As a photographer, with modern paranoia induced by rabid media dogs, photographers are seen to be the demons of the modern society.

Why?
Because very very very few but bad individuals take photos for reasons other than photography.
These people are generally paedaphiles, crooks (gathering data for heists) and of course the infamous terrorist (I bet you imagined a bearded man? right?).

Now there is (at a guess) probably 50,000 pro-am photographers in the UK alone, maybe a little less in germany a lot more in france and about the same for most european countries.  We could easily say that there is about 2,000,000 pro-am photographers in europe alone.  This does not include the "happy-snapper-facebook-myspace"  exhibitionists.
So if we were to include them we could conclude that probably the amount could equal 80,000,000 or more happy snappers. 
Now lets make this image wider. 
How many people have cell-phones with cameras?  We could happily say more than half of europes population, right?
This is roughly 220,000,000, or about 5.5% of the worlds population. 

Let us take the paranoia element and expand on that.

Be afraid of paedaphiles for sure, but paedaphiles who take photos of kids are usually either older relatives of the kids or have direct access to the kids due to either profession or trust.  Most paedaphiles would not risk a photograph randomly taken on the street as for them the risk is equal to actually taking a child (may God forbid it from happening.) 
So the chances of a paedaphile running around with a camera in hand taking shots of kids is very very slim.

Now.

Does this mean that every male muslim in Europe is no longer allowed to photograph in public?
Does it also mean that every male in europe who photographs a scene with kids in it is a paedaphile?

Its your choice, you make your mind up about it.

In todays society, too many assumptions are delivered as facts and too many peoples lives are destroyed by these very assumptions.
As a muslim, as a photographer, as a human being I ask people to think before acting on a whim installed by rabid media dogs' enjoyment of paranoia.
Think before condemning a man to prison because of an assumption that sits in a paranoid frame that has been forced upon you.
Think, as much as you would not like to be blamed for something that you did not do, is it not the same for us too?
The world is becoming an awful place and freedom is something for Hollywood to make glorious movies about but no longer exists in our daily reality.

Photography is an art - not an act of sexual invasion nor a terrorist plot.

A photographer is an artist not an extremist (I bet you thought about muslims with back-packs again...right? don't believe the hype.)

Let us share the freedom as we share the photographs and may the world be a better, brighter place.