Writing on the wall: There is a fine line between constructive criticism and demeaning disrespectfulness in cartooning. Photo: Josep Lago/AFP
Cartoonists must wield their pens with care
Here we all are, holding our breaths and clinching our eyes tightly shut as we wonder when the next extremist bomb will blow up somewhere…
There is no doubt that the way forward for humanity to develop is for people to be allowed free speech and open access to information and education. We must also be allowed to criticise anything that people do, as we are all prone to making mistakes. This, of necessity, must include religions and their representatives as they, too, are only human.
An underlying, unshakeable base of truth and inter-human respectfulness must prevail at all times. Our unique, colourful mosaic of human races, traditions and faiths must be respected by all sides.
Cartoonists should be highly aware at all times of what an enormous responsibility rests on their shoulders when they publish their work in the mass media.
There is a very fine line between what is essentially good-natured, humorous and constructive criticism and nasty, unsavoury and demeaning disrespectfulness – the kind of criticism that can never be a constructive element in effecting positive change for the good of all.
We need to learn to focus more on the good, instead of only the “bad” – and good cartoonists have a huge stake in this. This of course is much, much harder to do than to gleefully poke into the bad and sore spots only, but I think it would likely have more of the positive effects we so badly need.
Praise and appreciation makes people want to perform better. So, certain cartoonists must try to rethink their ceaseless battering of certain politicians and/or certain faiths without carefully thinking first: What will my action achieve?
We need fun and laughter more than ever, and to always be told the truth – but, please, keep that certain base respect!
We need a better tomorrow. It may sound clichéd, but that’s how it is: do it for our kids! Each and every one of us has an important role to play in whichever tiny nook or cranny we live in, publishing houses included. – R Franken, Gaborone
Heartening display of democracy in action
Since the end of one-party rule in Zambia in 1991, the country has been able to hold presidential elections every five years without fail.
This is undeniably an example of what we seek in many African countries. It is also interesting to note the multiparty democracy that exists there, allowing for dissenting voices.
Ahead of these elections, there were certain sectors of the country that had been calling for medical fitness tests for all four presidential candidates on account of their age. To a large extent this was informed by the death of the former president, Michael Sata, who ascended to office in his old age and fell sick.
President Nelson Mandela retired after serving one term due to old age and this was widely welcomed. African leaders must learn from his example. A great leader knows when to hand over the baton. Young people also need to be given space in political parties to eventually lead. – Rhulani Thembi Siweya
Why invite a man of hate?
Last week, an advertisement appeared in the Mail & Guardian announcing that senior Hamas leader Osama Hamden would be the keynote speaker at the forthcoming annual conference of the Afro-Middle East Centre.
The question that immediately arises is why the centre chose Hamden to address its conference?
Were the organisers not aware that, in an interview on Al-Quds TV last July, Hamden invoked the notorious medieval “blood libel” as “proof” that, as he put it, the “historical Jewish mentality has become addicted to the killing of women and children”?
He added: “We all remember how the Jews used to slaughter Christians in order to mix their blood in their holy matzos. This is not a figment of the imagination or something taken from a film. It is a fact acknowledged by their own books and historical evidence.”
The “Passover Plot” must rank as one of the most deranged and hateful fantasies, one that in bygone days was routinely used to incite murderous attacks on Jews throughout Europe.
One assumes that the Afro-Middle East Centre, which purports to be a serious academic think-tank, rejects that libel as being both factually baseless and morally repugnant.
If that is the case, however, why has it chosen to associate itself with someone who so unabashedly propagates it?
Perhaps the centre’s director, Na’eem Jeenah, could enlighten us in that regard. – David Saks, Johannesburg
Maghreb the genesis of the Paris massacre
A number of factual errors in The grim genesis of the Charlie attacks affect the validity of its content.
The “genesis” of the Paris attacks didn’t take place in the Middle East but in the Maghreb, where the French Muslim population originated from at various times of the country’s history. The glaring omission of the Algerian war in the article distorts the historical itinerary of the Muslim population in France.
Another error is to locate the Gare du Nord in “such banlieue” [ghettoes in the context of the article], supposedly explaining the “dislocation” of its inhabitants. They do not reside only in banlieues (and few banlieues are “troubled”) but also intra muros [in the inner city] in the north and northeast of Paris. – Jacqueline Machabeis