Posted on 09/27/2006 4:30:50 PM PDT by ConservativeMan55
Germany's conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday led political and arts world uproar at the scrapping of a Mozart opera that features the head of the prophet Mohammed rolling across the stage.
The performances were cancelled amid fears the scene could trigger violence among the nation’s Muslim community.
But Mrs Merkel denounced "self-censorship out of fear" as unacceptable, reflecting a mood of national indignation that was not limited to the arts set but cut right across all social lines.
And last night there were hopes that increased government pressure might get the show put back on.
A groundbreaking "integration" summit between government ministers and leaders of Germany's three million Muslims held yesterday could lead to the production being staged at a later date.
Interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said all present had agreed that the shelved opera "Idomeneo” should go ahead - and they might even all go together to see it.
At the Deutsche Oper in Berlin a spokesman said the company was considering developments. Hours before Schaeuble’s statement the gulf between western liberalism and Islamic intransigence appeared as wide as ever as the leader of Germany's Islamic Council welcomed the ban, saying a depiction of Mohammed with a severed head "could certainly offend Muslims."
The Deutsche Oper announced on Tuesday that it had scratched the Mozart opera "Idomeneo" from its programme this season because one scene – the severed head of the prophet Mohammed rolling on to the stage – risked triggering an "incalculable security risk" for the theatre.
It feared the kind of violent outbursts that erupted earlier this month when the Pope offended Muslims in a speech which quoted a medieval writer's view of Islam as "evil and inhuman."
His words led to worldwide protests and a nun was shot dead in Somalia. "To avoid endangering the public and its employees, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin has decided to refrain from showing 'Idomeneo' in November," the opera house said.
As early as July, police officials had warned of the security risk associated with the opera. A risk analysis was prepared, which formed the basis of the opera house's decision to cancel "Idomeneo."
"We have advised that a performance could result in disturbances," said police spokesman Bernhard Schodrowski.
In the epilogue, Idomeneo, the king of Crete, comes on stage with a bloody sack in his hand. He then pulls the heads of Poseidon, Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed out of the sack and places them triumphantly on four chairs. The opera, set in the capital of Crete just after the Trojan War, addresses human resistance to making sacrifices to the gods. Mozart's original version premiered in 1781.
Four performances were planned for the production in November but will be replaced by "The Marriage of Figaro" and "La Traviata." The country’s artistic and cultural elite are outraged – along with ordinary people who feel minority sensibilities should not interfere with a cultural icon as big as Mozart.
They are emotions shared by Mrs. Merkel on the day of Germany’s first government-sponsored summit about the country’s three million Muslims and their integration.
"We must be careful that we do not flinch out of fear of radicals who are prepared to use violence," she said. "Self-censorship for reasons of fear is not acceptable. It should only be allowed when it is done responsibly within a genuine and completely violence-free dialogue of cultures."
Mr Schaeuble, ahead of yesterday’s conference aimed at bringing Muslims and Christians closer together, branded the decision to ditch the opera "crazy."
The delegates from Germany’s Muslim communities – including those from Hamburg where the Islamic cell which carried out the 9/11 atrocities was based – met with the interior minister in Berlin’s Charlottenburg Palace all day yesterday.
"Three million Muslims live in Germany. They are a part of Germany's present and future, just as Islam is, after all, a part of Europe," he said.
One of his express aims is to get imams educated in Germany and have their sermons conducted in German – a recommendation from the secret services to stop coded messages about terror being passed on to worshippers.
He said the conference was not just about "niceties," adding: "We were not here to exchange pleasantries but to achieve results."
Last night he said the meeting had been "intensive."
"It would be a signal of dishonesty if there hadn't been clashes," Mr Schaeuble said, adding that the atmosphere was constructive.
"That is what distinguishes democratic culture."
Glenn Beck was going OFF on this tonight!
Did you hear Greg Paltrow say that the same opera was performed 2 years ago without incident?
Let islam riot when threatened by modernity...the world will still march on. Mohammed will be discovered for the fiend he is.
Islam will die because it is well-built on bullying and cowardice.
Our President is a follower now...Merkel and Howard and BenedictXVI are stealing W's legacy.
Religion of Peace indeed!
Like Mozart needs a poser like Neuenfels to "dress up" his splendid music with extraneous political nonsense. Shut up and sing!
. . . but under these circumstances, I'll back Neuenfels all the way.
If you back down from these Muslim pigs, they just get bolder. Like all cowardly bullies.
Not an Opera I'd waste my money on,but at least she has the balls to say "self-censorship out of fear" is unacceptable.
Europeans getting a taste of what lies in store for them.
Banning Mozart is just the begining for their Dhimmihood.
Been waiting for a chance to use this. The Steve Irwin tragedy is going to be compounded by this unfortunate fact: Despite having clear evidence of the crime on film, the perpetrator is going to skate.
In regard to the Mozart play, the addition of the heads is recent, and in my opinion, the opposite of art.
groan. LOL.
You are correct, the addition of the heads is recent and while it is not my cup of tea either, it seems to me the show should not be pulled because of it.
Hey, I'd spring for a trip to see this if I thought it was the real head...
I really have to laugh when things happen around the world that have NOTHING to do with America, but we get the blame. Muslims are so stupid. Gossip is their only source of news. LOL
...and wouldn't ya know, it's a woman.
Good show, Mrs. Merkel!
Start a list and let everyone add to it at will:
Be-headings
Raping young girls
Mutilating children
Self mutilation
Murdering innocent civilians
Insulting other religions
Muslims states producing nuclear weapons
Using the Quran to justify terrorism.
Enslaving women.
Murdering other Muslims of a different sect (okay, even during Ramadan).
"Honor" rapes and "honor" killings.
Genocide.
Take it from there...
Mohammed's head. Good Halloween decoration for the porch.
It is like a reverse ban. Merkle is encouraging them to put on the play when they are willing to scrap it. Self censorship is a horrible thing. Been there done that, but no more.
> Good show, Mrs. Merkel!
Yes, good show. Who will be Germany's van Gogh?
Not in this instance, perhaps, but I'm noticing a subtle shift that I think began with the kerfuffle over the Mohammed cartoons. Ridicule and satire are, I think, beginning to take at least a small toll on Islam's puffed-up view of itself. The more controversies like this, the better. Humor's value in skewering even murderous pomposity cannot be overlooked.
"Insult those who behead Islam"
LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!
Hey, Dr. Bernard Lewis, you who described the evil nature of Islam in many works of distinguished scholarship,
Uh, your socks are too short.
;^)
Which was exactly the exercise in the Mohammed cartoons.
Again, I say let's ridicule them to death!
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