Originally posted on February 2, 2006.

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No doubt many of you have seen or heard reports of muslims being angry over a series of satire cartoons published in a Danish newspaper. These cartoons depicted an evil-looking Prophet Muhammad...in one, he is wearing a black turban with a bomb nestled inside. In another, he is addressing a line of people approaching Heaven, and he tells them "Stop! Stop! We've run out of virgins!"

Now, before we get further into this topic, let's set some ground parameters. First, if it were me, if I were an editor at one of these newspapers that originally printed the cartoons, I would not have authorized them, for the simple fact that as one political cartoonist in the US said, there is no point to them outside of offending someone, and that is what I would call "bad form". Secondly, to REprint the cartoons shows solidarity with the Danish press in the matter of free press, but it also serves to stick it in the eye of all of the muslims who are up in arms about the issue...also bad form.

I believe in free speech. But just because you can say something does not mean that you should.

That being said, there is something to be said for mobs of people in Gaza, who are hundreds of miles away from cosmopolitan Europe, where all of these cartoons were printed, getting all up in arms about some offense to Islam that they did not discover for themselves. Someone had to inform them that this blasphemy had taken place, and it was THEN that they got all angry...not when the cartoons were published roughly four months ago...but now.

And whoever informed these people of these cartoons apparently did not tell the masses that Islam is not as strong in Denmark as it is in the Middle East, and that in Denmark, there is a healthy respect for freedom of speech, whcih means as one German newspaper put it: "We have the freedom to blaspheme."

In another cartoon story, the Washimgton Post ran a satire cartoon from a liberal cartoonist. It showed a US Army soldier lying in a bed. His hedd was bandaged, both his arms and his legs had been amputated, and Don Rumsfeld was sitting at his bed-side.

"I'm listing your condition as battle-hardened," Runsfeld says in the cartoon. A caption underneath continues: "I'm prescribing that you be stretched thin. We don't believe in torture."

The US Army responded by writing a letter to the Post. The letter, sent by the Chairman fo the Joint CHiefs, General Peter Pace, said:

"We believe you and Mr. Toles have done a disservice to your readers and your paper's reputation by using such a callous depiction of those who have volunteered to defend this nation, and as a result, have suffered traumatic and life-altering wounds . . ."

"While you or some of your readers may not agree with the war or its conduct, we believe you owe the men and women and their families who so selflessly serve our country the decency to not make light of their tremendous physical sacrifices."

Please note, the US Army is responding to a political satire cartoon that they find tasteless and offensive. Their response is to write a letter to the newspaper and express their own views on the matter.

In the meantime, reaction to the Muhammad cartoons ran something like this, according to extracts from the AP news stories on the events...

"More than 300 students demonstrated in Pakistan, chanting "Death to France!" and "Death to Denmark!" — two of the countries where newspapers published the drawings. Other protests were held in Syria and Lebanon."

"Any citizens of these countries, who are present in Gaza, will put themselves in danger," a Fatah-affiliated gunman said outside the EU Commission's office in Gaza, flanked by two masked men holding rifles.

If the European governments don't apologize by Thursday evening, "any visitor of these countries will be targeted," he said."

Even when trying to be reasonable, muslim sensibilities get in the way. According to the AP news story, a paper in Jordan tried to explain things.

"A Jordanian newspaper took the bold step of running some of the drawings, saying it wanted to show its readers how offensive the cartoons were but also urging the world's Muslims to "be reasonable." Hours later, the owners of the weekly, Shihan, said they had fired its editor and withdrawn the issue from sale, and the government threatened legal action."

What's interesting was the reaction from Hamas, which is now in control of the Palestinian Authority, but who is also recognized by the United States among others as a terrorist organization...

"Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the Islamic militant Hamas also demanded an apology from European countries. However, he said foreigners in Gaza must not be harmed."

All of this uproar from a religion, and a people who have no problems whatsoever making fun of, insulting, or assaulting Jews and Christians, but let anyone say one wrong thing about the Prophet Muhammad or Islam, and WATCH OUT! Something doesn't seem right about this situation.

And not all muslims are outraged by this. A Syrian publicist says he's going to write an essay explaining why the cartoons are not that bad. I hope he stays safe after his essay is published, but he points out that the culture in the West is different that that in the Middle East, and that religions are not put up on a perch where no satire, comedy, or opinion can get to them.

Personally, I think that just like the whole Newsweek issue with the Koran being flushed down the toilet (the story was a fake and five people died in the resulting riots), this issue will die down. But, the muslims should perhaps think about answering a question that almost everyone in the West gets as a child, especially after they get smacked after picking on someone else.

You can dish it out, but you can't take it?

---
John B.
Blog Guy

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