Posted on 03/18/2007 6:56:18 PM PDT by Lorianne
Sculpture For Slain Filmmaker Theo Van Gogh Unveiled In Amsterdam; Depicts Him Screaming ___ Friends and fans of the Dutch filmmaker found dead with a note pinned to his chest with a knife unveiled a memorial sculpture Sunday that depicts him screaming near the spot where he was murdered by an Islamic extremist.
Mayor Job Cohen and a Dutch comedian praised the controversial Theo Van Gogh and his work as the sculpture by Jeroen Henneman was revealed to hundreds of people gathered at a park in eastern Amsterdam.
Titled "The Scream," the memorial took the form of a series of profiles of Van Gogh in stainless steel-coated ceramics, showing the film maker gradually opening his mouth into a scream.
Cohen said Van Gogh, whose work often offended sections of society, was not a loudmouth _ as he was sometimes labeled by critics _ but an artist with a clear message about freedom of speech.
Police patrolled the entrance to the park Sunday, but there were no protests and the atmosphere was festive.
Mohammed Bouyeri repeatedly shot Van Gogh in 2004 on an Amsterdam street, slit his throat and thrust into his chest a letter threatening the life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of radical Islam. The brutal murder sparked a backlash that included the torching of several mosques.
Bouyeri _ who is serving a life sentence for the killing _ had been enraged by a film called "Submission" that Van Gogh made with Hirsi Ali, a member of parliament.
"Submission" was a fictional study of abused Muslim women, with scenes of near-naked women with Quranic texts engraved on their flesh.
Muslims called it blasphemous, but Hirsi Ali, who wrote the script, said the film gave voice to her dream of an Islamic Age of Enlightenment.
Sounds like the only good thing that came out of this murder is the city has three less moques. :-)
Another "good" thing, if such a thing as murder can be any good: it serves as a wake-up call to Europe.
Too bad it had to happen at all. I expect it to be torn down...say..20 years from now....by you know who...
On the other hand, this piece about Theo Van Gogh simply depicts a man screaming while being butchered by a Muslim. If we choose to see this as a call to fight back and engage in war against Muslims, who are already at war with Europe, then perhaps it is profound as well. But I suspect it is not intended as a call to arms. In which case, it seems pointless.
Hmm....ironic the unveiling is of a green cover. Green is the colour of Islam hence the flag of Saudi Arabia. The flag of Libya is solid green and nothing else which this cover could be a double for.
Every little bit folks can do to stand up to these bastards is worthwhile.
This is to reduce the amount of posted pictures (posting a link instead of the pinglist sign). Does posting lots of pictures make FR more expensive to run?
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