asks about Hollywood's lack of outcry, let alone any response or comment, concerning the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamic fundamentalist that was a Dutch-born dual Moroccan-Dutch citizen.

Picture this:
Somewhere in the world, a filmmaker creates a short documentary that chronicles what he perceives as the excesses of anti-abortion activists. An anti-abortion zealot reacts to the film by killing the filmmaker in broad daylight and stabbing anti-abortion tracts onto his body. How does the Hollywood community react to this atrocity? Would there be angry protests? Candlelight vigils? Outraged letters and columns and articles? Awards named in honor of their fallen comrade? Demands for justice? Calls for protection of artistic freedom? It's a pretty safe bet that there would be all of the above and much more. And all of the anger would be absolutely justified.

So I'm trying to understand the nearly universal lack of outrage coming from Hollywood over the brutal murder of Dutch director, Theo van Gogh, who was shot on the morning of November 2, while bicycling through the streets of Amsterdam. The killer then stabbed his chest with one knife and slit his throat with another.

The presumed murderer, a Dutch-born dual Moroccan-Dutch citizen, attached a 5-page note to van Gogh's body with a knife. In it, he threatened jihad against the West in general, and specifically against five prominent Dutch political figures. Van Gogh's crime? He created a short film highly critical of the treatment of women in Islamic societies. So, again I ask, where is the outrage from Hollywood's creative community? I mean, talk about a violation of the right of free speech!

Perhaps they are afraid that their protests would put them in danger. That, at least, is a defensible position. If I were Michael Moore, I would much rather rail against George W. Bush, who is much less likely to have me killed, than van Gogh's murderer and the threat to creative freedom he brings. Besides, a man of Moore's size would provide a great deal of "bulletin board" space.

Maybe they think it would be intolerant of them to criticize the murder, because it would put them on the side of someone who criticized a segment of the Arab world. And, after all, we are often reminded that we need to be more tolerant of others, especially if they're not Christians or Jews.

There's another possibility; one that seems crazy on the surface, but does provide an explanation for the silence, and is also in keeping with the political climate in Hollywood. Is it just possible that there are those who are reluctant to criticize an act of terror because that might somehow align them with President Bush, who stubbornly clings to the notion that these are evil people who need to be defeated? Could the level of hatred for this President be so great that some people are against anything he is for, and for anything he is against?

As nutty as it sounds, how else can you explain such a muted reaction to an act that so directly impacts creative people everywhere? Can you conceive of a filmmaker being assassinated because of any other subject matter without seeing a resulting explosion of reaction from his fellow artists in America and around the world?  As I said, it's a nutty-sounding explanation, but we live in nutty times.  Source - Humaneventsonline

Robert Spencer at DimmiWatch comments that he believes the lack of response from Hollywood has to do with the unthinking knee-jerk multiculturalism, combined with a contempt for all things remotely "conservative."

Update 1: Hyscience posts article about photograph of van Gogh's killer being released, with image.

Update 2: Consternations posts article about Hollywoods lack of outcry, with comments.

Posted by Hyscience at November 30, 2004 7:37 PM

Articles Related to War on Terror - the issues.:

• Tired Of Rosie O'Donnell Pimping For The '9/11 Was An Inside Job' Conspiracy Crowd ? - Apr 04, 2007
• Campus Anti-war Attack On College Republican At University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg - Feb 22, 2007
• Taking stock on a global scale: A Perspective On A Violent Summer - Sep 03, 2006
• ACLU Wants Suspected Terrorists Allowed Back Into U.S. - Aug 30, 2006
• Evidence That A Boeing 757 Really Did Impact the Pentagon on 9/11 - May 16, 2006
• Is Islam the Enemy? - Apr 13, 2006
• The Fukuyama-Garfinkle Muddle on Terrorism and Fostering Democracy - Apr 05, 2006
• His wish was to fly a plan into the White House - Mar 05, 2006
• In Hollywood, the U.S. is the enemy, not the terrorists - Feb 03, 2006
• National Rally Against Islamo-Fascism Day - Jan 18, 2006