Raffi
07-02-06, 00:43
Last update - 09:48 06/02/2006
The Muslim protest
The violence that has accompanied the outbreaks of protest in the Arab and Muslim world against European countries in which caricatures of the prophet Mohammed were published deserves harsh denunciation. The torching of embassies, the commercial boycotts, the kidnappings, the beatings and certainly the calls for murdering the desecrators of Islam must be condemned.
Nevertheless, it is impossible not to understand the feelings of insult among Muslims worldwide, including in the territories and in Israel. The West's preaching of the value of multiculturalism cannot be taken seriously if it does not include both religious and secular people, members of different communities, religious minorities and Muslims and Christians alike. No society can remain apathetic to offensive publications that insult values held sacred by certain groups within it.
The publication of these cartoons was a display of insensitivity - and so was their reprinting by various European media outlets, which sought to express solidarity with those responsible for the initial publication.
Advertisement
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the first to publish the cartoons - which it did four months ago, and has since apologized - almost certainly did not intend to provoke and inflame Muslims. It is also possible that the Danish prime minister could have prevented the enormous damage that has been caused had he agreed, at the proper moment, to meet with ambassadors of Arab states. The reactions of the Muslim demonstrators, which have been gaining strength, may also reflect the anger in the Arab and Muslim world over the image of the primitive terrorist that - as some of them claim - the West is trying to attach to them.
The publishers argued that they have the right to publish these drawings, in the name of freedom of expression and to protest the self-censorship that Europeans are imposing on themselves with respect to Islam. But even freedom of expression - noble though it is - requires limits. Jewish communities worldwide, and even the official Israeli government, have always been sensitive to, and protested vigorously against, anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish publications throughout the world. In this context, Israel has no right to adopt a discriminatory policy - especially since it is usually in the forefront of those hurt by such publications.
Throughout Europe, there are grave fears of elements within the continent's Muslim minorities that seek to impose their culture and way of life on the nations of Europe in which they live. These fears are based, inter alia, on the persecution of author Salman Rushdie, the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh and the battle in France over the ban on wearing head-coverings in public institutions.
The Arab media, including the Palestinian press, publish an endless stream of cartoons, television series and books whose anti-Jewish character falls little short of the infamous caricatures and publications of the Nazi Der Sturmer. These publications should be unequivocally condemned. But neither European countries' fears of their Muslim minorities, the fear of terrorism by Al-Qaida zealots nor the anti-Jewish publications of the Arab states suffice to justify hurtful assaults on religion.
The Muslim protest
The violence that has accompanied the outbreaks of protest in the Arab and Muslim world against European countries in which caricatures of the prophet Mohammed were published deserves harsh denunciation. The torching of embassies, the commercial boycotts, the kidnappings, the beatings and certainly the calls for murdering the desecrators of Islam must be condemned.
Nevertheless, it is impossible not to understand the feelings of insult among Muslims worldwide, including in the territories and in Israel. The West's preaching of the value of multiculturalism cannot be taken seriously if it does not include both religious and secular people, members of different communities, religious minorities and Muslims and Christians alike. No society can remain apathetic to offensive publications that insult values held sacred by certain groups within it.
The publication of these cartoons was a display of insensitivity - and so was their reprinting by various European media outlets, which sought to express solidarity with those responsible for the initial publication.
Advertisement
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the first to publish the cartoons - which it did four months ago, and has since apologized - almost certainly did not intend to provoke and inflame Muslims. It is also possible that the Danish prime minister could have prevented the enormous damage that has been caused had he agreed, at the proper moment, to meet with ambassadors of Arab states. The reactions of the Muslim demonstrators, which have been gaining strength, may also reflect the anger in the Arab and Muslim world over the image of the primitive terrorist that - as some of them claim - the West is trying to attach to them.
The publishers argued that they have the right to publish these drawings, in the name of freedom of expression and to protest the self-censorship that Europeans are imposing on themselves with respect to Islam. But even freedom of expression - noble though it is - requires limits. Jewish communities worldwide, and even the official Israeli government, have always been sensitive to, and protested vigorously against, anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish publications throughout the world. In this context, Israel has no right to adopt a discriminatory policy - especially since it is usually in the forefront of those hurt by such publications.
Throughout Europe, there are grave fears of elements within the continent's Muslim minorities that seek to impose their culture and way of life on the nations of Europe in which they live. These fears are based, inter alia, on the persecution of author Salman Rushdie, the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh and the battle in France over the ban on wearing head-coverings in public institutions.
The Arab media, including the Palestinian press, publish an endless stream of cartoons, television series and books whose anti-Jewish character falls little short of the infamous caricatures and publications of the Nazi Der Sturmer. These publications should be unequivocally condemned. But neither European countries' fears of their Muslim minorities, the fear of terrorism by Al-Qaida zealots nor the anti-Jewish publications of the Arab states suffice to justify hurtful assaults on religion.