In some parts of Spain, there's a celebration called Moors and Christians that commemorates the battles between muslims and christians when Spain was under Islamic domain. It's just a festivity, and a very beautifully recreated one, but some have felt intimidated because some muslims felt it is offensive, and an imam in Malaga asked for this festival to be abolished. The funny thing is that the imam who asked for that is Felix Herrero, a christian convert. I have mixed feelings about this, but this festivity is not meant to denigrate muslims, even though the term "moor" is not.... nice. I must say that the organizers of this festivity actually censored some parts of this holiday, without anybody asking them to do so, because they realised it could really be offensive. That's the case of "the Mahoma" in which, in some cases, a toy doll representing the prophet was burned.
Another curious thing is that actually many muslims (born muslims, not converts) have spoken in favor of this festival, and say that if we keep "deleting" things in order not to offend muslims, Islam will still be associated with little tolerance.
Another curious fact: more people want to join the muslim army than the christian one. "To fight under the moorish flag is a source of pride", says Fernando, one of the "fighters" and also organiser. To him, and many others, this festival is exalting arab culture, and all the good they brought to Spain.
Here's two pictures. The one on top is a muslim army. The second one is christian. Who do you think looks more fierce? What do you think, should festivities like these disappear?
2 comments:
I have to say that the Christian army looks more fierce, but I can't really see the faces of the "Moors."
Why is the word "Moor" not a nice word, by the way?
I think traditions are valuable, as history if nothing else, and at least in the U.S. I think many of ours ought to be preserved.
I'm not sure why moor is not a nice word, I'd have to do some research, but I've only heard it with contempt. I don't have a problem with traditions except the cruel ones.
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