Luca De Mata

Le diversità non siano elementi di divisione. Non c’è libertà senza il rispetto dell’altro.
Se dovessi dare un titolo unico a tutte le mie inchieste per RaiUno potrei direi: “Pianeta: democrazia o dominio?”. Ed è questo! quello che in sostanza emerge con coralità da tutte le testimonianze che ho raccolto in tutto il mondo. Testimonianze di gente comune, e di chi ha responsabilità, ed è guida di religioni che rappresentano milioni di persone.
C’è una domanda cui è dovuta una risposta: perché la diversità diventa odio, ferocia?. Conobbi un’autista in Asia che mi disse: “Jihad non è uccidere il prossimo, ma combattere il male che è in noi stessi” ed i Talebani lo hanno sgozzato: l’autista!
Nelle mie inchieste vivo, cerco la speranze perché la “Verità”, o quella che io penso “verità”, vinca. So che questa è anche la vostra speranza. Ma ci sono anche tutte le mie paure. Che sono anche le vostre paure.
Noi. Tutti noi, non possiamo non domandarci: quale mondo per le prossime generazioni? E più probabilmente questo vale già per noi. Le mie inchieste sono la somma di anni di lavoro, collaborazioni, vicinanze, suggerimenti, fatica materiale di viaggi estenuanti. Lontani. Attraversando tensioni. Incognite. Il pericolo dell’imprevedibile. E tutto questo per trovare una risposta che oggi sempre più mi convinco dobbiamo cercarla dentro di noi. I nostri interessi egoistici, i nostri fanatismi, i nostri fantasmi veri nemici della pace tra i popoli, della tolleranza, della convivenza, del diritto alla libertà! Libertà! che per chi crede Dio ci ha dato! Libertà di credere o non credere in Lui, e non per questo nel Suo Nome o contro il Suo Nome qualcuno mi ammazzi, perché, Dio, Tu mi hai fatto a Tua somiglianza libera creatura nel Tuo Creato. luca de mata © 2010

Today I was at a table. Thoughts crossed each other. Cultures and histories of ancient and different origins. Mutual respect. Women and men of the highest level: intellectual, spiritual, moral, agnostic and political. High reasoning.
I thought I was living the harmony of utopia in pursuit of mutual knowledge.
Do I know? Do we really know humanity in all its complexity? How can we find a space where different ways of thinking can meet, coexist and confront each other? I say that diversity is an asset, but then again, do I really accept that declaration? Many, many, many years ago, Rai entrusted me with the making of a program titled “Being a Woman, Being a Man”. Today, I might accept such a job with one condition: that it would simply be called “being.”

During a trip to Africa the head of an association of women’s rights who welcomes girls victims of forced marriages, said to me:
“I am responsible of the program against this abuse! Abuse against women and against all the commandments, and mainly against the commandment Honor thy father and mother. Under the guise of local traditions marriages are arranged without the consent of the women. In exchange of a basket of cola, a drug that is chewed or a goat. Or just because a tribal chief wants to have a good relationship with another leader he gives a girl as a bride… and so a girl of 12 years is given to a man of 60. Do you understand?! How can this little girl honor her father and mother who sell her, exchange her for a goat, and who give her to an old man. They even go against the commandment you shall not steal… because forcing them into marriage they steal their sexuality. The girls are tied! They tie them because these girls want to escape from the horror into which they are forced … Honor your father and mother who want to enslave you to a stranger … they escape and come here looking for the affection and parental love they were denied. It is very probable that their mothers were also victims of such horrors. Our laws punish these practices … but in reality it’s difficult to enforce them. It is a slavery against which we must all fight, for the emancipation not only of women but also of our nation and of Africa. ”

Kosovo. Mine, bombe, cecchini uccisero uomini, cose e civiltà. Andai lì. Mi rimase questa foto di una casa scheletro capovolta; ma anche il mio senso di civiltà rimase capovolto domandomi perchè odiare fino ad ammazzarsi. Sto ancora cercando in me la bestia che un giorno si potrebbe impadronire della mia ragione. Aiutatemi. Aiutiamoci perchè prima di noi venga la civiltà e la convivenza. Il fanatismo, l’odio, la pulizia etnica, l’estremismo religioso, l’intolleranza: sono i più delirante ozi del pensiero

On this blog, in which we narrate our inquest “European Muslims” for RaiUno, we have excerpted a phrase by a woman who has responsibility in the Muslim community. This phrase should make you reflect, free of the usual schemes that divide rather than unite. For now we choose to leave it anonymous, it would be wrong to label before properly understanding the mining of these few lines. Each and every one of you should feel free to respond; your arguments might be agreed or disagreed with. This is the freedom of democracy: to challenge each other in order to understand and build peace and harmony: “in its complexity Islam is more a doctrine than a religion, a philosophy of life, for both men and women and has never been incompatible with Western values. The problem does not lie within the religion itself, but in its interpretation, in fanatic speeches that sometimes tend to distort the religious content according to personal ideas. We must work to increase awareness, to promote a tolerant Islam that fits its self to the western lifestyle, this should benefit Muslims and whoever practices a different religion: Christians or Jews.

Egypt – SINAB (photo & copyright by Luca De Mata © ® All rights reserved)

Here in Egypt, the Land of the Pharaohs, where the Israelite People lived as slaves, one of the greatest prophecies that would change the cultures of the nations – regardless of their creed, believers or non-believers alike -would be fulfilled…no longer pharaohs, but people. No longer slaves…no more laws legalizing tyranny and despotism; instead, the law of mercy!