Sunday, July 6, 2008

Islam in France

I took this shot in Paris a few weeks ago (photo was taken on Île Saint-Louis). This was the cover of the current issue of L'Express, a French publication. As I had it explained to me, the magazine was doing an expose on some of the problems with Islam.
Immediately before taking this photo, I was on the Pont des Arts checking out the propaganda exhibit of artist Taysir Batniji, who's photos capture life in the Gaza Strip. Ironically, this photo was taken on the one-year anniversary of Hamas' taking control of the Gaza Strip. Never before have the fortunes of local people in Gaza been worse.

I took a photo of this sign because Islamists love to represent the conflict as only that with Jews or America. But it really isn't. The tensions between Islam and the rest of the world are truly global. The more I travel, the more I see it. In America. In Europe. In Asia. Everywhere.

I'm not passing judgement on Islam, only noting the presence of this sign symbolizes something much more than it might seem at first.




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