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| Iraq |
| Iraqi political cartoonists still face death threats |
| 2006-05-14 |
| Freedom to criticise the government is one of the few things flourishing in contemporary Iraq. But editorial cartoonists who are testing the limits of expression face a different threat: extremists incensed by their art. During Saddam HusseinÂ’s time, speaking out could bring imprisonment, torture and even execution. Nowadays, the danger doesnÂ’t come from the government but the readers. “These days there are two kinds of people: those who accept your drawings and criticism, and those who take the drawings as insults ... and threaten to kill you,” said Diaa al-Hajar, a cartoonist for the government newspaper Al-Sabah. The threats – which come by e-mail, phone and even cell phone text messages –have forced many cartoonists to flee the country. Others, like al-Hajar, are thinking about leaving. One cartoon that appeared Thursday in Al-Sabah showed a young boy and girl standing in a pile of garbage singing the national anthem, ‘My homeland, my homeland.Â’ The same newspaper printed a cartoon last month showing a chicken reading the paper while musing: ‘Very strange. People are scared of bird flu but not corruption flu.Â’ Al-Hajar said threats have forced him to tone down some of his cartoons dealing with the insurgency. Nevertheless, every day about 10 newspapers publish cartoons satiriSing issues ranging from political instability to sporadic electricity to the brutal, daily violence chipping away at IraqisÂ’ faith that things will get better. Heady optimism has given way to disillusionment and fear that their country will continue its slide toward anarchy. The deep frustration, bordering on desperation, is reflected in the cartoons. In the Al-Sabah al-Jedid newspaper, a mother, cloaked in a black robe, takes her baby, representing democracy, to the doctorÂ’s office. “Doctor,” she says, “itÂ’s three years old but still not growing. ItÂ’s getting smaller — is there a cure?” Faith in politicians is waning, particularly after five months of struggling to form a national unity government since the Dec 15 parliamentary elections. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Here's what I think of islam: |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-05-14 01:54 |